ARC navigating vague Guidelines

Hi,

I am part of a second generation Review Committee trying to make sense of our Declarations -Particularly fences/screens/plantings.
We state no height restrictions, so the Town sets those, and our only 'fence' rule is: "No Fences shall be constructed, placed or grown to designate boundaries of Lots." Does that mean we can put a fence 1" off of the Lot boundary, or, do we get to make up an arbitrary distance? If an arbitrary distance is used by the first gen then does the second gen have to follow it as well?
Just to prove how naive I am, what happens when you add privacy screen into the mix or, better yet, plantings where someone can plant tall shrubs in a manner that does not fall under the definition of fence or privacy screen? There is definitely no policy yet that is clear. Past RC made a set of equally vague guidelines that they broke anyway, and also seems arbitrary because it so limits the Homeowners to one kind/style of fence.
Homeowners seem anxious to start putting up all kinds of privacy fences, yard screens and plantings yet we have no definitions of these items.

The problem is that now we have to defend a denial based on seemingly arbitrary reasons -AND they may be!

Thanks for any advice or anecdotes

Brian,

First of all you need to know what the exact authority of the Review Committee is. Can they make rules or are the rules all outlined in the CCRs or the Architectural Guidelines that are a part of the CCRs? My HOA has Architectural Guidelines that are a part of the CCRs but the CCRs say the A/C committee may make rules. These rules cannot be contrary to the Architectural guidelines but they can be more definitive.

Rules that are ambiguous are poorly written and your fence rule is very ambiguous. If the Review Committee has the authority to amend it they should do so. What does it mean to say you cannot have a fence that designates the boundary of a lot? Isn't that what fences are primarily for? Also, IMO, any fence should have a set-back requirement. You should check your city codes to make certain any rule you adopt does not violate the city code. Most will have set-back requirements for fences. Along with the set-back requirement, the fence rule should state the maximum height, the style, color and type of material than can be used. Even if the Town has a height restriction, that can also be a part of your rule. Note that the HOA rule may be more restrictive than the Town code, but it cannot violate the Town code. For ex: if the Town code says the setback must be 10', the HOA restriction may say 15' but it cannot say 5'. Therefore, the Review Committee must require a 15' setback and the h/o must abide by their requirement and not the Town code.