Big Trees Village Future & 2008 Survey Results Article by Steve Lauterbach Coordinator, Committee for the Future of Big Trees Village
(To view the complete results of the survey that was distributed to all property owners in Big Trees Village in 2008 please see the link in the third paragraph from the bottom below.)
Unless extended, the Big Trees Village Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs) will begin to expire in 2016. The process would start with Unit 1 in 2016, and the CC&Rs for the other 10 units would expire by 2018. Since their expiration would affect the future of our community, this topic has been discussed at Board of Director's and Association member's meetings for the past several years. It has also been mentioned in newsletters that have been mailed to all property owners in Big Trees Village and was the subject of a survey mailed to all property owners in the winter of 2008.
If the CC&Rs are allowed to expire, the standards that have provided a framework for the appearance of our community would no longer be in force. We could expect to see fences, mobile homes, homes in colors other than earth colors, and businesses with street signage.
The presence of year-round professional management would end. Property owners, who are now assisted by the Association Manager in getting answers to a variety of questions, would need to seek answers from Calaveras County government, since once the CC&Rs expire, we would become another unincorporated community within Calaveras County.
The Recreation Center and surrounding acreage is currently owned by the Property Owners Association, a non-profit, mutual benefit corporation. Unless the CC&Rs are extended, the future of the Recreation Center and common space would be uncertain. If the Association is no longer viable as a non-profit corporation, our documents call for it to be gifted to the County of Calaveras.
As mentioned earlier, our community is made up of eleven units. Each has its own CC&Rs although a number of them are identical. And those that aren’t identical, differ only modestly for the most part. One exception is that fences are permitted in a few units. The CC&Rs for Unit 1 which expire in 2016 can be downloaded here. If you would like a copy of the CC&Rs for your unit, please contact the manager, Ward Redman, at (209) 795-1971.
While 2016 may seem to be a long way off, the Board of Directors of BTV believes that now is the time to begin a conversation amongst all the property owners in Big Trees Village, including those who are Association members and those who are not, about whether we wish to extend our CC&Rs prior to their expiration. The Board has therefore created the "Committee for the Future of BTV". Steve Lauterbach was chosen by the Board to be the Coordinator of the committee and Mark Diashyn, Bob Irelan, and Nancy Larson were named a members.
The survey conducted in the winter of 2008 asked all property owners—not just Association or Recreation Center Members—how they felt about extending the CC&Rs. The Board received 261 responses. Of that total, 230 were favorable, 22 wanted to know more before deciding, and 9 were negative. If you are interested in reviewing the survey results and the comments made by other property owners, please download the results of the survey. None of the responses has been deleted or changed; they are verbatim. The first column notes which box was checked in the survey. Written comments also are noted. You may also download a copy of the original survey here.
Where do we go from here? If we are to consider extending our CC&Rs, we all will want to learn more about the implications of doing so, or deciding on the other hand not to. If we do extend our CC&Rs, what should they include or exclude? What are our concerns, our hopes, our fears? What is the process we must follow if we are to have a vote?
You may note from the written comments in the survey that a number of those who favor extending the CC&Rs want to know more about the details. Clearly, the Board needs to learn more from everyone in our community. Therefore information gathering needs to be the next step. We plan to organize a series of information gathering meetings. When these will be held and how they will be organized is the next step. If you are interested in participating in helping to organize these meetings, please send an email to: bigtreesfuture(at)bigtreesvillage(dot)org. Please include your name, Unit and Lot number (or your Big Trees Village Street address) and an email address and phone number where you can be reached. Thank you very much in advance for volunteering.
Sincerely, Steve Lauterbach Coordinator, Committee for the Future of Big Trees Village March 28, 2009 | ||
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