Trees - Board's Aug 2015 newsletter

July 29, 2015

RE:  Trees - Board's August 2015 newsletter

Dear Cape George Resident,

We are writing in response to the President’s remarks in the latest Cape George newsletter for August.  Again, we want to emphasize that we believe most residents, as we do, support trimming vegetation to enhance views as the governing documents encourage:

3.2   PLANT MAINTENANCE

  Members are encouraged to trim all planted 
  vegetation so as to promote wildlife 
  habitat, prevent  landslides and erosion,  

  maintain natural beauty, and prevent 
  neighboring views from being blocked.  To 
  prevent unsightly disfigurement and/or 

  weakening of tree structure, trees should 
  be pruned by windowing or thinning rather 
  than topping or other forms of tree 
  mutilation.

The President, in the August 2015 newsletter quotes two governing documents but omits any mention of  this clear 3.2 directive. Moreover the Board now asserts any TWO adjacent trees with commingling branches may be deemed a hedge and subject to an 8 ft. height restriction!

This is the Board’s interpretation of the hedge rules he quotes. This interpretation is not found in the governing documents at all nor did members "vote" to approve such an extreme stance. The Board apparently believes their interpretation of the rules must prevail and members should not question the Board's judgment.

In the recent case of the hedge violation on Sunset Blvd, the owner was forced to remove entirely (or cut to 8 ft.) 4 of the 6 trees targeted trees.  As noted, cutting mature trees to 8 ft is a euphemism for killing the trees as any arborist will testify.  So, if shrubs are deemed a hedge, the rule imposes a "haircut"; however, mature trees cut to 8 ft. get the "death penalty". This is NOT the “windowing and thinning” that 3.2 advises. 

We also mentioned in our letter, that multiple attorneys have counseled the Board against taking such extreme stances both in 2003 and now again in 2015. If you’d like to see actual legal opinions, contact: derykus@gmail.com or 360-344-2051.

The President writes  the Board is concerned  our letter is “filled with misstatements of fact”. Yet he does not clarify what facts were misstated. He doesn’t defend the Board’s extreme views other than citing vague rules that contain no mention of “TWO trees commingling to become a hedge”; does not refute strong legal arguments against the Board’s actions; and doesn’t promote compromise or mediation. This is neither transparency nor good governance.

The President concludes by suggesting that dissatisfied members propose an amendment at the monthly Board meeting. The reality is the issue is more than a vague building rule – it’s the Board’s extreme interpretation of an existing rule to effectively compel members to kill trees rather than thinning and windowing them to enhance views.

Further, I believe the monthly Board meetings are an entirely inadequate framework for discussion of these issues with only a 2 min. opportunity to speak; very few members even attending meetings; and an obvious lack of even-handedness in the treatment of opposing views. Viewpoints differing from the Board’s are excluded from the newsletter for instance. 

A special Board meeting to exclusively address the tree issue is a far better alternative. The meeting should be mediated to ensure civility; reasonable time limits set for speakers; and proposals given fair hearings. A summary report, inclusive of all views, should be published in the newsletter and amendments put to a vote. 

These issues deserve an open, ongoing discussion – not a short “soapbox” and certainly not the exclusive opinion of the Board in a monthly newsletter. Cape George members deserve better.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Charles DeRykus   (Colony resident)