11/13/24
Common Areas: Tracts, Easements & Monuments and Common Property
The cost of maintenance of the Common Area is ultimately borne by the monthly dues that are paid by the owners of private lots.
If there was no Common Area, there would be no need for an HOA.
Some owners view the Common Area as more of a Liability than an Asset. See the Medford City Code 10.192(3) for the relevant codes. BVH is an SFR-2 and SFR-4 zone so the 20% common area requirement does not apply.
The Common Area, as it is Defined in the CC&Rs:
1. Article VI. Para. 6.1. 'The Common Area of the Property is shown on the Final Plan and/or Final Plat and includes the private roads, sidewalks, walking paths, parking areas, catch basins, water features, designated open space, Agricultural BufferZone, private easements, and any vertical improvements within the designated open spaces, thereon. The Common Area is depicted on Exhibit “C”.' (There is no Exhibit "C" on the CC&Rs!")
2. Article VII. Para. 7.1.'Common Areas, Open Space, Parks and Public Right of Way. The Association, or its Manager, shall maintain, repair, improve and otherwise manage all Common Areas depicted on Exhibit “A”, including, but not limited to, common area landscaping and lighting, walkways, riding/walking paths, park facilities, open spaces, entry sign easements or designated sign areas, water features, Agricultural Buffer Zone, common area fencing, McAndrews Road frontage landscaping, and storm and irrigation water facilities; provided, however, the Association shall not be responsible for providing or maintaining (a) sidewalks; (b) park strips; and/or (c) pedestrian scale street lighting.'
3. Article I. 1.3.32 “Buffer Zone” means the fifty-foot (50) Common Area agricultural buffer abutting the Roxy Ann Vineyard along the south side of the Property as depicted on Exhibit “A”. (There is no Exhibit "A" in the CC&Rs!)
The property taxes of some parts of the Common Area are paid by the "BELLA VISTA HOMES HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION", who is the owner of these lots and tracts.
(Property tax details can be found at the following link under the link's Property tab:
https://jcgis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=fa99a30541d94b86aef4a39bc68d0580
If clicking on this link fails, cut and paste the orange URL into your browser ).
Parts of the Common Area are easements into and through private lots, and although the lot owner pays the property taxes, the easement can restrict the owner's use of that part of their lot that contains the easement.
For example, the lots along McAndrews Road have "slope easements" assigned to the City of Medford.
Agricultural Buffer:
The Agricultural Buffer is another part of the Common Area that has easements as well as restrictions on it.
For example: "Swimming pools are not permitted within the agricultural buffer" (City of Medford PUD-05-25 page 7 See "Basic Documents" page.)
Tracts
There are seven Tracts on the BVH Plat that is shown in the CC&Rs at pages 59 to 72. They are
Tract A. East and West La Strada Circle. A private street.
Tract B. An open space, Canova Park, that is located at the west extremity of BVH.
Tract C. An open space that extends westwards from the west end of Palermo street.
Tract D. An open space that is to the west of Lot 9 on Palermo Street.
Tract E. Sorrento Lane northwards from Palermo Street. A private street.
Tract F. Carino Lane northwards from East Veneto Circle. A private street.
Tract G. Camina Drive eastwards from East Veneto Circle. A private street.
Some facts about Tract C:
Tract C has a 10' (7'?) wide asphalt path that goes from McAndrews to Palermo. This path was installed in 2012, and the HOA spent $420 on resurfacing/resealing it in 2016.
Unfortunately, in 2012, the asphalt path was located in the wrong place as it goes straight through Lot 10!
Lot 10 is a 0.32 Acres buildable lot with a slope easement on its McAndrews side and a Sewer Easement on its northern side.
The PUD-05-25 document in the "Basic Documents" describes a "pedestrian/bicycle path" in Tract C.
The 10' (7'?) wide path described in PUD-05-25 abuts the Northern Boundary of Tract C, next to the 14.5 acres Twin Creeks Development LLC's property that is to the immediate north of Tract C.
PUD-05-25 states:
(a) on 50.2 PAGE 41, paragraph G, “A private accessway is proposed from the northwestern stub of Palermo Street across the Tract 'C' Open Space connecting to McAndrewsRoad".
(b) on 50.2 PAGE 21 there is a “Master Landscaping Planting Plan”. If you look closely you will see that, on the north border of Lot 10, there is marked a “7’ Pedestrian / Bike Path (Private)”.
(c) on 50.2. PAGE 71 there is a “TENTATIVE PLAT” that, again, shows that there was a strip of Tract C that included enough space for a "7' Pedestrian/Bike Path (Private)".
Accordingly:
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It is reasonable to assume that the strip of Tract C that runs from east to west along the north boundary of Lot 10 within Tract C was deliberately placed in these “tentative” plats and plans for the sole purpose of the “7’ Pedestrian / Bike Path (Private)”.
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The final plat that appears in our CC&Rs on the page that is handwritten numbered 61 shows that “TRACT “C” OPEN SPACE” has an east/west strip adjacent and running the full 161.73’ length of the north boundary of Lot 10, and it is identical to the strips that appeared in the plat and plan in the PUD Approval document.
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In short: this strip of land sticking out of Tract C was intended for a private pedestrian/bike pathway since 2005. The asphalt pathway that was laid down in 2012 is in the wrong place!
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Today, where is the 7’ pedestrian/bike path for which this strip was deliberately surveyed?
Easements
Easements are mentioned and discussed throughout the CC&Rs. The Plat on pages 59 through to 72 (handwritten) of the CC&Rs contains details of all the easements.
Most lots and Common Areas have at least one easement on them. The easements on a lot, if any, can be seen by viewing the lot on the Plat.
There are at least eight different types of easements:
1. PUE. Public Utility Easement.
2. WE. Water Easement.
3. PSE. Private Sanitary Sewer Easement.
4. PDE. Private Storm Drain Easement.
5. SSE. Public Sanitary Sewer Easement.
6. SDE. Public Storm Drain Easement.
7. SE. Slope Easement
8. TTE. Temp Turnaround Easement Tract D
There are explanatory notes about these easements on pages 63 and 72 (handwritten numbers) of the CC&Rs. Although Note 10 is missing on page 63, it is described on page 72.