::: COMMUNITY NEWS

RMA board urged to oppose development projects at county meeting

Published Wednesday, January 3, 2007

Addressing the Rancho Murieta Association’s December board meeting, development opponents encouraged the board to appear at the Jan. 10 county Board of Supervisors hearing on major building projects proposed for Murieta North. If approved, the Retreat and Residences of Murieta Hills projects would add 282 homes to the community.

Ted Hart, a member of the Rancho Murieta Development Concerned Citizens Committee, urged the board to send a representative and assured directors it would not be a violation of the Mutual Benefit Agreement if they spoke critically about water-related issues that are the province of the Community Services District.

Hart expanded on his comments the week before when he appeared at the CSD board meeting and called the district’s Integrated Water Master Plan adopted in November “a disaster” because it doesn’t reflect provisions in the water rights permit for maintaining lake levels and facilitating recreational use.

At the RMA meeting, Hart said the CSD water plan “has absolutely no concern for recreational purposes or aesthetics” and is based on “water needs.”

Hart told the board, “The RMA needs to take the lead in requiring CSD to amend the water plan to accommodate recreation and aesthetics. … We look to the RMA board for the protection of all of these things.”

The Integrated Water Master Plan examines current water use in the community and evaluates water needs for low-, medium- and high-density build-out scenarios in normal years and for the one-in-200-year drought event. The plan can be seen here.

Hart said it was imperative that someone speak for the RMA at the Jan. 10 hearing “because the issue of water is important. It’s also important because (the county Department of Environmental Review and Assessment) doesn’t like Rancho Murieta. … That group down there wants to be rid of Rancho Murieta. … What happens is you get into these situations where they like to spin things. … I think it’s important that we be there. … They say impacts related to water storage are less than significant.”

The environmental documents are available here.

Two years ago, Hart was instrumental in convincing the RMA not to participate in a series of county talks on development, saying the board was "handcuffed and put in an absolute muzzle" by the MBA. Instead, the RMDCCC took part in the talks.

Former RMA Director Julie Sams urged the directors to present themselves as a unit to the supervisors at the Jan. 10 meeting, and offered them a “tip” for balancing their “dual responsibility” as residents and directors that will allow them to speak at the hearing.

Board members pointed out that the association had responded to the environmental documents for the projects with comment letters.

This week, RMA General Manager David Stiffler said he and President Mike Martel will attend the county session, but no statement on behalf of the association is planned.

The board considered the following matters at its December meeting:

• The board voted 6-1 to delay action on a resident’s exclusive use request for a deck modification in hopes of getting the resident to take action on a barking dog problem. Neighbors complained about the dog problem when they responded to the Architectural Review Committee about the request as part of the approval process. New board member Mel Standart suggested using the request as leverage to solve the barking problem. President Mike Martel voted against delaying approval.
  
  
• The board agreed to a review of the association’s finances instead of an audit, since an audit was done a year ago. The review costs $3,800 and the audit would have cost $8,000.
  
  
• The board discussed ways to acquaint members with RMA rules to foster compliance after Director Paul Gumbinger said residents are installing sheds in their yards without ARC review and approval. He said the sheds are not consistent with the association’s architectural standards and emphasized that screening issues and materials for the sheds are “very important.”
  
  Director Jack Cooper said the association has an obligation to welcome new residents and      acquaint them with their duties as RMA members.
  
  Architectural Manager Mark Parsons said the biggest problem is residents don’t read the homeowner association documents.
  
  
• The association has successfully completed the installation of a high-speed Internet connection for the broadband system, Communications Committee Chairman Mel Standart reported. Installation of the DS3 line improves speeds and adds bandwidth.
  
  
• During a report on the November Parks Committee meeting, Director Paul Gumbinger said that, contrary to information presented at the meeting, the RMA has not been reimbursed for its 2006 legal fees for the pedestrian bridge, although it has received reimbursement for 2005 legal costs. Director Chris Pedersen said none of the entities involved with the 2006 legal effort to secure easements to build the bridge will be reimbursed.
  After the board meeting, Gumbinger, Pedersen and Assistant General Manager Danise Hetland, the bridge project manager, referred questions about RMA legal costs for the bridge to General Manager David Stiffler. When contacted, Stiffler said he was looking into the matter and at this time could not confirm the amount of reimbursement the RMA has received.