Waterford Roofing Rebellion:
A compelling need for Reality and Reason
-- A highly personal note from Paul Raveling to the homeowners of Waterford in El Dorado Hills
One
day in November as I, then a Director of the Lake Forest-Waterford
Owners Association, sat in a special meeting of the HOA Board I looked
out on half a dozen or so scowls like this one -- except that they
were real, not from an old photo of George W. Bush.
My
thought was "Hate has come to Waterford, like an infection." What
stands behind that highly emotional state? The ultimate cause is
claimed to be that our property values are trashed by having one home
among 393 that looks like the one below, in a photo from the morning of
first frost this fall. When I show this photo to others a common
reaction is roughly this: "That's supposed to harm property values?
Don't be silly."
In the world of conspiracy theorists in America there are Birthers and Truthers. Waterford has Roofers, and they're tearing our community apart.
The heart of the Roofers' theory is that dimensional composition roofing harms property values. It does not. Please see the Property Values page on www.sierrafoot.org, for a summary of research results. Some additional parts of the What Else? page report details about neighborhoods in our part of El Dorado Hills that permit dimensional composition roofing.
The
specific case that triggered the Roofers' outrage is granting of a
variance for use of Certainteed Presidential TL roofing, a top-of-the
line laminated dimensional product using a fiberglass base.
Franciscan Village, cited this specific product
as one which is "aesthetically pleasing and in no way should its use
decrease property values" in the statement it filed with the County in
amending its own roofing CC&R provisions. The variance itself
involves is a special situation subject to nondisclosure to honor
owner privacy needs. In earlier years Waterford denied two
applications for otherwise similar variances that did not involve a
special situation.
Waterford Roofers
have claimed that we would be the first to permit dimensional
composition in our area. In truth, 11 other nearby villages either
explicitly permit high quality dimensional composition or leave the
choice to an architectural review committee. The heaviest actual
use of composition is in Lakehills Estates, just north of Waterford. I
have personally walked enough of this village to survey 108 roofs
visible from its streets. 84 of these have composition roofing. 75
appear to be lower quality that would have been permitted by the
standards formerly proposed for a Waterford's CC&R amendment.
However, Lakehills Estates property values are higher than Waterford's in terms on both dollars per square foot and dollars per home.
An
additional check of 2010 sales up to October in a village with a mix of
3 types of roofing, Stonegate, showed an average value in dollars per
square foot of $196 for dimensional composition roofs, $196 for tile
roofs.
How are the Roofers tearing us apart?
- They
have been working by attacking. Constructive cooperation can resolve
differences and bring people together. Attacking produces losers as
well as winners if it resolves anything, and it often resolves nothing.
- The
Association's Board has already lost two Directors as a result of this
dispute, a third will not stand for reelection. I have independently
sought volunteers for
appointment to fill the existing empty seats from among several
Waterford Owners who have a history of steady, reasonable service to
the Association in earlier years. In general, they do not want to be
involved because of the Roofers. Some have received verbal or written harassment from the Roofers; none want to be enter into a continuing dispute. Reasonable citizens of Waterford now see service on the HOA board as more of a personal ordeal than as public service.
- Almost all of Waterford's Roofers
skipped the Association's open-session board meetings and open meetings
of the Roofing Committee over the span of the last 3 years. Lack of
participation impedes both shared understanding and mutual agreement.
- Almost all of Waterford's Roofers
surfaced only after one of them engaged an attorney, with talk of
litigation and then of recalling the Board. Threat of litigation is
functionally chilling to any person or agency receiving such a threat:
Legal prudence demands that all HOA response must be limited and
controlled. In my opinion the HOA was forced to restrict communication
when everyone needed instead to expand communication.
Waterford
needs a competent Board, which is above all reasonable. One dimension
of reasonability is to act on factual information instead of beliefs.
Another is to recognize the values and desires of Waterford's
ownership as a whole, instead of only those of a part of our community.
Waterford
owners can best support their own interests by voting NO
on recalling each director who will be named on the ballot which
will be distributed by approximately the end of December to meet the
requirements of California law.
If the recall succeeds
new directors will be elected on the same ballot. As a preliminary
summary at the date of this writing in early December there are two
groups of candidates:
- Current and prior Directors,
including myself: Diana Vaughn, Paul Matloff, and Paul Raveling.
Yes, I'll run again if the recall succeeds. Each of these three
directors has substantial experience and has demonstrated the most
important skills: Communication, recognition of factual reality,
and sound judgment in cases involving special circumstances
and complexity among multiple standards are all important.
- Roofers'
slate: Ray Myers, Rob George, Gabrielle Guest, Sean Hansen, and Larry
Klein. Several have demonstrated problems with
communication, recognition of factual reality, and judgment. A
common problem is need for recognition of criteria of reasonableness,
especially because the California Civil Code provides that CC&Rs
are not enforceable if unreasonable [CC §1354(a)]. If property values
are the reason for the prohibition of composition in CC&R §6.18,
and roofing type does not affect property values, does it not follow
that this prohibition is unreasonable? There are additional arguments
with the same result in the form of acceptance of high quality
dimensional composition roofing in several other El Dorado Hills
neighborhoods without impairment of their property values.
My concerns about this group are mainly that we need to heal this neighborhood instead of fanning the Roofers'
flames. I would be glad to talk with Waterford Owners personally
after Christmas. Until then, let's take an holiday free from civic
strife.
