Town Council to Consider Staff Proposal for Standards for Homeowners

If you are fed up with the lack of maintenance behind your view fence you MUST attend this meeting!

On Wednesday January 8, 2025 the Town Council will consider a proposal from the Town staff that addresses homeowners whose properties are adjacent to the Vistoso Trails Nature Preserve (VTNP). As you know, the lack of maintenance behind property fences has been a problem for years. In their proposal the staff is taking the position that homeowners are not allowed to address any hazards, invasives, or other concerns they may have with the property directly behind their homes, and that doing so would be considered “trespassing” on the Preserve property. 

Furthermore, the staff’s standard clearly states that they have no intention of addressing these concerns either. In a total misinterpretation of the Conservation Easement they state that the easement does not require them to maintain the property. Not true! In fact, the easement clearly states that they are obligated to maintain the property to ensure its “Conservation Value”. 

Essentially the message they’re sending is that you are not allowed to do anything to take care of the issues you’re dealing with….and that they don’t intend to do it either!

So where does this leave us? 

Continuing to live with an untenable situation where homeowners are having to put up with unsightly and hazardous conditions behind their homes (weeds, dead grass, invasive species of both plants and animals) and giving them no options to have these issues addressed. This is unacceptable! 

There are other options. In fact, Preserve Vistoso has been involved since last August, when in response to complaints and concerns we’d been receiving from residents we approached the Town staff with a request for them to publish some “do’s and don’ts” for homeowners in an effort to find a workable solution. We proposed allowing homeowners to remove hazards in a buffer area behind their homes but not allowing activities such as removing trees, placing structures or lighting, or other actions that are in violation of the conservation easement. After waiting several months for a response, the staff sent us their proposal (which you can see attached to the agenda item through the link below). We responded with our objections to their proposal and asked for the opportunity to work together on a mutually agreeable solution. Instead, without notifying us or giving us a chance to work with them, they chose to place it on this upcoming agenda. 

How Can We Defeat this Proposal?

By attending the Council meeting on Wednesday January 8 at 6:00pm. When we show up the Council listens! 

We need to convince them to consider other options. A large turnout puts the Council on notice that this proposal is not acceptable and is in fact disrespectful to the over 500 homeowners surrounding the property who were major contributors to the fundraising efforts. 

Link to Agenda and Instructions

The agenda and video link for the 6:00pm Wednesday, January 8 Town Council meeting are available here.  (See agenda item #2).