TAOS PINES RANCH ARCHITECTURAL CONTROL COMMITTEE
Procedures for Requests for Variances to Taos Pines Ranch Covenants
INTRODUCTION
From time to time lot owners may have questions about or complaints stemming from the provisions of the Declaration of Protective Covenants for Taos Pines Ranch, filed for record on 7-14-94 in Real Estate Records Book 5, page 4522, in the County of Colfax, New Mexico. Occasionally, prospective buyers may have questions concerning interpretation of these Covenants prior to their purchasing a lot within Taos Pines Ranch. The following procedures are outlined for the purpose of providing fair and consistent treatment of such issues concerning the Covenants.
The Architectural Control Committee (ACC), established under the provisions of Article X, of the Taos Pines Ranch Declaration of Protective Covenants, will
interpret the Covenants to accomplish the following objectives. First, the ACC will protect the Covenants as written. Second, the ACC will protect an individual lot owner's right to use his/her property as they see fit as long as such use does not infringe upon the Covenants or on other lot owner's freedom's to enjoy their lots. Third, the ACC will enforce the intent of the Covenants as defined in Article 1, INTENT, of the Covenants.
The ACC will take a perspective on any issue brought before it in the context of the collective best interest of all lot owners within Taos Pines Ranch. At no time will the ACC champion an individual cause that is detrimental to the collective good of all lot owners in Taos Pines Ranch. This may lead to situations in which the petitioning lot owner may have the approval of adjoining lot owners concerning the particular action that the petitioning lot owner wants to take, but the ACC may decide against the petitioning lot owner. The factors that the ACC will take into account in these instances may include but are not limited to safety issues, land use issues, existing County, State and Federal regulations or statutes or any issue that goes against the intent of the Covenants. The ACC reserves the right to deny a petition on the grounds that, while the petition taken by itself may be all right, the precedent set may be detrimental to the collective good of all lot owners in Taos Pines Ranch.
The ACC will consist of four lot owners who have constructed homes on their lots. A quorum will consist of any three of the four committee members being present for an ACC meeting.
PROCESS
The types of process for petitioners required by the ACC may result from, but not be limited to, several requirements. First, is the need to review construction plans as outlined in Article X of the Covenants. Second, a need may result from a petition for variances to the fifty foot setback contained in Article III of the Covenants either concerning structures or non-structures. Third, a need may result from the requirement to interpret the Covenants for prospective purchasers of lots within Taos Pines Ranch.
PROCESS FOR REVIEW OF CONSTRUCTION PLANS
Lot owners of Taos Pines Ranch will submit one copy of their architectural/construction plans to be used to build any structure within Taos Pines Ranch to the Architectural Control Committee prior to the commencement of construction. This submission may be accomplished through either direct submission to the Committee or through Northern New Mexico Properties. In either event once reviewed and approved the copy of the architectural/construction plans will be retained on file at Northern New Mexico Properties.
These plans should contain all structures and facilities to be built, should indicate in all cases the location of the structures on the lot relative to the fifty foot set back and to the County Road right-of-way when applicable. Information should be included that indicates location of well and propane tank in relation to the structures and the 50 foot setback. In addition an indication of exterior colors to be used should be indicated.
The Architectural Control Committee should meet in a timely fashion to review these submissions and indicate their approval in writing to the lot owner who submitted the plans. Upon completion of the ACC's review a copy of the approval letter along with the structure plans will given to Northern New Mexico Properties for safe keeping.
PROCESS FOR PETITION FOR VARIANCE
All petitions for a variance to any portion of the Covenants submitted to the ACC will be in writing. The petition will identify whom the petitioner is, what lot is involved, a description of the variance being sought, a reason why the variance is being sought, and identification of the adjoining lots and their owners. The following documentation must be attached to the variance request-. a) a copy of the letter written to the adjoining lot owners by the petitioning lot owner explaining the reason for the variance, b) the original of the written response from each adjoining lot owner indicating that the lot owner is aware of the variance being sought and approves of such variance, and c) the original of the certification document indicating that the letters to the adjacent lot owners were sent via certified mail. In the event that an adjoining lot owner does not reply, the
petitioner must attach a statement of the efforts made to contact the non- respondent adjacent lot owner. The ACC may decide to approve a petition for variance even though adjoining lot owner(s) have not responded. A non- response to a petition for variance by an adjoining lot owner is not a sufficient response to preclude approval of requests for variance as long as the petitioning lot owner has exhausted all effort to contact the non-responding lot owner. The yardstick to be used by the ACC to decide petitions in such cases will be based on what would be expected of a reasonable person.
The ACC will consider such petition in a timely fashion including collecting additional information with which to make an informed decision under the guidelines outlined above. The ACC shall respond to the petitioner in writing with copies of such response sent to the adjoining lot owners.
If a petition is received without proper documentation or explanation, the ACC will directly return it to the petitioner without action. Once the appropriate documentation and information has been included it may be resubmitted.
PROCESS FOR ANSWERING QUESTIONS FROM PROSPECTIVE BUYERS
From time to time, prospective buyers may have a need for interpretation of the Covenants prior to their purchasing a lot in Taos Pines. To the extent possible such questions should be answered as quickly as possible, but should be answered with due deliberation of the ACC. Ideally, such issues should be submitted in writing, but verbal questions may be posed. Any question involving a potential variance to the Covenants should follow the process outlined above for Petitions for Variance. Upon review of issues involving potential petitions for variance to the Covenants by prospective buyers, the ACC shall render an answer to the posed questions by the prospective buyer, but in no case will the ACC grant a variance to the Covenants to prospective buyers or non-lot owners. One must own a lot in Taos Pines Ranch to be able to receive a variance to the Taos Pines Ranch Covenants.
Whichever member of the ACC contacted is responsible for informing the other members of the ACC as to the issue under question and the response given to the prospective purchaser. A written record of such questions, the name of the prospective buyer, the lot number involved if focused on a particular lot, and the response recorded in detail should be prepared by the ACC member responding to the question. This document will be retained in the ACC files for future reference.
Update to ACC Activities:
"The Architectural Control Committee was approached to approve "Preferred Homes" as permitted structures for permanent residence within Taos Pines Ranch. The Architectural Control Committee decided against permitting such structures based on the Protective Covenants. The logic behind its decision is that the Protective Covenants are to be enforced in whole and not in parts that we pick and choose. Picking and choosing will lead to inconsistent enforcement of the Covenants. The decision is based not only on the prohibition against mobile structures as appropriate for permanent residence, but also on the Architectural Control Committee's responsibility to protect the value and esthetics of Taos Pines Ranch. The Architectural Control Committee has more responsibility to protect current property owners who not only own land, but have also built houses, than it does to prospective purchacers of property who may or may not ultimately purchase property here. The Architectural Control Committee will not issue prospective approvals for structures unless the applicant actually owns a lot in Taos Pines Ranch."
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