The Whitney Oaks development area consists of a large portion of northeast Rocklin as indicated in the image below.
Whitney Oaks
The Whitney Oaks Phase II subdivision, generally encompassing the areas east and north of Crest Drive, Park Drive, and around the Whitney Oaks Golf Course, was approved by the City Council in 1996. At that time it was recognized that development of the subdivision would have an off-site visual impact. This impact was addressed in the environmental evaluation of the Whitney Oaks Planned Development and determined to be “less than significant” as long as the homes were designed and built to conform to the Whitney Oaks Design Guidelines approved by the City Council. In addition, homes built on designated non-graded (NG) lots were to be customized to preserve slopes and / or oak trees to the extent feasible, to the satisfaction of the Planning Commission through the Design Review (Specific Plan Use Permit) process.
The City Council, to further reduce the visual impacts on adjacent homes, restricted the building height on a number of lots in the Whitney Oaks Phase II subdivision, including a number of lots in the Springfield at Whitney Oaks development. Specifically, the building heights on these lots were restricted to a maximum of 20 feet above the finish grade. To implement this standard a line is drawn parallel to and 20 feet above the finish grade as approved by the Planning Commission. No portion of the homes on these lots, with the exception of the chimney, may extend above this imaginary line.
In 2000, the developer of Springfield at Whitney Oaks, Pulte Homes Corporation, submitted an application for a Specific Plan Use Permit (SPU-2000-02), a requirement for development at that time, requesting approval of house plans, grading, landscaping and fencing on 15 lots in the Whitney Oaks Phase II, Units 28 A (Lots 647 - 651) and 28 B (Lots 772 – 780, and 785) subdivisions, as generally indicated in the image below.
Due to the complexity of the design issues specific to each of these lots, the Planning Commission directed the applicant to bring these lots forward in smaller groups. Development on the first five of these lots (Lots 647, 648, 649, 780, &785) was approved by the City Council in 2000 by adoption of City Council Resolution No. 2000-277. On October 15, 2002, the Planning Commission held a public hearing and denied the Specific Plan Use Permit for the remaining ten lots. The City Council considered an appeal of the Planning Commission denial on December 10, 2002 and after considering public testimony and deliberations directed staff to prepare resolutions to grant the appeal.
On January 14, 2003, the City Council granted the appeal thereby approving the Specific Plan Use Permit and allowing the development of the remaining 10 lots (650, 651, and 772 - 779) located on Tahoe Vista Drive, via City Council Resolution No 2003-07. Among the project’s conditions of approval, the City Council placed limitations on the construction of patio covers, balconies, additions and other structures on the rear of these homes and further required the planting of screening landscaping at the rear of each home so as to minimize their visibility, primarily from the residences located below and downslope on Rawhide Road. The screening landscaping included but was not limited to planting of ten trees behind each of the ten houses and planting of vines to cover retaining walls. Additionally, open space easements were to be recorded over the steeply sloping areas at the rear of each lot. Later that year, the last of the ten houses affected by the condition of approval were given a final inspection and the homes became occupied.
In 2008, the City received a complaint that most of the trees and vines planted under the conditions of approval were either dead or gone. Staff performed a field inspection and found that 68 of the original 100 trees were in fact dead. Over the course of the next almost two years, the Springfield section of the Whitney Oaks Community Association worked with staff to get the trees and vines replanted and the irrigation fixed. In 2010 it was discovered that deer had eaten the vines that had planted on the retaining walls, so the homeowner’s association (HOA) had to replant again.
In early 2012, it was discovered that City staff had erroneously issued several building permits that allowed the construction of patio covers which did not conform to the provisions specified in SPU-2000-02. This prompted the City Council to review the development regulations at a public hearing. After considering public testimony and the actual visibility of the structures, the City Council determined that condition B.6.A. of Resolution 2003-7 which applied a restriction limiting the location and extent of patio covers, balconies, additions and other structures on the rear portion of these lots was not necessary to maintain compatibility between these sites and nearby homes on Rawhide Road, and therefore, the application of such a restriction should be removed. Accordingly, the City Council approved Resolution 2012-84 on May 8, 2012 modifying SPU-2000-02 by deleting condition B.6.A., but leaving all other conditions in full force and effect (see changes reflected in Attachment 2).
Also in 2012, staff received a complaint that a homeowner on Tahoe Vista Drive had severely pruned their open space trees. Upon investigation, the complaint was found to be accurate and the homeowner was subsequently required to replant the trees that had been pruned. Later that year, in April, the City received a phone call that goats that herded through the open space by the master homeowners association (Whitney Oaks Community Association) had damaged many of the young trees that had been replanted. Staff contacted the association, who sent their arborist out to report on the damage to the trees. The arborist determined that 18 trees needed to be replaced because they are beyond saving and 10 could be monitored for a period of six months to see if they will survive. A compliance plan was implemented that ultimately required replacement of 18+ trees that could not be saved.
Most recently, in 2018, the HOA contacted staff to discuss removal and replacement of three screening landscaping redwood trees that had died. The HOA asked for approval to remove the dead trees and consideration as to whether they needed to be replaced in light of growth of other plantings as well as the growth of naturally-occurring trees and vegetation in the open space area. Staff approved the removal of the dead trees and deferred a decision on replacement until the impact of their removal could be assessed. Ultimately, staff required Deodar Cedars, a much more resilient tree with similar growth characteristics, to be planted to replace the redwood trees that had been removed. Very shortly after the redwood trees were removed, a homeowner on Rawhide Road contacted staff expressing concern with the removal of the redwood trees and the general maintenance of the other screening landscaping plantings; as a result a Code Compliance case was opened to look into the issue.
The replacements for the dead redwood trees have since been planted but because of the Code Compliance action, staff began working with the HOA and property owners on a replanting and compliance plan to correct the deficiencies in the screening landscaping. It should be noted that the Springfield section of the Whitney Oaks Community Association have always been cooperative in the City’s efforts to keep the screening landscaping alive in the open space easement areas. However, this has not been an easy task as the area is out of sight and not easily accessible. Over the years some residents have violated the screening landscaping requirements, unbeknownst to the association until after the fact. In those cases where the association has acknowledged fault, they have rectified the situation. Where it has been known that individual homeowners have violated the screening landscaping requirements, those individuals have been contacted and the landscaping replaced. Throughout these efforts, staff has had a good working relationship with the HOA. The HOA has tried to ensure that the individual homeowners are made aware of the rules and on occasion, have taken things into their own hands. It should be noted that in this situation the HOA is maintaining private property, not common area property, which is not their usual function. They have to work specifically with these ten homeowners to maintain compliance, and further complicating the effort is that over time homes are sold and change hands and the Board of the HOA changes so the issue can drop off everyone’s minds unless and until a complaint comes forward.
In light of the above, staff was directed to take steps to bring the Specific Plan Use Permit back to the City Council for consideration of a modification to eliminate the rear screen landscaping requirements placed on the ten lots in question, or to possibly remove the conditions of the SPU entitlement entirely. The screening landscaping conditions were imposed by the City Council as part of the entitlement process for the development, and those conditions only apply to ten homes. It has been difficult at best for the homeowners to maintain screening landscaping and associated irrigation systems behind their lots in the designated areas, because of the steep grade and difficulty in accessing the sites, the soil conditions, and the difficulty of having to provide constant monitoring, among other considerations. It is also important to note that Tahoe Vista is an age-restricted community, so many of the homeowners cannot maintain the landscaping in these areas on their own and must hire a landscape service. In addition, the monitoring and enforcement of the screening landscaping requirements since their establishment, and the anticipated continuance into the future, has consumed and is likely to continue to consume an inordinate amount of staff time. As such, the original landscaping screening conditions have proven to be a hardship on the homeowners and it may be appropriate to re-evaluate their continued applicability.
Alternatives
Based upon the above discussion, there are several options available to address this issue as outlined below:
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Do Nothing – The City Council can choose not to take any action in which case staff will resume working with the home owners and HOA to implement a restoration plan to bring the properties back into compliance with the 2003 entitlement as modified in 2012, and the on-going monitoring and enforcement by the HOA and City staff will continue.
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Rescind the Conditions of Resolution 2003-7 entirely. This option would remove both the remaining architectural restrictions and screening landscaping requirements listed in the Specific Plan Use Permit’s conditions applicable to the ten lots in question. All of the lots in question have been developed for approximately 18 years and significant changes or additions to any of these homes are probably unlikely. Nonetheless, there remain some conditions in the Specific Plan Use Permit related to construction standards such as setbacks, roof pitch, and retaining wall construction materials that may be desirable to retain.
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Modify Resolution 2003-7 to eliminate the screening landscaping requirements. The majority of the issues associated with these ten lots have been related to the maintenance and upkeep of the screening landscaping required to be planted on steep slopes behind each of the homes. As noted previously the steep slopes, poor soil conditions, and lack of easy access make planting and maintaining any landscaping in these areas challenging. In addition, over the intervening 18 +/- years since the City Council first considered development on these lots the oak trees and other vegetation in the HOA-owned open space between these homes and the residences on Rawhide Road have, overall, grown and filled in to provide for better screening, thereby reducing or eliminating the need for supplementary landscaping in these areas.
Recommendation:
If the City Council is inclined to modify the Specific Plan Use Permit, staff would recommend Option C as it would relieve the homeowners and the HOA of the screening landscaping requirements that are currently in place while preserving the remaining architectural standards applicable to these parcels. Staff has drafted the attached Resolution to implement Option C, should that be the City Council’s desire. The effect of the proposed amendments can be seen in Attachment 2.
If another action is found to be preferable beyond the options outlined above, it will likely be necessary to continue this item to allow staff to prepare an appropriate resolution.