<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><head><meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"><meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 15 (filtered medium)"><style><!--
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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>HOA with dated covenants was written with restrictions on landscaping height, and separate view encroachment restrictions. The landscaping height restrictions seem fairly straightforward – homeowner merely measures the height of the vegetation from some fixed datum. But the view encroachment restriction has got me to wondering. The covenants do not identify a formula or means of determining whether or not a particular view has been encroached upon. So property owners and HOA are left to cobble together a means of enforcing the covenant in those situations in which vegetation is under the height limitation, but still grows to allegedly obstruct a view. Determining whether a view has been obstructed, and by how much, can be an interesting exercise – is it appropriate to “measure” the view from a particular point of a deck or from a particular point looking out from a picture window? Or from a particular viewing height (the taller the observer, the less obstructed the view)?<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The HOA has asked me if it is appropriate to delegate the authority to make these determinations to a committee, and let the committee develop its own standards, an idea that seems likely to result in arbitrary decisions. I am not sure if the HOA is able to make arbitrary decisions without any guiderails, but I see continued arguments between neighbors in the future. How have others dealt with these kinds of issues?<o:p></o:p></p></div></body></html>