Monday, March 11, 2013

Letter to the Editor re: letter to the BOS from Rob Adamson

Dear County Supervisors:
My name is Rob Adamson and I am currently serving as the Treasurer for the Copper Cove Home Owners Association at Lake Tulloch (CCLTOA). I am aware of the agenda item for tomorrows Supervisor meeting regarding the limitation of "short term rentals" within our subdivision. I find it outrageous that you feel you have the power to limit private property rights to landowners without due process. Your dictator approach to even attempting to legislate into law an ordinance that would supersede the CC&R's of the CCLTOA is simply appalling. Everyone who purchases a home within our Association is required to acknowledge that they have read and understand the CC&R's of the Association and clearly ours do not disallow renting of one's property whether it be short term or otherwise. So buyer be aware.

We have over 2000 properties within our Association and  we have the right to establish the rules that regulate our Association not withstanding current County, State and Federal laws. I have been on the Board of Directors at the CCLTOA for almost 2 years now. Not one time during my service on the Board has a member attended a Board meeting or sent a correspondence to our attention to complain about these so called "short term rentals" and the nuisance associated with them. I have heard comments from this Board of Supervisors that our Board of Directors is somehow absent from the discussion or disinterested. Neither could be further from the truth....it has not been a matter of community concern. As a matter of fact we have had many more people complaining of dogs barking that create a nuisance. So what's next? Are we to ban dogs from our community or require a special use permit for a dog? Or course not....and why? because there are laws on the books that prohibit this kind of disturbance from barking dogs.
What I have heard throughout the argument against the "short term rentals" are such things as "there are too many cars and trailers parked along the street." I ask the question..."are these cars and trailers parked illegally?" if so, then ticket or tow them as these are County maintained roads and there are currently laws against parking illegally. If they are not parked illegally but someone simply doesn’t like the appearance of all the vehicles that’s too bad. I don’t want a lot of vehicles parked near my home either but if they are legally parked then why should the laws be changed to accommodate my personal preference? I also hear that the partying is too loud and goes on too late. I am sympathetic to this but we currently have a noise ordinance in place that a homeowner being disturbed can take advantage of. I have also heard the complaint about outhouses in the street to accommodate an annual church gathering. If the outhouse is not placed correctly then call the County and complain....or maybe better yet talk to your neighbor and ask them to place it an area that is not visible....sadly, maybe that kind of neighborhood communication doesn’t exist anymore so lets just dictate to the people what you can and cannot do. I have also heard that argument that the renters "load up at Costco before coming to the lake and don’t really shop here." I ask you...have you been in the Payless Market on a summer Friday afternoon or Saturday morning? The placed is packed with shoppers and I would bet these are the busiest days that market has.
In the last CCLTOA Board meeting we had there was overwhelming support to not allow this ban to go through. I want to be clear, I do not have a house on the lake nor do I rent my property, I simply oppose the "long arm of the law" reaching beyond it's intended role. During that Board meeting there we people who stated that the only way they have been able to keep there home from going into foreclosure was the ability to rent the home out. They are able to pay their taxes, hire local help for needed repairs or clean up thereby providing opportunity for some in an otherwise poor economy . This means revenue to the County that badly needs it.
I understand that Poker Flats has disallowed these types of rentals and their doing so has been cited as an example for other Associations to follow. But lets not lose sight of the fact that the homeowners of Poker Flats voted on this change and they adopted the new rule. Here, in the CCLTOA you have the boisterous few, less than 1% of the members of our Association, persuading County Supervisors to arbitrarily alter the CC&R's without a vote of the members at large. Let our Association debate which laws need to be changed amongst ourselves. Moreover, you want to enact a law that not only applies to Copper Cove exclusively and not the rest of the County, you want to provide for exceptions for certain Homeowners within the same area....how can this be??!! This ordinance must be stricken down and not adopted. The County does not have the resources to "police" this if it should pass and I do not feel you have the power to selectively restrict property rights within Calaveras County.
I hope you have the foresight to remember you represent the people of Calaveras County not the just loud few.
Respectfully,
Rob Adamson