At the Rancho Santa Fe Association’s July meeting, newly elected board directors Skip Atkins and Mark Simpson took their seats at the table and the board picked its new officers for 2024-25. For the second year in a row, Courtney LeBeau will serve as board president while Jeff Simmons was named the new vice president. Phil Trubey will continue as the board’s treasurer.
At the summer meeting, the board heard the highlights of the community’s successful July 4 parade and the updates on the infrastructure committee’s work, which included conversations with the county about street improvements and with SDG&E about the undergrounding of utility poles.
Director Scott Thurman said another issue raised at the committee level has been the activities of Surf Sports Park and whether the Association should consider joining the Fairbanks Polo Club Homeowners Association’s lawsuit against the city regarding the alleged over-use of the property.
After purchasing the adjacent property on Via de la Valle in 2022, Surf Sports has also proposed a 48,066-square-foot, two-story multi-purpose sports building, sports fields and new parking lot. The 24-acre vacant lot had long been planned as a senior housing community prior to Surf Sports’ purchase.
Thurman requested that the topic be discussed at a future board meeting so the board could learn more information.
During director comments, Trubey also proposed that the board review its short-term rental regulations, to make clear what is and what is not allowed in the Covenant. Trubey said the issue of rental rules seems to come up every other year or so after a wild party or incident occurs in a home that has been rented out.
The issue is a complicated one. The “convoluted, 100-year-old” Paragraph 88 of the Protective Covenant appears to prohibit residents from leasing out an accessory building to anyone who is not a family member or employed by the family. The Association’s fine schedule also reflects that language. “Layered on top of all that we have a relatively new California law with regard to ADUs which actually overrules the Covenant,” Trubey said.
California law prohibits HOAs from banning the rental of accessory dwelling units (ADUs) or junior ADUs (a unit that is no more than 500 feet). As pointed out in public comment, guest houses can differ from ADUs as ADUs are required to have basic needs like a kitchen and bathroom.
Back in 2017, the Association proposed a new regulation that prohibited vacation rentals for anything less than 30 consecutive days and required that a lease be for an entire dwelling, not just a portion of a dwelling or guest house. After the new regulation was posted, the then-board received over 60 member comments and ultimately decided not to take action.
Trubey said it might be time for the board to consider a policy.
Due to a scheduling conflict, the Association board will next meet on the second Thursday of the month in August, on Aug. 8.
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