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| Missy wonders why she didn't get pie and ice cream. |
John gave us a project history statement (included at the bottom of this post) that detailed his extensive work with this park and understanding of the infrastructure issues here. There were two major points that struck me during his discussion:
- There is a maintenance plan for all parts of the infrastructure … some visible to us, some not. We can see the roads being seal-coated but probably do not notice when the sewer system is being maintained or pumped out. (Although many of us noticed when the leach field was being re-worked due to rodent damage.) There was an allusion recently at an HOA meeting about "sewer system stink." One of the meeting residents who lives close to the sewer system plant said that they've only noticed the smell a few times when the system was being pumped out.
- Many aspects of the development of the new part of park came at the request of residents through the HOA Board. We asked John how hard it was to get owner approval for those things -- such as the new clubhouse and pool, walking trails, renovation of the existing clubhouse, playground area. Allegations by the current HOA Board have been that they've had to fight the owner for everything. John says he was told to do "whatever it takes to make it work and make it work well."
LOTS. One thing I didn't fully understand was that, right now, we don't have "legal" lots, although many of us have markers showing the "boundaries" of our lots. What we learned last night was that those markers were set to show the "rental lot space" and to guide placement of our coaches. "In most cases," John stated, "those markers will be the same as the legal boundaries, but there will be cases where boundary issues will need to be worked out."
Several people in the group brought up issues that showed the complexity of determining the legal boundaries between neighbors and settling the individual-versus-common-area issues. I've just begun to appreciate why this process of conversion is so lengthy and methodical. Not only does it have to adhere to state and county rules and regulations, it is creating 304 legal entities out of one 50-acre parcel, including a detailed inspection of all of the infrastructure: water, sewer, roads, common buildings, walls, pools, trails …. and so on.
Mesa Dunes is like a small village … as a matter of fact it's far bigger than the barely-map-dot town I grew up in.
EMERGENCY ACCESS. Most mornings, I walk Missy down the street and turn left onto a dirt trail that leads me into the neighborhood by the middle school. This was a critical find for me because it offered us unlimited walking options. However, I didn't realize it was actually an "Emergency Pedestrian Easement" until we saw it on an aerial view map and "Vesting Tentative Tract" map that John provided us.
Not only does this trail give us a way out of the park in case of an emergency, but it gives the kids in our park access to the middle school and walking diversity for others of us. My neighbors are runners and can often be seen pushing a double stroller with their daughters (2 and a few months old) through the Rocking Horse neighborhood.
One of our detail-minded residents asked why there was only one one road leading into and out of the park … something that had never crossed my mind and another reason why all of us thinking together is such a plus. The answer demonstrated once again how much thought has to go into a development such as this.
If you look at a map of the park, you can see two major roads heading into the roundabout … Mesa Grande Drive and Taos/Durango. The roundabout was designed to be wide enough to handle two streams of traffic exiting the park, thus offering a faster exit in case of emergency.
PRICES. Anyway you cut it, most of us wish we knew the price of our lots. The more I understand this process, however, the more it makes sense that we won't know them for quite awhile.
I continue to hear people call for having the appraisal done now. But, how could an appraiser do an evaluation when the lots aren't even officially mapped? Appraisers … like engineers … don't engage is guess work. I met with a local appraiser and tried seventeen different ways to get him to give me an idea of what he thought the lots would sell for. He told me in seventeen different ways all the reasons why that was impossible. I tried.
Even the timing on this process makes it meaningless to try to put a price on the lots today. It could be two years before the lots are for sale. A world of things could happen in those two years.
Project History (from John Wallace)
The project (Mesa Dunes) was built in two phases. Phase 1 was developed earlier by the Hawkins Family and included a 186-unit mobile home park, clubhouse facility and on-site water and waste water treatment/disposal system.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Wallace Group assisted the new owners with the development of Phase 2 of the development. The new phase consisted of 118 additional units processed through the County with the Planning Commission/Board of Supervisors approval of a Development Plan. Phase 2 included the addition of 118 new residential mobile home lots and many Park infrastructure improvements including:
- an expanded community water storage and treatment system
- new waste water treatment and disposal system
- renovation and improvement of an existing play area
- a new clubhouse and pool
- existing clubhouse renovation
- perimeter fitness trail
- riparian/wetland enhancement and drainage improvements
- pedestrian emergency/school access
- an upgraded entrance with a roundabout for vehicles including school buses (although that didn't work out because of school bus regulations)
- improvements to Hwy 1 to improve entrance to the park (the road was lowered 2 1/2 feet!)
