May/June 2005 GCCA Newsletter

Glen Cove . . . From Then to Now

By Barbara Hooker

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Barbara Hooker recently retired from active community service—she had been the G.C.C.A. Treasurer for five years, and she had acted as the California Lighthouse Representative/Alternate for the past seven years.)

We moved into Glen Cove just after Thanksgiving, l986. I remember it so well—the area was so new, and the Glen Cove Parkway was a delight—there were no homes along it after Bermuda! The school construction was a long way from finished, and the landscaping was new and small so the view was incredible. South Regatta didn’t exist yet, as was true of many other streets. There weren’t any stoplights—and they weren’t needed, either.

There was a lot of wildlife in Glen Cove back then. Of course, there still is, but more then, I think. Most of the fences weren’t built yet so the animals had an easier time to get around, and most of Glen Cove wasn’t finished yet. Ernie (my husband) worked one late day each week and got home about 9:30 p.m. Each time he drove home on that late schedule, a rabbit would be waiting along the Parkway and would dart out in front of his car. Ernie began to look for the rabbit every week and felt as though the rabbit was playing a game with him. After several months, the rabbit was gone. Perhaps he played his game one time too many. Ernie still misses him! We had skunks in the back yard, and one evening as Ernie was doing his “health run” along the Benicia State Park where South Regatta would eventually be located, he found he had a running companion—a fox.

There were no big trees, lots of construction, wonderful views, lots of wind (creating a lot of dust from home construction sites), and the new homes were all neat and well tended. Our homes were predominately owner-occupied.

Back then, Vallejo had a Welcome Wagon organization. They visited us and welcomed us to the community with a rose, some coupons, and answered all our questions about the area. And the City gave us each a tree in our front yard! We knew we had found our home!

Over the years things began to change. Now there are beautiful large trees; and with building completed the wind is not bad because everything is more sheltered. So, the dust problem is gone. However, many residents have lost almost all of their view. We all expected to lose some as landscaping grew, but too many residents no longer respect our C.C.&R’s. Some people have little regard for their neighbors and refuse to trim or maintain their large trees and overgrown bushes.

There are wrecked cars on some streets and driveways—I counted four for several weeks on North Regatta alone! I’m seeing more and more commercial vehicles—tow trucks, semi-tractors, limousines, vans, etc.—parked in driveways and on our streets. It’s against the laws of Vallejo, and our C.C.&R.’s. Huge trucks will destroy our streets. Commercial vehicles parked routinely in the neighborhood tear down our property values.

There are RV’s and boats parked on Glen Cove streets and driveways, too. These are also against our C.C.&R.’s and make some of our beautiful developments look crowded and neglected.

Ernie and I still find Glen Cove to be a wonderful place to live. We do still have wildlife (raccoons and ‘possums), and we get a great deal of entertainment watching them. The raccoons are a special treat to our grandchildren when they visit. Our grandchildren are learning that all animals are valuable, that each has its own personality and deserves our respect. Most of our neighbors are wonderful. Children who were born here on our court have grown to be beautiful, polite, well-reared teenagers. Our property value is now nearly four times what we paid for our home.

However, because about 10% of the residents don’t value our neighborhood, Glen Cove is not what it is capable of being. The “10%ers” are the ones who won’t mow their grass or maintain their landscaping and who seem to believe that all the rest of us treasure the sight of their garbage cans and recycle bins sitting in their front yards.

Quite a few years ago it became clear to a forward-looking group of residents that Glen Cove was in danger of becoming like so many other neighborhoods-and they joined together to form the Glen Cove Community Association, a non-profit organization to encourage residents to keep Glen Cove the very special place that it is. Please be supportive of the G.C.C.A. efforts.

CHAIR’S CHIT-CHAT

By Ruth O. Fisher, G.C.C.A. Chair

It’s time for fun in the sun!

Before you scamper off to your dream vacation, please mark your calendar for the next G.C.C.A. General Meeting slated for June 16th at the Glen Cove Elementary School. Scheduled from 7-9 p.m., the Thursday night session will include a varied guest speaker line-up. Of course, refreshments will be served.

The Six Flags Marine World opening day tickets sold at February’s General Meeting netted $135. Approved by the G.C.C.A. Board, the money will be added to the School’s Gift Fund along with a recent $25 donation.

The neighborhood educational facility also benefits from new G.C.C.A. enrollees who opt to designate $5 of the $20 membership fee to the Glen Cove School. Interested residents—new or established—may find the G.C.C.A. Membership Form on Page 8.

This issue also includes two articles (Cover Page & Page 9) written by two of our charter residents—both reflect memories of a spiffy, new Glen Cove. Back in those pristine days of the ‘80s, no one could have predicted that some of our community’s streets would be targeted as prime spots for “doing donuts.” The license plate number and driver description of vehicles engaging in such maneuvers should be immediately reported to the Vallejo Police Department.

A persistent controversy that may long linger in this part of Vallejo is trees blocking views. Some residents have, without authority, cut down trees on L.M.D. land and H.O.A. properties. Others have, without authority, planted view blocking trees and vegetation on adjacent parcels owned by someone else. Sounds like a topic for the June 16th meeting, huh?

Hope your summer sizzles!

L.M.D. CORNER

By Dennis Albright, Headlands Representative

The Glen Cove Landscape Maintenance District (L.M.D.) maintains our common area landscaping which is located primarily along the Glen Cove Parkway medians/side slopes and in the open space areas behind some residences. This work is performed by a contractor selected and supervised by the City of Vallejo, L.M.D. Division of the Public Works Department.

We all pay for this work with a $155 assessment that is paid with our property tax bill which supports an annual budget of approximately $500,000. (Common area landscaping for properties governed by Home Owner Associations is normally maintained by their respective associations.)

We are currently approaching the end of the annual contract year on June 30th at which time a new L.M.D. contractor, D&H Landscaping, will replace TruGreen Lawn Care which had been contracted for several years. Because of this transition, it is important that all outstanding or incomplete work is finished prior to this time. Accordingly, residents who have L.M.D.-maintained areas behind their backyard fences or adjacent areas should report any shrubs that are growing into their fences or are in need of trimming as well as high weeds. This is particularly important this year considering the amount of rain we have experienced. These problems, as well as any instances of illegal dumping in L.M.D. open areas, should be reported to our principal City L.M.D. Inspector, Mr. Pete Cary, who can be contacted at 553-7219. (For future reference, please note that this phone number is routinely listed in the Neighbor & Community Directory of the G.C.C.A. Newsletter.) Messages are normally returned promptly and addressed in a reasonable period of time.

Residents requesting trimming in L.M.D. areas required to maintain views should also contact the L.M.D. Inspector. Unfortunately, some residents have independently trimmed, hacked, and removed various trees, plants, and shrubs from the landscaping easement behind their backyard fences and left the debris to be hauled away by someone else. While this approach may appear to be an expedient solution to remove plant growth from a resident’s view plain, it is clearly ill-advised for a number of reasons.

Trees and shrubs trimmed improperly can result in their degradation, and sometimes they die. Our many steep slopes in this area were planted with specific vegetation whose root structures hold the soil in place and prevent erosion which can lead to slope failure and ultimately affect fences and slope stability. Plant material removed must, therefore, be replaced. The cost of such replacement, as well as the cost of removing the debris left in the area can be billed to the individual homeowner. Otherwise, the rest of us end up paying to clean up their mess through our assessment payments which could more appropriately be applied to improvement work in the common areas. When contacted, the L.M.D. Inspector may not agree to remove all vegetation in a given area but often will suggest trimming of tree(s) or replacing shrubs with other types to improve the view plain or obtain a corridor view.

THE GLEN COVE COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION

**WORKING FOR YOU **

By Phillip Johnson, The Crest Representative

As a resident of Glen Cove since March, l989, and a member of the Glen Cove Community Association’s Board of Directors since July, l997, I’ve seen our neighborhood go through many changes over the years—mostly good changes, but some not so good.

But, through it all, we have been lucky to have the Glen Cove Community Association working on our behalf.

Although the main goal of the G.C.C.A. is to maintain property values, its members act as the eyes, ears, and voice of the community through the G.C.C.A. Newsletters, the G.C.C.A. Website (www.glencovevallejo.com) and the quarterly meetings held for all Glen Cove residents. In addition, G.C.C.A. Board Members have met with Vallejo Mayors and City Council Members, past and present, to address problems concerning our community.

Our G.C.C.A. Board of Directors consists of volunteers from the various developments throughout the community and meets monthly. Through strong leadership over the years, we have assisted in winning some important battles. The most recent ones include the defeat of the proposed Glen Cove Marina Apartment project (adjacent to the Glen Cove Marina) in 2003 and the defeat of the planned Vista Cove development (near Glen Cove Hills) in 2000. In addition, we played a major role in the 2003 defeat of the L.N.G. Mare Island project.

Beginning in 2004, we have cut the G.C.C.A. Newsletter publishing costs by more than $5,000 per year by services provided by the formation of our Newsletter Committee, headed by our G.C.C.A. Chair Ruth O. Fisher, who serves as Editor and is ably assisted by volunteer members in the effort to keep us informed about what’s going on within our neighborhood.

One of the main reasons I decided to become an active member of the G.C.C.A. in 1997 was because I had noticed a decrease in the quality and quantity of work being performed on landscaping in our community. As you know, we homeowners all pay money through our property taxes for landscaping, Glen Cove being one of many Landscape Maintenance Districts within Vallejo. One of the problems was that the City of Vallejo had been using funds intended for L.M.D. landscaping to perform work done outside of L.M.D. areas.

Around that time, we formed our own G.C.C.A. Landscape Maintenance Committee. This L.M.D. Committee is designed to meet and confer regularly with the City of Vallejo’s L.M.D. Inspectors, to assist in planning the work to be performed throughout Glen Cove, to monitor the L.M.D. budget, and to review the quality of work being performed by the contractors. Dennis Albright is doing an excellent job as the head of our L.M.D. Committee.

The big issue that we now face is the long-awaited development of the Glen Cove Waterfront Park. As I understand it, the land set aside for the park was planned and paid for by the developers as the community was formed—no doubt the cost was passed on to the new home buyers. Note, I said “paid for.” Now, as stated in previous G.C.C.A. Newsletters, the Vallejo Inter-Tribal Council is petitioning the Greater Vallejo Recreation District (G.V.R.D.) to close this land to the public. Janet Laine, the G.C.C.A. Vice-Chair, oversees our Glen Cove Waterfront Park Committee and is doing an excellent job presenting our case to G.V.R.D. and keeping us up to date on this important issue.

Although our main goal is to improve and maintain property values in our immediate neighborhood, our G.C.C.A. has been and remains active in City-wide issues, especially those issues affecting us directly. Therefore, I encourage you to get involved by joining our association ($20 annual fee) and volunteer to be a Development Representative or a Development Alternate. Please join your neighbors in keeping our community safe, sane, and clean.