Please Save The Date! RCHCA Autumn meeting Tuesday, October 24th

Dear neighbors,

Please save the date for the Autumn meeting of the Rock Creek Hills Citizens’ Association, in the Multipurpose Room at Grace Episcopal Day School, 9411 Connecticut Avenue, at 7:30 PM on Tuesday, October 24th.

As of this writing, anticipated agenda items are:

• School safety
With the new school open, concerns have arisen about the safety of students walking to school in roadways that are increasingly trafficked with vehicles. These concerns will intensify as the school reaches capacity. We will provide an update on possible approaches to enhancing pedestrian safety.

• Permit parking
With the new school open, concerns have arisen about the availability of street parking in front of homes close to the school. These concerns will intensify as the school reaches capacity. As discussed, the County provides a mechanism whereby residents can request permit parking; see notes on remarks by RCHCA Vice President Hill Carter at <https://goo.gl/TFgBZa>. An update will be provided at the meeting.

• Environmental update
With school construction (almost) finished, we have asked the Planning Board and Parks Department to restore and stabilize the Silver Creek stream valley, and to improve pedestrian routes on Parks Department land. An update will be provided at the meeting.

• Covenants update
Shirley and Carlos Domenech reside at 9608 Kensington Parkway. The covenants pertaining to that lot state that “No line fences or walls of any kind shall be erected …. except … such fences … as may be approved by the Continental Life Insurance Company, Inc.” and “No … structure of any kind … shall be constructed… unless, and until, complete plans and specifications… shall first be submitted to and approved by the Continental Life Insurance Company, Inc.” (Note that Rock Creek Hills Covenants, Inc., inherited the covenant enforcement authority of the Continental Life Insurance Company.) However, in August 2016, Shirley and Carlos Domenech built a fence, including a (partial) front-yard fence, without submitting the required request for authorization. The absence of front yard fences is a positive aesthetic characteristic of our community. Furthermore, an unauthorized front yard fence could serve as a “slippery slope” precedent leading to the proliferation of many more front yard fences and other violations of the covenants, harming property values. Accordingly, Shirley and Carlos Domenech were repeatedly asked to reconfigure their fence, in order to eliminate the front yard portion. These requests were not productive. Shirley and Carlos Domenech, per their request, were then invited to make a presentation regarding this matter at the most recent (March 2017) general meeting of the RCHCA. Following that meeting, the RCHCA Board, in their capacity as the officers of Rock Creek Covenants, Inc., and consistent with the vote of the membership at the previous (October 2016) general meeting of the RCHCA, referred the matter to counsel. We have asked the court of appropriate jurisdiction to order Shirley and Carlos Domenech to remove their unauthorized fence. An update will be provided at the meeting.

• Nominating committee
RCHCA Past President John Robinson has agreed to chair a Nominating Committee, whose purpose is to nominate members to stand for election as officers at the Winter meeting (to be held in January or February). RCHCA members Winnie Holbrook, Fern Shepard, and Gary Ditto have volunteered to serve on this committee. We are soliciting additional volunteers to serve on this committee; if you are interested, please inform any Board member. Your Association’s President, Secretary, and Treasurer do not wish to stand for re-election.

If you have any additional agenda items, please bring them to the attention of any Board member.

A full announcement of the meeting will be emailed on this listserv, posted at rchca.org, and sent to all homes via first class mail.

We look forward to seeing you at the meeting! We’ve got more “we’re glad you’re our neighbor” signs (see <https://goo.gl/MMfFks>) and will bring them to the meeting in case you’d like to bring one home. The cost to the Association was $9.99; if you’d like a sign, then please bring a check.

With best regards,
Jim Pekar
President, RCHCA

P.S. We inquired about holding the meeting in Silver Creek Middle School, but were told that ongoing after-hours construction will keep us from being able to hold meetings there until the next (2018-2019) school year.