My Position On The Design Review Process

My Sea Ranch home was completed in June of 2006. While I am extremely pleased with the end result, like many, I found the design process somewhat confusing and frustrating. I do not believe that the design committee made any substantive errors with regard to the CC&R’s. However, I do believe that the process itself was inherently flawed.

The design committee is made up of six architects, two of whom are landscape architects. However, only three meet as a committee. Of those three, at least one is a landscape architect.

Here is the problem:

Because committee members rotate, a submitted plan is not reviewed by the same three members throughout the entire process, thus increasing the likelihood of inconsistent and contradictory rulings.

The Sea Association Office recognized the problem and reacted by assigning the DCEM Executive Director to prepare documents and be present at all Design Review Committee meetings, thus insuring that inconsistent and contradictory rulings would not take place. Excellent.

The next step should be to obtain member input to determine if this has indeed improved the process. If it has, then we need to continue to monitor the process and make adjustments as needed. If it has not, then we need to investigate the problem further.

I understand that the Design Review process can sometime mean not getting what you want. However, inconsistent and contradictory rulings are unacceptable.

My position on the Design Process is this:

As a general rule, the Design Review process should not last longer than one year. If it does, we should know exactly why.

If elected to the Sea Ranch Board of Directors, I will commit to monitor the Design Review process on a monthly basis and make my findings known at all board meetings.