Dear Driftwood Road Residents and Neighbors,

Many of you have viewed the proposed story pole structure at 231 Driftwood Road and have seen first hand how this large inharmonious structure will drastically impact our neighborhood and set a precedent for the future. If our community does not want a precedence set for big square inharmonious homes on this side Driftwood Road then please sign this petition. Take a look at what is being proposed if you haven’t. Our Architectural Committee let us down. We need to let the Board of Directors, City of Newport Beach and Shore Cliffs legal counsel know that a mistake has been made and assist our community in rectifying this error.

By electronically or physically signing this petition:

1. I/we believe the proposed improvement of 231 Driftwood Road is inharmonious.

2. I/we are asking the City of Newport Beach, Shore Cliffs Architectural Committee and the Shore Cliff Board of Directors to immediately put stop to any approval or further progress until a formal process is planned and adopted and residents are heard to determine if this structure is inharmonious.

Background

By way of Background, the Architectural Committee and Board of Directors have received letters from many of you in the community. The Architectural Committee had denied the plans on more than one occasion stating that this structure was inharmonious and that it needed to be reduced in size. The builder of 231 Driftwood continued to make legal threats and at a recent meeting where a quorum was held, but not all of the Architectural Committee (“ARC”) members were present, we believe an error was made. Our understanding those present at the meeting: Three ARC members, 231 Driftwood owners (including, legal counsel, builder, architect), and James Harkins (ARC counsel). There were no residents advised of the meeting other than Committee members.

In this meeting was a sudden turn of events, with no warning to anyone in the community, ARC verbally approved slightly modified plans (reducing second story 6’ 5” from rear setback) This basically means that 231 Driftwood is one huge 2 story wall spanning front to rear 6’ 5” from rear setback (which is 5.5ft). It is grossly inharmonious with nothing of size or proportion on this side of Driftwood Road. Since there was a verbal approval, we believe ARC then felt their hands were tied and proceeded to send the owner of 231 Driftwood a change/approval letter for the proposed structure.

Outlined in resident correspondence and ARC’s initial denial letters to 231 Driftwood, the proposed structure is simply far too large for this lot size and rear setback is out of scope, both creating an inharmonious structure for this side of Driftwood Road. This will now set a precedent going forward that is not in the best interest of residents of this community as outlined in the many letters ARC received from concerned residents. (Please also note: At the bottom of this letter is the lot data and comparisons pulled for structures excluding garage in square footage).

Shore Cliffs Property Owners Association CC&R’s give ARC and the Board of Directors powers we believe were not appropriately communicated by Shore Cliffs legal counsel. In the Architectural Committee meetings attended by residents, and in letters sent to the owner of 231 Driftwood, it was clear ARC was agreement with these views. Namely applicable sections in accordance with Article IV, Section 4.2 of the CC&Rs: The Architectural Committee may withhold approval of plans, specifications, color schemes and block or plot plans because of (a) noncompliance with the requirements of this Declaration, (b) the Architectural Committee’s reasonable dissatisfaction with (i) the grading plan and location of the proposed improvement, (ii) the color scheme, finish, design, proportions, architecture, shape, height, style or appropriateness of the proposed improvement and (v) any or all matters or things which in its reasonable judgment would render the proposed improvement inharmonious or out of keeping with the improvements erected on other lots in the immediate vicinity of the lot on which the proposed improvement is to be located.

Given the Architectural Committee view and feedback provided numerous times to the owner of 231 Driftwood stating their reasonable dissatisfaction, outlining and proposing what would be harmonious, I can only assume this viewpoint has not changed. Your original and consistent viewpoint, and that view described by residents was clearly valid and should not be compromised. I do not understand what may have changed as I am unaware of any legal opinion stating that CC&R powers can not be upheld or any other detail that may have created a change. These powers are provided for situations like these.

When moving here, many residents selected this community over numerous others. One main reason we selected Shore Cliffs was that the CC&R’s provided the Architectural Committee the power to retain a harmonious neighborhood. We are simply having a hard time justifying the proposed structure at 231 Driftwood Road being anything other than inharmonious.

Please sign this petition to see if we can help stop this from moving forward and let our voice be heard.

Data below excludes parking structure/garage

Zillow -- Driftwood Road 251 - 203 Property Data

Lot Size, Living Sqft, Living/Lot Ratio

203 Driftwood Rd.

9,300

2,621

28.18%

209 Driftwood Rd.

7,000

2,295

32.79%

215 Driftwood Rd.

7,366

3,000

40.73%

221 Driftwood Rd.

7,800

2,480

31.79%

227 Driftwood Rd.

7,920

1,749

22.08%

231 Driftwood Rd. (current)

7,614

1,800

23.64%

235 Driftwood Rd.

7,800

2,604

33.38%

239 Driftwood Rd.

8,500

2,235

26.29%

243 Driftwood Rd.

9,147

2,134

23.33%

247 Driftwood Rd

8,712

5,000

57.39%

251 Driftwood Rd.

9,375

1,604

17.11%

Average Home Living Sqft to Lot Size Driftwood

30.61%

231 Driftwood Rd. (proposed)

7,614

5,662

74.36%

Average Home Living Sqft Driftwood

2,502

231 Driftwood Rd. sqft (proposed)

7,614

5,662

5,662

Proposed structure is grossly inharmonious

Letters From Homeowners:

March 19, 2014

Dave George & Associates

c/o Shorecliff Property Owners Association

250 Newport Center Drive

Newport Beach, CA 92660

Re: 231 Driftwood Road

Dear Mr. George & Architectural Members:

Thank you for your time on March 13, 2014 to review the proposed structure at 231 Driftwood. As my wife and I mentioned in our conversation, the proposed structure is undoubtedly inharmonious with homes in the vicinity of the lot and the homes on our side of Driftwood Road.

By way of background, we reviewed the CC&R’s and used them as a guideline to come up with a term we call relevant homes used below. In this case, Relevant Homes refer to those properties that are on the north side of Driftwood Road between the two streets Seaward and Shorecliff, as they all have a similar relationship to one another in the form of street, lot type, and how they are placed on the lot in the vicinity of the proposed structure.

In order to give you an idea of the magnitude of this proposed disharmonious structure, I compiled a list of homes on the north side of Driftwood (“Relevant Homes”) from online data and compared the building plans from the proposed 231 Driftwood Road property in question (see Table 1). In summary, the proposed plans represent a 74.3% sqft living space to lot ratio. The average of the Relevant Homes sqft living space to lot ratio is 30.6%. This represents a very inharmonious increase of 129.5% over the average Relevant Home. Simply stated, they are proposing a home with living space 2.4 times larger than the average Relevant Home and therefore inharmonious. This does not include the proposed rooftop deck or other decks.

To provide another example of this same disharmonious nature of the proposed structure, the Relevant Homes average 2,500 sqft of living space (with most lots much larger than 231 Driftwood). The proposed structure is over double (2.2 times), 5,662 sqft, on a small lot creating further separation from the norm and making the proposed structure inharmonious.

In addition, to the information above, we have looked at the Relevant Homes that currently provide a harmonious nature. These homes all are harmonious from the standpoint that none of them have two stories to the rear setback. Relevant Homes have either a backyard with one story or a large side yard with one story. Simply stated, none of these homes have two stories to the rear of the lot. In addition, all of these current Relevant Homes provide a harmonious environment. I have included a Google earth image relating to this specific point for your reference. In summary, there are no homes in this group that have two stories that go the rear of the property or even close for that matter.

Someone may bring 247 Driftwood as an example. There are a handful of points that I would like to note if this is brought up as applicable to the proposed 231 Driftwood structure. First, the home has a much larger lot, some 8,700 sqft. Second, the home facing Seaward, I would consider important, has open space facing outwards of some 270 degrees, creating much lower impact. Third, the structure does not go to the rear of the lot and has a single story in the rear where it does not reach the rear of the lot. Finally, there is no second story roof deck. Personally, I am not familiar with the history of this property, but I did include it in the information provided even though I would statistically consider this an outlier as compared to all other homes on the north side of Driftwood Road.

While we have addressed these concerns and others in our discussions, we thought the empirical data would provide a much more clear view of the situation as it relates to this inharmonious structure.

Thank you for your consideration.

Kind regards,

Scott Burri

235 Driftwood Road

Corona del Mar, CA 92625

Zillow -- Driftwood Road 251 - 203 Property Data

Table 1

Living

Sqft to

Address

Lot Size

Sqft

Lot Ratio

203 Driftwood Rd.

9,300

2,621

28.18%

209 Driftwood Rd.

7,000

2,295

32.79%

215 Driftwood Rd.

7,366

3,000

40.73%

221 Driftwood Rd.

7,800

2,480

31.79%

227 Driftwood Rd.

7,920

1,749

22.08%

231 Driftwood Rd. (current)

7,614

1,800

23.64%

235 Driftwood Rd.

7,800

2,604

33.38%

239 Driftwood Rd.

8,500

2,235

26.29%

243 Driftwood Rd.

9,147

2,134

23.33%

247 Driftwood Rd

8,712

5,000

57.39%

251 Driftwood Rd.

9,375

1,604

17.11%

Average Home Living Sqft to Lot Size Driftwood

30.61%

231 Driftwood Rd. (proposed)

7,614

5,662

74.36%

Average Home Living Sqft Driftwood

2,502

231 Driftwood Rd. sqft (proposed)

7,614

5,662

5,662

Proposed structure is grossly inharmonious

July 20, 2014

Board of Directors

Architectural Committee

Shore Cliffs Property Owners Association (“SCPOA”)

Re: 231 Driftwood Road

Dear Board Members and Architectural Committee Members:

Regarding the above mention property, there have been numerous letters, emails and communication to the SCPOA from the community and our household relating to the inharmonious nature of the proposed plans. Having attended Architectural Committee meetings myself, it was clear the feedback provided to the owner of 231 Driftwood was in agreement with these views. Namely applicable sections in accordance with Article IV, Section 4.2 of the CC&Rs: The Architectural Committee may withhold approval of plans, specifications, color schemes and block or plot plans because of (a) noncompliance with the requirements of this Declaration, (b) the Architectural Committee’s reasonable dissatisfaction with (i) the grading plan and location of the proposed improvement, (ii) the color scheme, finish, design, proportions, architecture, shape, height, style or appropriateness of the proposed improvement and (v) any or all matters or things which in its reasonable judgment would render the proposed improvement inharmonious or out of keeping with the improvements erected on other lots in the immediate vicinity of the lot on which the proposed improvement is to be located.

Outlined in my previous correspondence and ARC’s to 231 Driftwood, the proposed structure is simply far too large for this lot size and rear setback is out of scope, both creating an inharmonious structure for our side of the street and will set a precedent going forward that is not in the best interest of residents of this community as outlined in the many letters you received from concerned residents.

Given the Architectural Committee view and feedback provided numerous times to the owner of 231 Driftwood stating their reasonable dissatisfaction, outlining and proposing what would be harmonious, I can only assume this viewpoint has not changed. Your original and consistent viewpoint, and that view described by residents was clearly valid and should not be compromised. I do not understand what may have changed as I am unaware of any legal opinion stating that CC&R powers can not be upheld or any other detail that may have created a change. These powers are provided for situations like these.

I realize this is a difficult situation for Committee members, however, these plans should not be approved in current form and I request the committee evaluate this situation further. The CC&Rs provide for this power and if this structure is allowed to be built, it will be pervasive, the concept and powers outlined in the CC&Rs will no longer be working for residents as it was planned.

When moving here, we chose this community over numerous others. One main reason we selected Shore Cliffs was that the CC&R’s provided the Architectural Committee the power to retain a harmonious neighborhood. We are simply having a hard time justifying living in a home next to an inharmonious structure with no relief. It seems that residents living here relying on the protection of the CC&R’s shouldn’t have to suffer in fear of a lawsuit.

Again, my wife and I thank you for your work on the Board and Architectural Committee and efforts to keeping Shore Cliffs a harmonious place to live.

Sincerely,

Scott Burri

Lori Burri

235 Driftwood Road