brierwood articles

Each owner, says the fourth paragraph, is responsible for preventing unclean, unsightly or unkept conditions on buildings or grounds that would hurt the beauty of the neighborhood. The seventh gives that teeth: undergrowth and weeds may not grow above two feet, except as part of an approved landscaping plan, and if an owner fails to cut it within 30 days of a request, the developer's agents may do so at the owner's expense, up to $10 a year. They may also remove collected trash at the owner's expense, up to $25 a year. The declaration states that this is not an obligation to provide garbage pickup.

No livestock, fowl or animals of any kind are allowed except cats, dogs and other household pets, and on a complaint from any lot owner the developer may limit or prohibit keeping any of them. Garbage receptacles must be kept in a screened area not generally visible from any road or the golf course, or placed underground, to reasonable standards set by the developer.

Before a house is occupied it must have a proper septic tank or tanks. Sewage may not be discharged into any ocean, creek, marsh, river, sound or beach, and a septic system must be designed and built to the standards of the public health authority, with that authority's approval.

Commercial signs, including “for rent” and “for sale” signs, are not allowed without the developer's written permission, which the document says it will not give unless a sign is reasonably necessary to avert serious hardship. Property identification and similar signs totaling more than three square feet also need written permission.

The twelfth paragraph reserves utility easements: 10 feet at the front or rear of each lot, 10 feet along one side of each lot, and any other areas on the plat, for poles, wires, cables, sewers, water mains and similar equipment, with the right to cut trees and bushes, grade and ditch as needed.

This is a plain-language summary of a recorded document from 1969, not legal advice. The recorded text controls, it may have been amended or supplemented, and who holds the developer's rights today is a question for a title company or an attorney. Registered members can read the scanned declaration on the Documents page.