What is The Covenant, The Association, the HOA?

"Rancho Santa Fe" is a census-designated place within San Diego County, meaning it is an official location name for mailing purposes.

A smaller part is incorporated as a Home Owners Association (HOA), run by the Rancho Santa Fe Association. This part, often called "The Covenant" (referencing the HOA's 1928 founding legal document) encompases about 10 square miles and has about 4,300 residents, 1,900 houses and a small commercial village.

How Does the RSF Association Operate?

Governance, CA Laws, Covenant, etc.

At the top of the governance hierarchy sits California law in the form of the Corporations Code and HOA specific law called Davis-Stirling. This body of law specifies what power the Board and Members have. Membership power is mostly expressed through voting for Board members.

RSFA then has three documents that further govern how we operate, The Bylaws, The Covenant and the Regulatory Code.

The Bylaws deal with voting and has various restrictions on Board power (for instance, changing a parcel's zoning may require a Member vote). The Covenant enshrines how assessments are allocated, how the Art Jury functions, zoning, setbacks, etc. 

The Regulatory Code has more detailed restrictions on Members for things like grading, lighting, fines, animal keeping, etc.

These three documents are modifiable. The Board can modify the Regulatory Code, while Members need to weigh in on changes to the Bylaws or Covenant.

Needless to say the Association employs an HOA attorney that is frequently called upon to opine on various procedural questions given this body of law and regulations. In recent times, the Association has also employed specialist attorneys for things like land use and litigation.

Board of Directors

The Association has a seven member staggered term board as elected by Members. The Board meets once a month but there are extra meetings for things like budget hearings, mediation sessions, etc.

Typically before each open Board meeting, the Board meets in executive session and usually the most time consuming portion is spent dealing with Member fines and compliance. There has been an uptick in unpermitted construction lately and it is a giant pain in the butt for all concerned (Members, staff, Art Jury and Board), dealing with the resulting mess. If you're worried about working with the Art Jury (you shouldn't be, they are there to help), these articles might help:

• Beware As Builts!
• Mind Reading the Art Jury
• When You Buy in the Ranch, Go by the Book

The Board will also deal with lawsuits (the Inn is currently suing the RSFA), and other legal questions where counsel gives attorney-client privileged information. Finally, personnel matters are also dealt with in closed session.

All other matters are discussed in open forum in front of Members. 

There are two main functions of any HOA. First is to look after common area facilities and amenities. Second is to enforce architectural standards. The latter is of course done by the Art Jury, with the Board acting as an appeals court.

Our facilities and amenities include:

• Golf Club
• Tennis Club
• Restaurant (& parking lot)
• Riding Trails
• Osuna Ranch
• Sports Fields (& now two restrooms)
• Parks (Arroyo, Ewing)
• The Patrol (private security force)
• Association Offices
• Fiber Optic Internet network (the physical fiber in the ground)

The bulk of our assessment dues go towards the above, with the exception of Golf/Tennis/Osuna which generate their own income via user fees and thus look after their own maintenance expenses.

The Association does other things to benefit Members like putting on 4th of July celebrations or wine festivals or interfacing with the County on our behalf, but these aren't core functions. But we certainly are glad that staff puts in the hard work for these activities!

Association Staff

Speaking of staff, the Association employs about 179 people with the bulk working at the golf course, restaurant, and parks & recreation. Staff do not set Association policy, but instead carry out overall policy as set by the Board.

Almost all staff time is spent on day to day routine duties of their position. Some senior staff work on one time capital projects, lawsuits and other items as they come up.

Member Interaction & Board/Staff Divide

This is so important - if you only remember one thing from this, please be it this.

The current Board and staff have very clearly delineated roles. 

Staff do not set policy. At most they might research legal details related to a proposed regulation, or give factual information to the Board, or aggregate community feedback, but they play no role in setting policy.

The reason I am animated about this is that during my Board term, various staff members have been pigeonholed by various Members pushing their point of view on some policy issue. Like multiple hour long discussions. 

Such interactions with staff wastes everyone's time. 

The seven member Board sets policy. So if you are concerned about anything in the community, talk to Board members, not the Association Manager. You will find that Board members are always up for a coffee/conversation.

Sometimes, a bunch of Members get animated over a particular issue. A recent example was the potential siting of a dog park on Association land near Lago Lindo. Numerous Members emailed [email protected] complaining about the site and the Board got the message loud and clear. It was formally dropped in the next Board meeting.

This is a much preferred way of communicating rather than standing up at Board meetings and having a dozen people giving a 3 minute Member Input. 

What The RSFA Does Not Do

Unlike most HOAs, the RSFA does not own/operate ANY road or street. All our roads are either County owned/maintained or privately owned/maintained by residents on that street.

The RSFA is not responsible for any utilities, like water, electricity, sewer or natural gas. However, it does own the fiber optic network that Race Communications uses to provide Members with high speed Internet. Trash hauling is also each Member's responsibility as is propane delivery and septic pumping.

While the RSFA has a private security force called The Patrol, it is not in any way empowered with policing functions. RSF gets policing functions from a combination of the County Sheriff and the CHP. In policing matters, the Patrol is usually first to arrive on scene, and helps law enforcement.

The RSFA has no affiliation with the Rancho Riding Club, which is a community owned non-profit. Likewise, the Community Center and Garden Club are separate entities (click here for a list of RSF area charities).

The RSFA has little ability to do much in the Village, which is composed of privately owned properties. To actually do much in the Village, the Association would have to purchase very expensive land/buildings which would result in large assessment increases.