Loch Alpine Road-side Vegetation and Brush Policy

Loch Alpine carries out a program of roadside vegetation and brush control to enhance community safety, improve the functionality of our roads, reduce maintenance costs, maintain property values, and limit our liability.

Enhancing community safety

Loch Alpine was constructed without sidewalks; pedestrians and cyclists share the road with motorized traffic. Loch Alpine is also graced with abundant vegetation, and served by narrow, winding roads. Therefore, a proactive program of vegetation and brush removal enhances safety in several ways. First, it allows pedestrians a clear escape zone. This is particularly important when traffic is traveling at excessive speed, when cars are passing each other, when drivers fail to give pedestrians adequate room, and when visibility or road conditions are poor. Second, vegetation removal also improves drivers’ sight lines to signs, pedestrians, and oncoming traffic.

Improving road functionality

Unchecked, vegetation eventually encroach on our already narrow roadways. Weeds and brush block portions lanes and impede access to mailboxes. Hanging trees branches pose a hazard to delivery trucks. Vegetation and brush removal maintains unfettered access to the entire roadway for all vehicles.

Reducing maintenance costs

Water is the enemy of roads. Ditches are designed to move water quickly away from the roadbed. Regular vegetation and brush removal, especially in ditches and around culverts, helps maintain the structural integrity of our roads by allowing better drainage and reducing the encroachment of roots into the road sub-grade.

Maintaining property values

Our roads are one of our most visible and most used community assets. A well-maintained road system that allows easy access to homes significantly increases property values. Vegetation and brush removal that improves the functionality and safety of the roads also adds to our property values.

Limiting liability

By improving the safety of our road system, we reduce our collective potential liability, both because we have reduced the likelihood of traffic accidents, and because we are creating a positive legal environment that helps protect us in the event a tragic accident does take place.

Guidelines

Therefore, Loch Alpine has adopted the following general roadside vegetation and brush guidelines.

• Trees, bushes, and vegetation that would obstruct pedestrian passage should be cleared back 5 feet from the paved road edge.

• The line of sight through an intersection, and around curves, must allow for a full and complete view of oncoming traffic for a safe and reasonable distance, typically 50 feet.

• The line of sight to road signs must allow for a full and complete view for a safe and reasonable distance, typically 50 feet.

• Culverts and ditches should be kept clear of vegetation and debris.

These guidelines are general. In specific instances, Loch Alpine may require greater, or allow lesser, vegetation removal as dictated by specific circumstances and safety issues.

Primary responsibility for vegetation removal rests with lot owners for the portion of their property that borders on Loch Alpines roadways. Lot owners are expected to inspect their property for compliance with the above guidelines on a regular basis. Questions regarding specific compliance issues can be directed to the chair of the Roads Committee, the chair of the Grounds Committee, or the Community Manager. Lot owners may remove problematic vegetation themselves, or contract with any of the many local landscaping services. Both the chair of the Roads Committee and the Grounds Committee can provide lot owners with contact information for several local firms that do such work. The Loch Alpine Improvement Association retains responsibility for vegetation removal for those portions of the roadside not contiguous with private lots.

Once a year, the Roads Committee will perform a survey of Loch Alpine’s roads focusing on roadside vegetation. A general notice will be sent to all residents reminding them to remove inappropriate roadside vegetation. Specific notices may be sent to individual homeowners regarding problematic areas. After a reasonable period of time, areas that have not been cleared by lot owners themselves will be added to the list of areas to be cleared by the Association. In some instances, the cost of clearing these areas may be billed to the individual lot owner.

Questions regarding this policy can be directed to the Community Manager, the chair of the Roads Committee, or the chair of the Grounds Committee.