December 2020 E-Newsletter
Table of Contents
Message from the Manager: Colleen Holland
Gone are the days of yearly coupon booklets! Revised Arizona State Statutes require that a statement is mailed each billing cycle and each quarter for Vistoso Community Association (VCA). To save homeowners the frustration of locating forwarded or lost mail and to save our precious resources, FirstService Residential offers your VCA Quarterly Master Statements via email!
CLICK HERE to learn how to receive your statements via email.
Thank you AAA!
The Vistoso Community Association would like to offer a sincere thank you to AAA Landscaping for the care shown in our community this year!
We want you to know how much we appreciate your contributions to the beauty of our community, your work is recognized, and amazing! Thank you!
December Landscaping from AAA!
The AAA information for December includes caring for citrus fruit, holiday trees, and preparing for frost.
Remember the important Care Tips for this month:
- Prepare for frost before it happens by have covers ready for frost-tender plants.
- Citrus fruit stores best on the tree.
- Flowers and bulbs can still be planted this month.
To Download the full color flyer and all the Tips for December HERE.
12-88682-AAA-Flyer_dec
Tis the Season – Support Local Businesses
We are all frantically checking off our gift list for the holidays this year, and we encourage you to
consider shopping at our local Oro Valley businesses – support our community now and in the future!
Click here to access a list of Oro Valley Businesses.
Welcome our new Administrative Assistant!
Please welcome to the Vistoso Community Association team Annette Lyons! Annette is the new Administrative Assistant for the onsite office. Some of you have had the pleasure of meeting Annette, while she receives training and orientation from the FirstService Residential team.
Annette’s career includes working with Home Owner Associations (HOA), most recently with the HOA 2 in SaddleBrooke, Arizona the last two years. Annette is excited for this wonderful opportunity to here and to be able to work in a community where she lives and where she raised her son. She is eager to meeting and assisting residents with their needs!
You can reach Annette at Annette.Lyons@fsresidential or call the onsite office at (520) 354-2729.
Get to know your Committees: Architectural Landscape Review!
The Architectural Landscape Review Committee (ALRC) has been a functioning and well-established committee since 1985, the early days of Rancho Vistoso. The ALRC is required to oversee the residential and commercial development of properties relating to architecture and landscaping within the Vistoso Community Association (VCA). The committee’s basic efforts have been to monitor construction developments as prescribed in the Covenants, Codes and Restrictions (CC&Rs).
A major effort in 2020 was to upgrade and expedite the review process for residents submitting requests to renovate or modify exterior residential and commercial properties. The committee, with the support of First Residential Service staff, processed over 1,000 submittals that sought to make improvements throughout the gated and non-gated residential communities as well as commercial properties. The committee also extended efforts to modernize and renovate common area facilities under VCA jurisdiction with an emphasis on water conservation, electrical efficiency and resolving costly and persistent drainage sediment issues.
The 2021 goal of the Architectural Landscape Review Committee will be to publish updated Design Guideline document that will be more in step with Oro Valley town codes and Arizona State/Federal statutes. This updating will provide more effective guidance for the existing sub-associations, commercial (businesses) and proposed residential developments ongoing in the VCA as well as homeowners who seek information on approved landscaping components.
Get to know your Committees: Compliance!
The Vistoso Community Association (VCA) Compliance Committee assists the Board of Directors as it oversees resident compliance with the CC&Rs, Design Guidelines, and other policies, for the benefit of the community. The committee serves to maintain the preeminent design and aesthetics of Rancho Vistoso; and property values are maintained and even enhanced.
The Committee is composed entirely of Vistoso Association property owners (“owners”) appointed by the Board Chair with the Board’s approval. Thus, community standards are enforced solely by your peers.
The Committee also works with others at the VCA to inform the community about its mission and to educate the community about the various compliance problems commonly encountered
The process of enforcement is as follows:
- Possible rule violations are identified by a contractor who drives through the community frequently. That contractor brings possible violations to the attention of the Committee. In addition, Association owners may file a complaint with the Committee concerning an alleged violation.
- The Committee communicates (usually by letter) with the owner (not tenants) to bring an alleged problem to the owner’s attention.
- The owner usually brings the property into compliance and the matter is closed.
- If the problem persists the Committee communicates further with the owner. If compliance is still not achieved the Committee, after affording the owner an opportunity to discuss the matter in person, will recommend the owner be fined in accordance with a fine schedule found on the Website.
The Committee encourages all resident/members to become familiar with VCA rules and to contact the Committee or VCA staff if questions concerning compliance arise. Early contacts usually make the resolution of a problem much easier for all involved.
Painting in Rancho Vistoso
The Board of Directors has approved the ongoing project to paint the common area walls to enhance the beauty of the Association, we appreciate your patience and cooperation during this time. In addition, we encourage residents to follow in the same direction and paint your properties. We understand that it has been a tough year and it may not be the best time; however, we encourage residents to do their best to paint your fences, gates, walls, mailboxes, garage doors, or houses. Any small enhancement is a step closer to beautifying the community and increasing property value.
As a reminder, any exterior work must be submitted for approval from the Architectural Landscape Review Committee. You can find the Architectural Change Request form HERE, or feel free to contact the onsite office. The paint palette is available for your convenience on our website.
Keep in mind that as we work to beautify the community, we are conducting daily inspections. We do not intend for the project to be completed immediately and if you need more time, please communicate with the onsite office.
We look forward to seeing all residents contribute in enhancing the community!
Preserve Vistoso Update
Oro Valley Mayor Joe Winfield proposes town negotiate the sale of the Vistoso property
November 20, 2020 – The Town Council on November 18 approved 7-0 a motion by Mayor Joe Winfield and seconded by Council Member Joyce Jones-Ivey to negotiate the sale of the Vistoso Property from Romspen Investments. You can view the Town Council meeting here. Mayor Winfield’s proposal is 2:29:40 into the meeting.
The Mayor’s proposal was:
“I move to direct the Town Manager and Town Attorneys as follows: first to initiate communications with Romspen and any other third parties in their discretion in an effort to negotiate the sale subject to Mayor and Council approval of acreage at the former Vistoso Golf Course zoned open space/golf for fair market value on or before April 1, 2021, and second to keep council regularly informed on the status of these efforts.”
We urge you to thank Mayor Winfield for this proposal and thank Council Members for their support. Town Council information can be found here. We will keep you informed, but anticipate it will take time for the Town to initiate conversations with Romspen.
Parks and Recreation Master Plan
The Wednesday Town Council meeting also included discussion of Town Management’s Parks and Recreation Master Plan for the next 10 to 15 years. Vice Mayor Melanie Barrett (2:37:10) said that she felt the plans being developed might not reflect the needs of 40 percent of the residents who live north of Tangerine. She referred to the Master Plan needs assessment and statistically valid survey that indicated our community wants trails, walking paths and open space. She said the Town’s current long term planning should address those needs. She also said that the needs of seniors (49 percent of Town population) should be included in the Master Plan. We applaud Vice Mayor Barrett for speaking up for our community.
Many of you participated in the Parks and Recreation Master Plan meetings. We have an opportunity to express our opinions during community input from November 18th through December 18th. The concept plans are posted at “Discuss” on Town of Oro Valley web page for community comment which you can find here. Submit your comments and be sure to ask that the Master Plan includes the Vistoso property as a community park. We also want the Master Plan to recognize that the community wants trails and open space. Here is a link to a PDF of the “Oro Valley Parks and Recreation Master Plan Community Interest and Opinion Survey” where you can find the details of the community’s responses.
New Members of Board of Directors
We’d also like to remind you that we are looking for new Board members. Go to PreserveVistoso.org for more information. We will meet with interested members in December and will announce new Board members at our Jan. 22 meeting.
* We encourage you to use the link at the top of the page to forward this email to friends that may be interested in the mission of Preserve Vistoso. Please use that link, not the forward button in your browser or email client.
Preserve Vistoso:
A Sonoran Desert Preserve Where Nature and People Thrive
Email us at: [email protected]
Visit us at: PreserveVistoso.org