The only landscaping item you need to submit for review is a hedge (because a hedge can have the same impact as a fence). Other plantings, paths, walks, and garden features such as small trellises are not reviewed by the Architectural Review Committee. We do strongly urge you to consider your neighbors’ views when planting trees. Many trees can grow tall enough to block other people’s views of the mountains and open space.

No. Each homeowner must arrange for trash/recycling pickup independently.

Yes, for this reason: Its current color may not be in compliance with our covenants. That shouldn’t happen, but in a few cases in the past it has, so always get approval before you paint.

Yes. You must submit anything you plan to do to the exterior of your home to the Architectural Review Committee. If your project complies with the covenants, approval should be swift and simple, but the committee must see your plans to verify compliance.

On the street itself, we trust to our sunny climate to do the job. Although Silver Plume is a city street, the City of Boulder doesn’t usually plow it. And because it is a city street, private contractors are unable to plow it (for liability reasons) without a contract from the City. In the unusual case where we really are snowed in, Silver Plume residents are urged to call the City to request plowing.You can call the City of Boulder Street Maintenance department at 303-413-7162 to request plowing. The more of us they hear from, the faster they’ll be here.

On the sidewalks, we clear snow from the feeder walks that belong to the association, and because it adjoins our common area, the City sidewalk along Greenbriar. But the walk in front of your house is yours to shovel, and the City of Boulder requires you to clear the full width of it by noon of the day following a snowfall.

No. The residents of Shanahan Ridge Four have repeatedly voted to keep the grassy open space in its natural state, a part of the larger short-grass-prairie mesa that distinguishes this corner of Boulder. The homeowners’ association tends the trees that grow in it naturally, but homeowners are prohibited from planting anything of their own in it. The split-rail fence marks the end of your personal landscaping.

No. The City of Boulder has ordinances that address barking dogs and other unwanted noise; please call the City instead of the Board if you’re being disturbed by a neighbor’s dog or any other noise.

Yes, they can. The entire common area open space is a public utility easement, so whether we like it or not, suppliers of gas, electricity, phone, and cable service can dig in Shanahan Ridge Four HOA 8 April 2005 it at will. They don’t need our permission, but when we see a project underway, we ask them to minimize their impact on our personal prairie. Fortunately, the grasses are resilient and come back remarkably quickly. We also know the specific grass seed mix to use on any disturbed areas.

If it belongs to a nonresident, who has no right to park there in the first place, absolutely. If it belongs to a resident, and if our requests to relocate it go unheeded, it can also be towed, provided it’s rarely driven or maintained so poorly as to cause a potential maintenance problem for our parking islands (e.g., leaking significant amounts of oil). Our published policies prohibit long-term storage of such vehicles in our parking islands. However, if the car belongs to a resident and is regularly driven, we really can’t quibble with its esthetics. The most we can do is politely encourage its owner to keep it in his or her own garage.

Our covenants say you may paint it in earth tones from light tan to dark brown, with changes in hue toward gray, olive, or rust. We have a growing list of preapproved paint colors, and if you choose from that list, you need only notify the Architectural Review Committee of your choice. If you choose something else, the ARC will need to see samples and review the color(s) for compliance with the covenants.

Look carefully at the subdivision plat or at your own Improvement Location Certificate. Most lots on Silver Plume include special easements (shown as dashed lines) that run parallel to certain property lines (shown as solid lines). These easements are five feet wide, and while the land in them belongs to the owner of the property on which the easement appears, the right to put fences, landscaping, patios, paths, etc.—and those things themselves—belong to the adjacent neighbor, who is the easement owner. So it depends where the fence (or landscaping) is. If a property owner wants to put a fence on his or her own property, but the fence would be in an easement that belongs to his or her neighbor, the property owner must get written permission from the easement owner first. Clear as mud?