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Design Review Forms
Design Review Approval Process
Landscape Standards 2008
Approved Plant list 2008
Design Review
Application
Design Review Fee
Structure
Exterior Lighting Design Guidelines
Landscaper
Information Form
Design Review Approval Process
PDF file
What Needs to be Approved
All exterior changes and modifications to
houses and landscapes are to be approved by the
Design
Review Committee (DRC). Types of approvals most often
include:
• House additions including rooms, patios,
decks and garages. Approvals of this type require the
submission of an architectural plan. • House modifications
such as a new roof, new windows, new stucco, different paint
and exterior lighting. • Hardscape modifications such as
fire pits, retaining walls, sports courts, kitchens and
lighting. • Landscape modifications such as trees, shrubs,
water features, boulders and sod. • Features such as hot
tubs, playsets, sculptures, basketball hoops, and invisible
dog fences.
In almost all cases the approval process
begins with a written submitted to the DRC. The submittal
includes a request to make a change as well as a detailed
description of what is to be done. In a small number of
cases a written submittal is not required. These include
such things as the removal of dead or diseased trees and
shrubs, repainting with the same paint and the replacement
of an existing driveway or apron. Typically, this type of
change does not appreciably alter the appearance of a
property. The DRC, however, must be notified of and concur
with these changes prior to the commencement of any work.
Special Approval Requirements Special
approval requirements come into play with sub-associations
and golf courses are involved:
Sub-Associations Requests for approval
must be submitted to both the DRC and sub-associations as
appropriate. They should be submitted to the DRC before the
sub-association. The sub association cannot approve requests
the DRC rejects. The sub-association, however, can reject
requests the DRC approves.
Golf Courses
____________________________________
must solicit golf course approval for any change that
encroaches on the golf course easement or that alters the
view form the golf course.
Regularly Occurring Covenant and Rules
Violations Each of the following is a covenant and/ or rule
violation if not approved by DRC. In the past these
violations have occurred fairly often, mostly because of a
lack of awareness on the part of the homeowner. o The
addition or modification of exterior lighting either to the
house or surrounding grounds. o Placement of boulders,
bollards, reflectors, or any other obstruction on the
street's right of way (in most instances 10 feet on either
side of the street.) o Installation of trees and shrubs. o
Installation of such exterior features as basketball hoops,
play sets, hot tubs, and invisible dog fence enclosures.
The Approval Process In order to submit a
DRC request for approval, several approaches can be taken.
• The DRC approved form can be accessed at
www.castlepinesvillage.org (check on design review). The
completed form can be emailed to CPHA. • Plans may be mailed
or submitted directly to the DRC at the CPHA office at 858
Happy Canyon Rd. suite 160. (303-814-1345) • Jerry Winkleman,
at the CPHA can schedule a meeting with the DRC to discuss a
plan.
Regardless of approach, the DRC
administrator and his staff are available to assist
throughout the approval process. Both the web site and the
Homes Association have a variety of documents that spell out
details of the covenants and rules to further assist this
process. Several of these documents are enclosed including
the approved plant list and lighting guidelines.
Fees In most cases a fee is levied for
reviewing plans. The fee varies depending on several facts.
o Whether the home is a custom home or cluster home. o
Whether the landscape is new or a modification to a
previously installed landscape. o The value of a new home.
Adherence to this process and Village
covenants and rules will help ensure the quality of life and
property values of everyone who lives here.
CASTLE PINES VILLAGE APPROVED PLANTS
Castle Pines Village
Landscape Standards and the
2008
Approved Plant list.
Introduction from the
Landscape Standard document:
Castle Pines Village is a covenant-controlled
community. The covenants are provided in the Amended
and Restated Castle Pines Declaration and Agreement
Creating Covenants, Conditions, Restrictions and
Easements (a copy can be obtained from Jerry
Winkleman at the Homes Association Office). The
covenants created the
Design Review
Committee which is responsible to review and
approve all improvements in the Village. Page 24 of
the covenants state, “No work of improvement,
grading, excavation, landscaping, tree or shrub
planting or removal shall be undertaken on any lot
or lots without the prior approval of the Design
Review Committee” which is responsible to review
and approve the homeowner’s detailed plan specifying
the proposed improvements.
The Vision for Castle Pines Village
The Founders of Castle Pines Village recognized that
the Village was a very special place. They
understood the value of this land, its unique and
natural beauty, the quiet forested mountain setting,
the privacy, the near and distant views, the beauty
of the native plants, and the abundance of Colorado
wildlife. They felt the land should be developed in
a manner that would not only create a high-quality
residential community with world-class golf courses,
but their vision included a carefully crafted plan
to develop the land without destroying this natural
environment and its wildlife. Great care was taken
in the writing of the key documents that control all
development and provide for the long term
stewardship that is required. House design, unit
placement, construction, landscaping, and
maintenance are to be of the highest possible
quality with strongest emphasis placed on
maintaining the uniqueness and natural aesthetics of
the terrain.
The Village Setting – an Asset Worth Preserving
Castle Pines Village is situated south of
Denver, Colorado along the front range of the Rocky
Mountains. The Village lies at an elevation of 6,000
to 6,500 feet, 1,500 feet above the Denver basin.
This natural setting is a remarkable microclimate of
atmospheric conditions with unique flora and fauna.
It is a compelling landscape of castle-like rock
formations punctuated with pine trees at the crest
of the divide between the Denver basin to the north
and dramatic rock formations, rock ledges and
outcroppings to the south. It is the northern-most
incidence of tablelands along the front range with
spectacular views of Pikes Peak, Mount Evans and the
Rocky Mountains. This is a landscape dominated by a
rim rock promontory of scrub oak and sculpted pines
which gives way to weathered ridgelines covered with
ponderosa pine emanating from its base. These
ridgelines descend gradually to the south and west
and eventually give way to gently rolling
grasslands. The Village’s landscape and its
differences in topography host a wide array of
wildlife, birds and animals, including elk, mule
deer, fox, coyote, bobcat, wild turkeys, owls,
hawks, hummingbirds, songbirds, and the occasional
bear, mountain lion and eagle. The poetry of this
natural setting and its critters has not been lost,
at least not yet. Residents and guests can still be
delighted with the sights, sounds and smells of the
place. Whether it is the sight of the land, the
trees and other native plants, the smells associated
with the pine forest, the screech of a hawk soaring
above, the hum of a hummingbird, the ever-present
background sounds of songbirds, a newborn fawn in
the spring, the animal tracks in the winter snow, or
the last light of day as the setting sun paints a
brilliant sky over the Rockies, this place is
special. We must preserve it for ourselves and for
future generations.
Key Characteristics of the Castle Pines Village
Landscape
The Village’s landscape has certain key elements
that make for a very unique environment. These
elements have been used here to establish standards
that ensure we maintain the terrain’s natural
aesthetic. The Village’s overall character includes
form, color, and texture found in our natural
landscape, and should be the basis of all designs
submitted to the Design Review Committee. Applicants
must use combinations of approved plant species that
reflect or mimic these natural characteristics.
Landscape Standards It is the intent of these
Landscape Standards for Castle Pines Village to
unify the newly built environment with that of the
original natural setting and remaining undisturbed
Village setting. The overall objective is to
establish harmony between native and introduced
plant materials that not only thrive in the Village
environment, but also enhance the landscape
experience in the Village.
Plants
It is
the intent of the revised list of Approved Plants
for the Castle Pines Village to unify the newly
built environment with that of the original,
established residential landscapes and the remaining
undisturbed Village setting. The overall objective
is to establish a balance between the use of native
and introduced plant materials that not only thrive
in this environment, but also enhance the existing
landscape experience of the Village.
The following list is more
restrictive in the use and selection of plant
materials than the previous “preferred” plant list.
Greater attention is to be given to the use of
plants that integrate the landscape from house to
house and to the natural environments. In this
regard, the use of landscape materials immediately
adjacent to a home is less restricted. However, the
use of plants removed from the house, specifically
along public streets, common areas, open space
frontages and golf courses must be limited to
species currently found in the local plant community
or enhanced with plants specifically approved for
these applications. Furthermore, all large deciduous
shrubs and small trees used within these areas are
to be of substantial size and quantity that they
establish a cohesive landscape that immediately
contributes to the Village as a whole.
In years past, several plants have
been used in the Village that are desirable from the
homeowners point-of-view -- in that they recall the
over-arching characteristics of our Colorado
mountain environment. In particular, the planting of
Blue Spruce and Aspen trees. Although initially
attractive in our landscape, these plants are not
found in the native ecosystem of Castle Pines. As a
result, they appear out-of-place in the existing
Ponderosa Pine and Gamble Oak forest. Unfortunately,
Aspens generally do not thrive in this environment
and are susceptible to a variety of disease that
limits their life expectancy. As a result of
aesthetic and horticultural concerns, the revised
plant list does not include Spruce, Bristlecone Pine
or Aspen trees and restricts the use of other plants
to their more natural settings. This includes the
use of Pinyon Pines, Rocky Mountain Juniper, and
several drought-tolerant plants to more arid
landscapes including rocky and south-facing steep
slopes, and Cottonwood and Birch trees for planting
in wetter or more riparian habitats.
The strong desire to integrate the
built environment with the spectacular Village
setting into a cohesive and unified landscape is
contingent upon the homeowner’s commitment to their
individual landscape. It is imperative that the
initial landscaping be substantial, of quality
installation, and design excellence in order for the
project to meaningfully contribute to the overall
impression of the Village. For this reason, listed
below are the minimum acceptable plant sizes within
Castle Pines. It is desirable, however, that plant
massing be of varying sizes to help blend the newly
planted areas with the natural environment.
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