RULES AND REGULATIONS REVIEW COMMITTEE
2.	REVIEW DEED RESTRICTION IMPLEMENTATION GUIDELINES AND CONSIDER REVISIONS
Meeting Date:		February 7, 2005		Budgeted:	N/A
From:		David A. Berger,		Program/	N/A
		General Manager		Line Item No.:
Prepared By:		Stephanie Pintar		Cost Estimate:	N/A
General Counsel Approval:			Pending (Mr. Laredo will review proposed Implementation Guidelines revision prior to February 7 Rules and Regulations Committee meeting)
Committee Recommendation:			N/A
CEQA Compliance:			N/A

SUMMARY: At its December 2001 meeting the Board of Directors approved a set of Deed Restriction Implementation Guidelines, which, in part, requires that new or amended deed restriction templates (i.e. standard forms) must be reviewed and approved by the Rules and Regulations Committee and full Board. Attached as Exhibit 2-A a copy of the Board-approved Implementation Guidelines for Deed Restrictions. Previously approved templates were recently reviewed by District Counsel to ensure consistency. Staff believes that the current Board policy needs to be made flexible in order to allow District staff to provide more responsive customer service. This item proposes several changes to the Implementation Guidelines that will provide that needed flexibility.

RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends that the Committee endorse certain improvements to the Deed Restriction Implementation Guidelines as shown on Exhibit 2-B. The Committee should review the proposed revisions and recommend staff’s changes to the Board for consideration at its February 24 meeting, as appropriate.

BACKGROUND: Exhibit 2-C consists of a listing of 39 deed restriction templates that the Board has approved for use by the District and the current version of each template. Deed restrictions are required by various District Rules and Regulations for enforcement of permit conditions, restrictions or violations, and to notify current and future property owners thereof. The District uses three basic types of deed restrictions, as follows:

1. Notice & Covenant Regarding Limitation on Use of Water on a Property

2. Notice & Covenant to Provide Public Access to Water Use Data

3. Notices of Non-Compliance and Compliance

Based on an estimate of the number of deed restrictions recorded during the past year, approximately 500 documents are prepared and recorded annually under the current District rules. The District staff’s service level, or the targeted timeframe for performing this function, is three weeks. When staff occasionally identifies the need for a new form it first has to be drafted for (or prepared by) District Counsel, and at least two months are needed to process the proposed form through Committee and the Board under the current policy. This unnecessarily delays our ability to record the applicable new deed restriction, and further inconveniences the effected customer. (This delay is exemplified by Item 1 on the Committee’s agenda.) Staff believes that creating new deed recordation forms is a ministerial task that the Board should delegate to District’s General Counsel, which would enable us to reduce permit issuance delays and provide more responsive customer service.

Prior to implementing the current deed restriction procedures in 2001, District staff reviewed the proposed deed restriction templates with representatives from the Monterey County Association of Realtors, First American Title Company, Chicago Title Company, A.G. Davi Real Estate, the Mitchell Group, Fouratt-Simmons Real Estate, Coldwell Banker Del Monte Real Estate, and Old Republic Title Company. Information and copies of the deed restriction templates were also provided to Stuart Title Company.

The District’s TAC and PAC also reviewed the proposed deed restriction templates in a joint meeting on August 29, 2001. The TAC/PAC took no action and expressed no concerns about the proposed language in the templates

EXHIBITS

2-A Deed Restriction Implementation Guidelines (December 2001)

2-B Proposed Revision to Deed Restriction Implementation Guidelines (February 2005)

2-C Listing and Copies of Existing Deed Restriction Forms

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