A Summary of the Covenants and Guidelines

of

Eagle Rock Reserve

 

Eagle Rock Reserve is a unique community that was created to accommodate thirty-nine permanent, single family residences while protecting the natural, scenic and environmental integrity of the land and the security and quiet enjoyment of Owners.  - - while at the same timeThe plan of the Reserve  maintaining s the Reserve’s open spaces for agriculture, its significant wildlife habitat, and the pursuit of recreation by the Owners.   as well as protecting its natural scenic and environmental integrity and the security and quiet enjoyment of Owners. You can readily see differences between the Reserve and other subdivisions within the Bozeman area. Those differences exist by design and choice, and the Reserve’s Owners have joined together to support these goals in their decisions about their own properties and the common property in the Reserve.  With this in mind, they Owners established the Eagle Rock Reserve’s Owner’s Association and adopted certain covenants and guidelines governing the use of the property and the design of residences.

 

There can sometimes be mMisunderstandings sometimes arise if a new buyers does not know about these covenants and guidelines.  As a convenience and courtesy, therefore, Eagle Rock Reserve’s Owner’s Association would like to provide you with this partial Summary of the Covenants and Guidelines.

 

Of course, the full recorded terms of the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (“Covenants”), and the published Design Review Guidelines (“Guidelines”) actually govern homeowner activities in Eagle Rock Reserve. You should not rely on this Summary as a legal document or substitute for a careful reading of the Covenants and Guidelines themselves, which your realtor or attorney should provide to you before you buy property in Eagle Rock Reserve.  Furthermore, bBefore purchasing property in Eagle Rock Reserve, you should seek legal advice about any part aspect of the Covenants and Guidelines that you do not understand.

 

Eagle Rock Reserve Owners' Association  Each Owner of a Parcel (with its home site) in the Reserve becomes a Member of the Eagle Rock Reserve Owners' Association (“Association”), and the Owners works together through the Association to govern and manage of the common areas and the Association’s property.  Each Parcel in the Reserve is entitled to one membership and one vote in the Association, whose primary governing body is the Board of Directors.  The Board of Directors, which is composed of nine Members elected from the Membership  at the Annual Meeting of the Members of the Association. 

 

The Board also has a number of committees, many of which are open to broad participation.  , whichThese committees include an Executive Committee and others for Design Review, Property, Barn, Trails, and Finance. Major decisions are made after extensive discussion within Committees, a review by the Board and often a review by the full Membership.

 

The Association assesses Members annually quarterly to cover its expenses for the maintenance of Association structures, such as the barn and gatehouse, roads (including snow plowing), mowing and haying, fencing, equipment and other operating expenses for employee salaries, utilities, materials, and other improvements deemed necessary by the Board and Membership. Driveway maintenance (including snowplowing) is not included in this assessment. There may also be occasional special assessments when approved by two-thirds of the voting OwnersMembers. 

 

Building on the Reserve   Most of the thirty-nine Parcels in the Reserve are each comprised of approximately twenty plus deeded acres, but development by the Owner is permitted only within the 3-acre Designated Residential Areas (DRA), which surrounds each home site. The remaining seventeen acres in each Parcel are spread across the Reserve’s other 647 acres and are designated as a Common Easement Area, which is managed by the Association for agriculture, wildlife, and the recreational use of all Members. Owners generally have open access to the Common Easement Area for recreation and necessary utilities utility easements, and and access roads and to home sites and Association improvements. 

Parcels within the Reserve may not be subdivided.   and cCommercial buildings, detached garages, shops, barns, livestock pens, and other such structures generally are not permitted in DRAs.

 

 The master plats, maps, and surveys show the DRA for each Parcel. Please make sure you know exactly where your DRA is located and whether its home site location is acceptable to you before you purchase property in the Reserve.  Historically, the Board has not approved any requests for significant relocation of DRAs, and this policy is unlikely to change in the future.

 

The Association has a Design Review Committee and has formally adopted and published "Design Review Guidelines" to advise property owners of development criteria to protect the Reserve's community goals, as outlined above. When this Committee reviews proposed home and landscaping plans, it seeks to works closely with the Owners and considers, among other criteria, individual site characteristics so that the improvements "shall not dominate their surroundings, but rather shall be reasonably subservient to them and harmonious with the land and its forms".  You will find there are a number of useful design suggestions in the in the Guidelines. Your realtor or your attorney should provide you with a copy of these Guidelines before you purchase property in the Reserve, and you should be sure you and your team of architects, builders, and landscapers understand the requirements for the design and construction of your house. 

 

Some of the important design and building provisions include the following, which are also paraphrasedare summarized as follows:

 

§         All construction must be new construction and all construction must be approved by the Design Rreview Committee.  Construction projects must  and be completed within eighteen (18) months of the date constructions commences.  Licensed architects must design all residences, and a careful, three-step review process with the Design Review Committee must be followed. 

 

§         All structures within the DRA must be single-family dwellings, or approved accessory structures that are directly related to residential use of the DRA. 

 

§         There is a minimum square footage requirement of 1600 sq ft (1400 on the forest lots) and a maximum house print of 8000 sq ft. 

 

§         No trailers, tents or old buildings may be moved on to Parcels.  After construction, disturbed areas must be promptly restored to their previous condition, taking into account landscaping and weather conditions.

 

§         Roofs and walls must be muted brown or gray to blend with the natural colors of the Reserve’s landscape.  All utility lines should be buried and exposed propane tanks must be screened.  Outdoor lighting must be indirect.  Fences (or walls) must be approved prior to construction. 

 

§         Residences, and other prominent structures, and antennas must conform to specific height limitations that have been established for each Parcel, and generally, depending on the Parcel, may not exceed twenty or twenty-five (20 or 25) feet above natural grade. 

 

We strongly suggest you carefully read the Design Review Guidelines and discuss your plans with your architect and the Design Review Committee (DRC) before making any construction and landscaping decisions.


 

Additional Covenant Provisions   Some additional Covenant provisions include the following, which are also paraphrased: 

 

·        Because of concerns about security and the need for community responsibility that is integral to the Reserve’s concept, the Association strongly discourages the leasing or rental of residences. Written permission from the Association is required prior to any lease or rental and may be denied if the Board determines that such leasing is inconsistent with the Covenants, places an additional management burden on the Association and its employees, or poses a threat to the safety and security of the residents and their property.    

 

·        All cars, trucks, trailers, boats, tractors, buses, snowmobiles other mobile devices or large TV dishes must be garaged, enclosed or screened on the Owner’s DRA from the sight of roads and other residents. There is presently currently no open place on the Reserve to store home or recreational trailers or equipment. 

 

·        No snowmobiles, motorcycles, ATVs, or any other motorized off-road vehicles may be operated for recreational purposes within the PremisesReserve, and trail bikes must be confined to established roadways and may not be operated on the Reserve’s trail system.

 

·        While a portion of the Reserve is used by the Association for grazing cattle, no animals, such as poultry, goats or any other animals, except household pets and horses, are allowed to be kept by an Owner.  Pets need to be kept under control at all times so they are not a nuisance to livestock or wildlife.  Horses may be kept only in designated areas (the fenced pastures around the saddle barn) and must be able to live outside, as there are no facilities for inside stabling. Horse owners pay a separate fee to cover feeding and maintaining pastures and the barn facilities. We suggest that anyone planning to have horses talk to the Barn Committee and review its policies. Your inquiries will be welcome as will your participation.

 

·        No hunting, trapping, or discharge of firearms is permitted. 

 

We hope this brief Summary of some of the Covenants and Guidelines for Eagle Rock Reserve is helpful.  The Reserve is a community whose owners make a special commitment to follow common goals for the preservation of the Reserve’s lands and property, promote its enjoyment by all its Members and share in its management. 

 

If you join the Reserve, we’ll’ll look forward to welcoming you to a wonderful place!