Road and Tree clearance guidance
July 29, 2022
Hello everyone!
It is hard to believe it is almost August. The deluge of rain in July has given way to the dog days of summer. While the rain has made the neighborhood look green and truly lovely in full flower, it has also led to tremendous plant growth, including tree branches.
The Board is asking for your cooperation in improving road safety for drivers and walkers. There are numerous locations on Mountain Valley Drive where tree branches are overhanging the road, obstructing visibility, and even scratching vehicles. Shrubbery is also obstructing visibility on curves in the road.
Please take a hard look at your property and trim all branches overhanging the roadway to an elevation of 13 ½ feet before a neighbor gets hurt. If there is shrubbery on your property that is too close to the road and blocking sightlines, please consider removing or pruning it.
For background, Mountain Valley Drive is a state road until the intersection with Dallas Drive near the top of the hill. Local county and NC Department of Transportation (NCDOT) regulations require a minimum vertical clearance of at least 13 ½ feet. NCDOT also specifies setbacks for all plantings to maintain a right-of-way and ensure adequate visibility around curves and corners. NC DOT standards apply to Mountain Valley Drive and are incorporated into the existing covenants.
Section 17 of the Mountain Valley covenants requires sight lines around corner lots to be clear of obstruction by trees or shrubbery; the elevations cited are derived from state regulations:
17. Sight Obstructions.
No fence, wall, hedge, shrub, or tree which obstructs sight lines at elevations between two (2) and six (6) feet above a roadway shall be placed or permitted to remain in any comer lot within the triangular area formed by the property lines and a line connecting them at points twenty-five (25) feet from the intersection of the street property lines.
The Board has no plans to request NCDOT to come into the neighborhood to prune or remove trees and shrubs to meet state standards. Everyone has seen the drastic tree “pruning” that took place earlier this summer along Route 64 toward Hendersonville. We do NOT want NCDOT to do this in our neighborhood. However, the Board is asking for your cooperation in improving road safety.
There are names of tree companies on the service providers list on the website. Landscaping companies also can trim small branches.
In a related problem, the Board recently received complaints from residents that landscape debris had been dumped by unknown individuals on an owner’s property.
MVHOA Board
