Property owner sees conflict of interest and uneven enforcement of view protection
The first part of a lawsuit threatening the right of the Castellammare Mesa Home Owners, Inc. to enforce its conditions, covenants and restrictions (CC&Rs) ended last month in the association’s favor. Judge Gregory Alarcon of L.A. County Superior Court ruled that the homeowners’ association ‘properly and effectively extended’ its CC&Rs from 1964 until January 1, 2019. However, the suit sets the stage for another property fight’-and potential legal dispute: whether the homeowners’ association will consider Mir Saied Kashani’s plans to build a three-story, 7,000-square-foot house on Tramonto Drive an ‘unreasonable interference’ of his neighbors’ views. ‘We’re trying to ensure that he goes through the process,’ Board member David Morena told the Palisadian-Post. ‘If you got an empty lot next to you, you should expect some loss of view. What the CC&Rs say is to not unreasonably obstruct someone’s view. There’s definitely a subjective element to it. Part of it is whether the construction will materially change the value of a house.’ Kashani bought an empty, cliff-side lot on a half acre with nearly 180-degree views of the Pacific Ocean in Castellammare, a CC&R-protected community, for under $900,000 in 2004. His plans’-first submitted to the association in May 2005′-to build his home have rattled his next-door neighbors, who fear that his house will come at the cost of their ocean views. No neighbors have been more worried about his plans than Doreen and Jerry Rochman, whose multi-million-dollar, Frank Israel-designed home at 17630 Tramonto was completed in 2000 and is considered a Westside architectural gem’in no small part due to its sweeping views of Santa Monica Bay. ‘The house was completely designed to take advantage of this view,’ said lawyer Don Franzen, who represents the Rochmans. ‘If we had lost, that CCR process would have ended and [Kashani] could have built whatever he wanted. And it’s our belief that [the house] he wants to build would block their view.’ Because Kashani’s efforts to invalidate the Castellammare homeowners’ association’s legal legitimacy failed in L.A. County Superior Court in late November, his plans will again return to the association and its architectural committee for approval. But Kashani, who represented himself in court, does not expect that he will receive an objective review from the association. And he points to a conflict of interest between the Rochmans and the association, which will ultimately decide what he can build. Both Doreen Rochman and her son Harvey are members of the Castellammare Mesa Home Owners’ board, which elects the architectural committee members who have direct say over Kashani’s building plans. Despite some board members’ concerns over a possible conflict of interest, the board appointed Harvey to head a sub-committee that would ‘manage’ the association’s legal oversight over Kashani’s application, according to court-ordered minutes from the board’s meeting on February 22, 2006. ‘It’s legitimate for [the Rochmans] to protect their rights as homeowners,’ Kashani told the Palisadian-Post. ‘But it’s not fair to exploit their position on the board of directors. The way they should do it’the fair way'[is] the homeowners affected should not be involved in the discussion. We wouldn’t have this problem if we weren’t next door to two members of the board of directors of the homeowners’ association.’ The Rochmans’ board membership also influenced the architectural committees’ plans at the cost of their neighbors who are not on the board, Kashani said. The architectural committee asked Kashani to raise the height of the house’-a change that would potentially obstruct the views of those across-the-street neighbors. The conflict of interest created by the Rochmans’ past involvement on the board, Kashani says, has jeopardized a fair review of his application and also contributed to an aggressive personal attack. Kashani points to a list written by an architectural committee member to the association’s lawyer, John Murdoch, made public by a court order. In the handwritten memo under the heading ‘Kashani,’ the member seeks ‘evidence of [Kashani’s] citizenship’ as well as ‘evidence of [his] right to practice law in [California].’ Another Castellammare resident writing to Judge Gregory Alarcon in favor of the association notes that ‘the residents [of Castellammare], too, are pretty homogeous [sic].’ Kashani is an Iranian-born, U.S. citizen, who received his bachelor’s and law degrees from Harvard University. The Castellammare Home Owners, Inc. rejects Kashani’s arguments that its decisions have been tainted by a conflict of interest. According to the association’s president, Kim Clary, Harvey Rochman’s role ‘was really very limited and was confined essentially to the very early legal stages of the [association’s] lawsuit defense. Clary told the Post, ‘Because the board was sensitive to the perception that the Rochmans may influence the actions of the [architectural committee], the board later excused the Rochmans from all [board] discussions dealing with the Kashani case.’ Clary said that the architectural committee member’s notes regarding Kashani’s immigration status and his ability to practice law in the state were irrelevant to the association’s review of his application. Further, she said, the member’s notes were ‘not as we know, shared with any member of the HOA or the [architectural committee.’ The impact of raising the height of Kashani’s house on the views of Kashani’s neighbors, Clary said, would be understood by installing story poles on the property. She said ‘all of’ the neighbors’ views will be considered. Nearly three years after originally submitting building plans, story poles are now expected to be placed on Kashani’s property. If the architectural committee finds his plans to ‘unreasonably interfere’ with his neighbors’ views, Kashani is expected to file a lawsuit against the homeowners’ association. ——- To contact Staff Writer Max Taves, e-mail reporter@palipost.com or call (310) 454-1321 ext. 28.
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