June 2015 — N 1506
If you are having problems seeing this in your email, try our on line version
Next HOA Meeting
The next HOA meeting will be the first Tuesday of August 2015, (8/4/15) at 7:00PM at the Depot (at Pass and Katherine Rds.)
SOAR
SOAR (Save Open-Space and Agricultural Resources) is one of the few laws in the nation that protects open space from dense development by requiring a vote of the people to rezone it. SOAR has kept huge developments (urban sprawl) from going on lands zoned for rural, open space, and agriculture. But if we don't act, SOAR will expire! Developers want it to expire and are actively working to prevent the renewal of SOAR.
Voters in Ventura County will soon have the opportunity to support SOAR at the ballot box. Making SOAR win in the November 2016 election will require a major grassroots effort. SOAR needs your help and support to get the votes needed to renew SOAR and lead Ventura County away from the suburban sprawl of the San Fernando Valley.
Visit the SOAR website to learn more about SOAR—what SOAR is, the benefits of SOAR, how we renew SOAR and what will happen if SOAR expires. If you treasure the natural open spaces that surround us, please DONATE and VOLUNTEER today! You can contribute on-line or send a check to the address at the DONATE link.
Remember, if we don't act to see that SOAR is renewed in the November 2016 election, all the open spaces (green) in the map shown below will no longer be protected by vote of the people.
County Encroachment Letters
Ventura County Encroachment Letters were mailed to some residents recently. More are probably coming.
The County considers an encroachment to include any object of any kind on, in, along, under, over, or across the ROW. All work and all encroachments in the ROW must be authorized by an encroachment permit procured from the transportation department.
If you are concerened about how the County's encroachment policies may effect you please see the county's guidelines which are posted on their website. In the meantime here is a brief summary of the guidelines:
The new standards will evaluate existing encroachments for their level of risk and liability versus the severity of the encroachment. This evaluation will be grouped into three categories as follows:
Significant Risk - Encroachment must be removed immediately or modified to make it a lower risk and permitted,
Low Risk - Encroachment will be permitted as is with a hold harmless agreement included,
Trivial Risk - County will take no action at this time.
The County has already done a study in the Knolls and have identified areas of encroachment. Letters have been sent or will be sent shortly to those homeowners that are affected. In general the homeowner will be required to sign a ‘hold harmless’ document for the County. If you receive a letter please read it thoroughly and call the County if you have any questions.
Additional information on encroachment can be found on the Ventura County Transportation Department website.
No Household Trash in Park Trash Receptacles
A Park Ranger notified us that due to the volume of trash at the Santa Susana Park and the Knolls Park they will be looking through trash that may be considered household trash. They will be looking for personal information etc. so they can contact persons using Park receptacles. It is against Park Rules, Ordinance 3-4.71, to dispose of trash using the Parks trash receptacles. So please be aware that the Rangers are keeping an eye out for trash dumpers.
Historic Items for the Knolls Station
The Park District is looking for old pictures or other old items from "back in the day" that have something to do with the Knolls or Station 43. They can photocopy and enlarge old pictures or perhaps put in a display case for miscellaneous items. If anyone has any pictures or items they would like to be considered send an email to susanaknollshoa@roadrunner.com.
Living with the Wild
White-breasted Nuthatches
Of the many, many birds that call the Knolls home, White-breasted nuthatches could be considered the most quirky. Nuthatches scale the trunks of nearby trees up, down, and sideways with an erratic motion. And their call sounds like a nasal nyuk-nyuk-nyuk or peeping or squeaking. Nuthatches earned their common name from their behavior of cramming large seeds and nuts into tree bark and then whacking them with their sharp bill to hatch out the seed from the inside.
Nuthatches often join foraging flocks led by Acorn titmice, white-capped sparrows—more eyes in a group make food easier to find and predators easier to spot. Male White-breasted Nuthatches can be a bit rude, pushing females aside when visiting a bird feeder. Nuthatches are excellent at caching — storing food to eat later. They often store seeds, one at a time, under the loose bark of a tree, typically hiding their cache with a piece of tree bark. Nuthatches may steal from each others’ caches, so they tend to fly off in opposite directions from a feeder to avoid leading an onlooking bird to their secret stashes of seeds.
Enjoy this tiny quirky bird, another unusual Knolls resident.
This newsletter is a production of the Santa Susana Knolls Homeowners Association (SSKHA). If you have any questions, comments, or feedback, please let us know. Please share this newsletter with your neighbors. You do not have to be a member of the SSKHA to be on our email list. To subscribe to this newsletter click here. If you are a member of the HOA we really do not want you to unsubscribe but if you must, you can use this link: unsubscribe. The newsletter is produced from the spacious Santa Susana Knolls town center offices at 1409 Kuehner, No. 5, Santa Susana, CA 93063.