H. SITE WORK/LANDSCAPING

FCHOA Purchaser's Handbook - Revision Date: 2021-10

1. Brick or masonry walls or columns are not recommended at the driveway entrance. If approved by the ARC, the vertical height of the wall covering the ends of a driveway culvert pipe shall not extend more than sixteen inches above the driveway surface. Any entry wall or column, other than the sixteen-inch-high wall over the driveway culvert, must be approved in form and location on the site plan, and be located on the Applicant’s property. Columns will not be allowed on the Association’s road right of way. Normally, an entry column will be brick and not exceed an overall height (including light fixture) of four feet above the higher-grade side of driveway entrance. The light fixture should be no greater than 1/3 of the overall height. If a light fixture is used, the total wattage shall not exceed 100 watts and the light color shall be white. A single pole light fixture, six to eight feet in height, is usually more appropriate and effective than lighted entry columns on a typical size lot.

2. Corner spot lights under the roof eave and entry lighting are generally permitted.  All other exterior lighting or landscape lighting plans must be approved by the ARC. String (strand) lighting is to be positioned within the perimeter of a deck/patio and below the roof eve unless otherwise approved by the ARC. Generally, exterior lights must have concealed light sources and should be low residential grade voltage. Exterior lighting shall not be focused at a neighboring house. Security and spot lighting should be focused downward so as not to be a nuisance to neighbors. Exterior lighting that becomes a nuisance to a neighbor may be subject to modification or removal as determined by the ARC or the FCHOA.

3. The installation of video cameras/surveillance equipment is considered an alteration of the exterior of the buildings that will require written approval of the Architectural Review Committee before installation.  Installation approval of video cameras and surveillance equipment will only be given upon consideration of its effect on neighbors' right to privacy and quiet use and enjoyment of their property.  Installations will not be permitted that the Committee determines will cause an unreasonable interference with neighboring residents' reasonable expectation of privacy.  Whenever possible the cameras shall be placed in the least intrusive or visible location. 

4. Driveway designs should be done with minimal disruption of natural grades, except that steep grades are normally restricted to not exceed a transitional slope greater than eight percent (8%). A variance is required for transitional slopes exceeding 9.5%.  Driveways with transitional grades greater than 7.5% shall be so numerically indicated on the site plan in bold type. Exposed aggregate concrete driveways are highly recommended to blend with the surrounding area. Broom finish driveways are acceptable but are required to be color-stained and outlined with a minimum twelve-inch-wide border of a contrasting material (both color and border material are subject to ARC approval).  Loose surface gravel driveways are no longer permitted except for modest extensions of the backout pad with borders to contain gravel movement.  Existing gravel surface driveways are required as a minimum to maintain an exposed aggregate concrete connection from the actual road surface to the homesite property line. Unless otherwise permitted in the applicable Supplemental Declaration of Protective Covenants, asphalt surface driveways are no longer permitted, but existing asphalt driveways may be maintained or replaced.  When it is necessary for a driveway location to encroach upon the lot setback requirements and a variance has been granted by the ARC, appropriate mitigating landscape screening will be required by the ARC.

5. Driveway flares from the property line to the road shall not extend beyond the line of sight down the side lot line. Driveways should remain ten feet from side lot lines whenever feasible. A variance of up to five feet on the side setback may be granted if deemed necessary by the ARC, provided the side lot line is landscaped with screening landscape shrubbery, at least four to five feet tall at installation, and spaced to screen in three years. The screening landscape shrubbery must be shown on the site plan and landscape plan. Either sufficient natural vegetation or installed landscaping should screen the neighbor from garage doors and parking area. Driveway back-up pads are recommended to be planned at a minimum of 25 feet from the garage with a turnout or 30 feet without a turnout. The back area for courtyard driveways in front of the house needs to plan for foundation landscaping and usually require a landscape buffer area of at least five feet for foundation landscaping.  If the hard-surface driveway is permitted to connect to the house for drainage purposes (courtyards) , large planters with evergreens shall be used and maintained in lieu of foundation landscaping.

6. Circular driveways are discouraged because of the additional clearing of trees, site grading, and hard surface in the front of the house. Circular driveways must be approved on the site plan. Minimum planning criteria will include a 25-foot landscaping setback from the front property line to the driveway, a mitigating landscape plan, and a driveway width not to exceed ten-feet across the front yard.  Two driveway cuts are not allowed unless they are part of a circular drive that meets the circular drive requirements.  Parking places in the front of a home are not permitted.

7. Driveway culverts, if necessary, must be sized and located to pass the area drainage without backing up water.  All culverts are required to be dressed out with either flare ends of aggregate concrete, black vinyl or galvanized steel, a head wall, stack stone or placed stone (4-6” size, earth tones).  Grass not permitted without adequate flow line protection and culvert screening.  The engineer or surveyor preparing the site plan should indicate the proper culvert size based on the designed drainage calculations. AES Consulting Engineers, 757-253-0040, designed the Ford’s Colony drainage system. Plans are also on file at the ARC office and James City County. Care should be taken in selecting the proper size and shape culvert. The use of a temporary construction culvert is highly recommended until final driveway grading is planned. Concrete culverts are preferred. Culverts that are set too low will store water and silt in and around the pipe. Culverts set too high may impede normal drainage flow and create a high bump in the driveway. An elliptical shape culvert will often provide the flow area necessary without causing a high bump in the driveway. Culverts less than ten inches on inside diameter are not recommended due to potential blockage. Use of a trench drain with a grate top provides ease of maintenance for small diameter culverts. Some driveways will be located near a drainage high point and may not require the use of a culvert; a driveway swale and/or trench drain may be all that is necessary. Normally a trench drain is required when a culvert is not used and when the area /street generally drains toward the driveway. The Owner’s engineer or surveyor shall determine grade through the drainage ditch, roadside, and ditch back slope. Property Owners are responsible for maintaining the driveway, culvert and culvert screening for keeping ditches and swales located on the Lot free and unobstructed and in good repair.

8. If slopes resulting from site grading are not at such an angle as to permit quality maintenance in grass (slope 3 feet vertical for each 1 foot horizontal), they must be stabilized with appropriate ground cover. Site grading should be done so as to avoid drainage of additional or concentrated surface water onto an adjoining lot, to the detriment of that lot. Natural drainage patterns should be accommodated as much as practical so as to not impede the normal flow of surface water; however, control site drainage down the side lot lines to the rear or front as appropriate. Drainage control techniques include grading swales or berms, drainage pipes, and retaining walls. Some additional clearing may be necessary as approved by the ARC.  Initial grading for berms and swales to control cross lot drainage shall be installed as soon as practical after clearing.

Gutter downspouts and outfalls should not be directed toward the adjacent lot.  Underground lateral piping may be required. 

9. Bio-retention basins (rain gardens) are strongly recommended as an integral part of storm water management for new construction.  Rain gardens are a planted depression that is designed to absorb rain water runoff from nearby roofs, driveways, and other impervious surfaces.   Rain gardens delay and filter surface runoff and increase the amount of water that infiltrates into the ground.  Calculations for rain gardens are determined by the volume of storage necessary to capture and retain the equivalent of 2.6 inches of rain multiplied by the square footage of impervious surfaces area on a site plan.  2.6 inches represents the approximate calculation of the net runoff from a two-year storm in the Williamsburg, Virginia area after a factor of ground water absorption.  Proposed calculations will be certified by a civil engineer licensed in Virginia and shown on the site plan.

10. In general, it is recommended that lawns be limited to relatively restricted areas around the principal buildings on a homesite, and that the balance of the property, insofar as is practicable, remain in forest cover. This has the obvious advantage of minimal disruption of the immediate environment, ensures the prospering of established trees, and offers the additional advantage of minimal maintenance. Use of sod is highly recommended in lawn areas and in roadside ditches for erosion control and stabilization. Use of sod is required in some sections by the Supplemental Declaration of Protective Covenants.

11. Retaining walls may be necessary for severe grade changes or to reduce clearing of trees. Retaining walls will be permitted if they are well designed and constructed properly of approved materials. Retaining walls with appropriate grades must be shown and approved on the site plan.

12. Swimming pools applications will require a professional plan (to scale) to include final grades, concrete/decking finishes, fence location (with design and height), pool layout/design/size, drainage control measures during the project and how drainage will be handled once complete (including de-watering/backwash), and the pump and /or pool house. Pool and pool deck should be set back at least 25 feet from the rear property line. The ARC will handle each submission on a case to case basis with field review to determine if any additional information is required. 

13. Adequate erosion controls, such as silt fences, diversion berms, straw bales, straw matting and seeding or sodding, shall be installed immediately and maintained to prevent the washing of earth into ditches, lakes, neighboring property, and ravines, during and after construction. Erosion controls shall be installed immediately after initial site clearing and prior to additional land disturbance such as the excavation of foundation footings. Once site clearing commences, erosion control must be installed immediately after clearing. Erosion control measures such as silt fences and/or straw bales must be regularly maintained and remain in place until the site is fully stabilized with grass and/or mulch beds.  Erosion controls shall be checked after each significant rainfall and reset as necessary.  Blowout areas shall be re-enforced as necessary to prevent re-occurrences.  If these controls are taken down for landscaping and final grading, the silt fence/straw bales must be re-installed until sufficient stabilization is in place.

14. A four-foot orange safety fence, plastic or webbed, must be installed and maintained around the limits of construction or clearing. The safety fence shall be supported by stakes or suitable trees at a maximum interval of six-foot spacing. Portions of the orange safety fence may be pulled back for short, temporary periods as necessary to install underground lines. The safety fence helps to mitigate views of the jobsite, control wind-blown debris, and to provide a barrier to control the limits of material storage and construction activity to help preserve trees.  The safety fence shall be installed immediately after clearing. Inadequate controls will lead to a stop work order until corrected.  The safety fence may be installed with a temporary break which can be taken down and reinstalled daily to facilitate material delivery to the jobsite.

15. Design and implementation of site work must provide for necessary drainage pipes and drainage ways, to ensure stabilization and prevent future erosion. Provisions must be made for existing drainage courses and structures. No existing drainage structures may be tapped or altered without prior approval of the ARC.  However, drainage pipes terminating at a concrete ditch are normally cut into the concrete with appropriate concrete patch repairs.

16. A landscaping plan shall be required for review and approval prior to the installation of landscaping.  Landscape plant materials should be of native varieties. Minimum installation for foundation landscaping is an average installed plant height of 30 to 36 inches above grade, with no plant used immediately forward of the foundation at less than 22 inches above grade, unless otherwise dictated in the Supplemental Covenants for a special section (See landscape summary chart Exhibit 21).  The measurement of the height of a shrub begins at the ground point (top of the ball) and continues to where the main part of the plant ends. Stone that may be incorporated into your landscape plan (for example, but not limited to; walkways, drainage techniques, landscape features etc.) is required to be of neutral brown/beige earth tone color and 4-6” in size unless otherwise approved by the ARC.  

Minimum installation caliper for screening landscaping is a 1 ½” caliper trunk, as measured six to twelve inches above the top of the root ball, or 4’ to 5’ above grade, as appropriate to plant species. Additional specifications for each section are included in the Supplemental Covenants.  The Surety Deposit will be held until the landscaping and lawn stabilization is complete.  For additional information on the use of evergreen landscaping for screening, the ARC recommends American Standard for Nursery Stock (ANSIZ60-1996).

It is the responsibility of the Property Owner to plant grass or sod in the road right-of-way adjacent to the lot, from the property line to the road edge and/or curb and gutter and maintain such turf similar to the adjacent yard.  If sod is required for the lawn, finish the sod out to the road edge.  Other landscaping in the right-of-way must be approved by the ARC.  Irrigation heads should not be placed on the FCHOA property.  The FCHOA is not liable for any damage to personal property on the FCHOA property.

17. Topsoil should be carefully stripped and protected from erosion for reuse in landscaping.

18. Outdoor heating and air conditioning, HVAC equipment, other mechanical equipment, such as electric generators and trash receptacles shall be shown on the site plan and shall be to the rear or side of the house and must be reasonably screened from view from all sides by fencing prior to occupancy.  In addition to the fencing requirement, installed standby electrical generators must also be equipped with sound reduction features, including muffler and sound proofing panels/enclosure, and produce an operating noise level no greater than 70 decibels.   Typically, a fence screen (1” x 6” picket with 1” spacing and sufficient height to screen the unit) shall be approved by the ARC and shall be solid-stained or painted an approved color on both sides. Window and wall installed air conditioning equipment is not permitted.

19. The Builder shall be responsible for positive drainage control on lot and moisture control in a finished crawlspace. Each lot must drain to the street drainage ditch, storm pipe system, or designated drainage easement/greenway to the side or rear of lot. Drainage control shall be established at initial site clearing and grading. The Builder shall carefully check conditions during site clearing, grading and foundation work to insure proper finished drainage and foundation moisture control conditions. Relative grades should be confirmed to ensure positive drainage from the foundation and throughout the lot to eliminate standing water.

20. Play Structures, such as tree houses, swing sets and play houses may be permitted, but may be also limited or rejected for aesthetic, lack of adequate visual screening, or other reasons determined by the ARC.  No play structures will be considered or approved for the front or for side yards if the location on the side yard is not sufficiently screened from neighboring and street views.  Location of play structures shall be noted on a site plan for approval as well as a catalog cut sheet of the play structure design, materials and size.  The standard building material for play structures is natural wood with weatherproof coating or powder coated metal. Plastic, vinyl, metal, etc. are not allowed except for minor accessories (slides, swing seats, cover, etc.) to wooden structures.  All exterior recreational property must be reasonably maintained and kept in use. All play structures should be properly anchored to prevent them from moving or falling over. Tree houses will be approved only in limited situations, on a case-by-case basis, when the tree proposed for holding the tree house is located so that the tree house is reasonably screened from view, in the opinion of the Committee, from other adjacent residents’ homes or from streets and golf courses.  Such situations would normally be when the position of the homeowner’s lot is such that the back of the lot is a wooded area or immediately adjacent to a wooded area.  Tree houses shall be structurally sound and should not exceed 8’ x 8’ x 6’ tall in size.  Tree houses must be painted or stained to match the color of the tree bark.   

Play structures should reasonably screened from the street and neighboring house views.  If necessary, fencing, trees and/or bushes may be required by the Committee to aid in meeting this requirement.  The trees or bushes should be of sufficient size to provide an immediate reduction in the visibility of the structure and should be evergreen to provide coverage year-round.

All play structures shall be maintained in attractive and safe operating condition.  Unsightly or unsafe equipment must be repaired or removed.  Play structures are considered as “temporary structures”; ARC approval is valid for a 2-year period.  At the end of the twenty-fourth month from the approval date, the homeowner shall submit a request to the FCHOA for an extension of time or remove the structure/equipment.  Failure to resubmit for approval in a timely manner will be sufficient grounds for demand for removal of the structure/equipment.  Failure to remove or to properly maintain temporary structures/equipment when instructed by the ARC or the FCHOA will be considered a Covenant violation.  The approval of play structures is not transferable to a change in ownership or tenant.  If a new buyer wishes to retain play structures which have received FCHOA approval and are on the homesite at the time of purchase/sale, the new home buyer will be required to obtain a new approval from the FCHOA for retention of the play structures.

21. The ARC may adopt reasonable rules and regulations with respect to limitations on placement, materials, number, size, language, type, and picture or visual purpose of flags, flagpoles, and the like, including the United States Flag and the Virginia Flag.  Unless otherwise limited, one flag of either the United States or Virginia, at a size not greater than four feet by six feet, may be displayed on a Lot, in a manner consistent with the patriotic customs set forth in 4 U.S.C. 5-10, as amended, governing the use and display of the flag of the United States, on a flagpole not taller than 25 feet and not wider than four inches or on a flag stanchion attached to the house and not longer than six feet.  Flagpole halyards shall be secured to prevent a noise nuisance in wind conditions.  The specific placement of a flag and support structure must be approved by the ARC prior to installation.  Flags or signs that display language, symbols, or pictures that are considered offensive or inflammatory, in the sole discretion of the ARC or as determined by the Board of Directors, are not permitted, and the Owner may be held in violation of this Handbook and the FCHOA’s Governing Documents which empower the ARC to have policies and regulations that regulate signs, exterior appearances, landscaping, structures, and the like. 

22. Building code requires a minimum drainage slope from the foundation. All site drainage must be directed toward the master plan system drainage conveyances without causing erosion or excess water onto the neighbor. Care should be taken when building to protect the neighboring property. Installing drainage controls after the home and landscaping are complete is usually much more expensive than during initial construction.

23. All detached structures and outbuildings must be approved by the Committee. Detached structures and outbuildings including garages, storage sheds, plant greenhouses, pool houses, gazebos, play houses, dog houses etc. shall be designed to complement the materials, color, and style of the house and to respect neighboring views.  All structures shall be painted or solid-stained white or off-white or an approved color by the ARC for the particular application.  Natural wood color and natural stain is no longer permitted.  

Detached secondary garages should not exceed 18’ (width) x 22’ (depth) and shall be located as close to the house as feasible so as to limit the amount of clearing and impervious structure(s). The approaching driveway should not exceed the width of the garage door. 

Accessory buildings shall stylistically complement the primary house such as; roof styles and slopes, windows and doors, cornice details, exterior finish materials and colors.  Accessory buildings should not exceed 12’ x 14’ in size for larger open lots, but smaller accessory buildings are usually more appropriate for lots less than one third acre in area.  A minimum of one 2'-8" x 4'-2" or 2’8” x 4’-6" window is required.  The window shall face the closest neighboring lot.   Accessory buildings must be built on a brick foundation, concrete slab or 12 x 12 brick corner piers with lattice infill behind the brick piers.  Wood and similar material piers may be wrapped by brick but not used alone.    Foundation landscaping is required on all elevations.  The location of the building shall be annotated on a site plan and should conform to building setbacks.   Elevation drawings, including “side-view with proposed window, overall dimensions, cornice detail and color / material selection are required with the application.  Kit buildings and pre-manufactured buildings from home-improvement stores do not usually have sufficient exterior detail to complement the primary house and are normally not permitted.  The aesthetic concept of the constructed out-building is emphasized over a kit or pre-fabricated shed.  Accessory buildings will require a surety deposit as detailed in Exhibit E-1.

24. Utility wire and cables shall be placed underground. Temporary service lines may be above ground for not longer than thirty days. In no instance may temporary service lines pose a hazard to pedestrians or vehicles.  Property Owners are responsible for temporary service lines.

25. All sections with curb and gutter are required to have (2) schedule 40-two-inch conduits placed 18” below grade directly behind the curb for future wires/cables/pipes.   All other sections are required to have (2) schedule 40-two-inch conduits placed 3’ from the road edge and 18” below grade.  Builders/Owners must verify installation of conduits and notify the ARC by (1) forwarding a picture of the installation prior to backfill or pouring the driveway or (2) request an inspection from the ARC.  Inspection requests will be honored within 72 hours or as inspectors are available.  Owners that do not provide the required conduit under the driveway are required to reimburse the FCHOA, or the utility company for any cost to bore or cut the driveway to install wires/cables/pipes.

26.  Wells for the purpose of lawn irrigation will require ARC approval in addition to James City County approval.  Wells will not be approved in the front or side yard where they are exposed to view from the street.  Screening landscaping will be required if the well is exposed above grade.  Wells are not permitted in Section XII, Nottingham Place, Section XXXIII, Eaglescliffe or Section XXXV, Westport.  Homeowners are not permitted to draw pond water for irrigation of their property.