The Ladera CC&R Race-Restriction Elimination Project
The CC&R Race Restriction Elimination Project was brought to a decisive conclusion on November 3rd, 2021 with the recordation of a formal amendment to the original 1948 Ladera Covenants, as amended in 1950, eliminating the longstanding -- albeit illegal and un-enforceable -- race restrictive clause. Included, as part of the 2021 Amendment, was a new clause which states:
“ By provisions outlined in this document the Ladera Community has formally acted to
remove the Race Restriction that previously comprised this subsection, and by so
doing asserts that the Ladera Community supports diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
A full copy of the body of the 2021 Amendment, along with a sample signature page (private information redacted) can be viewed (here). [include link]
During the summer of 2021, the CC&R Amendment Signing Team was formed and a signing campaign was planned and launched on August 14th, immediately following the inaugural Ladera Pride Parade. The CC&R Amendment Signing Team consisted of over 30 Ladera neighbors, many of whom contributed countless hours to organizing, coordinating, and staffing the effort. A series of signing events were held over a two and a half month period. Signing sessions took place every Saturday at the neighborhood recreation center, as well as on many pre-scheduled weekday evenings on resident driveways where a Notary was present for the convenience of signers. Donations were requested, though not required, to cover project expenses which included notary fees, recording fees, and other expenses.
721 notarized property owner signatures were collected. For passage, 2/3rd of all residential lots needed to be fully signed. Our final stats were:
Total residential lots: 534 Total title-holders: 949
Total properties fully signed: 391 Total title-holders signed: 721
Fully signed properties: 73.2% Signed: 76%
There are many people to thank for getting us to this point, not the least of which are our 721 Signers. Thank you Signers! Were it not for our responsive and supportive community, we would never have been able to make this happen. Also, the Ladera Community Association and the Ladera DEI Team were un-wavering in their support throughout the duration of this initiative. More noteworthy ‘ thanks ’ are due the CC&R Race Restriction Elimination Committee who nurtured the project along in its early months, as well as for the CC&R Amendment Signing Team whose dedication and tireless work carried the initiative across the finish line.
Our project made the local TV NBC Bay Area news, and was featured in the San Francisco Chronicle:
NBC Bay Area:
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/peninsula/racism-found-in-home-deeds-in-woodside/2728241/
San Francisco Chronicle:
What did we learn?
1) We cannot remove the racist language by a simple Ladera Community Association board vote. We were hoping that this would be an option; however, the LCA does not meet the legal status required to strike the language, and obtaining that legal status, if it is even possible, would be exceptionally complex for numerous reasons.
2) The state legislation that would supposedly make it easier for neighborhoods to strike racist covenants would, in its current form, require a generation to take effect. The bill, as currently written, would allow the language to be removed from the property records only upon the sale of that property. Thus, should the bill be passed, it would take many decades for it to "take effect." Moreover, AB-985 was vetoed in 2009, is currently extremely nascent in the legislation process, and has not yet even been brought forth or published.
3) The only ways to remove the language are either a) each property owner goes through the process with the county separately and individually, or b) a two thirds majority of all property owners in Ladera sign an amendment to remove the language for all tracts of the neighborhood, for a single CC&R amendment to filed with the county for the entire neighborhood. The first is extremely onerous and time-consuming for an individual property owner (there are actually several Laderans who have been going through this process and can speak to that fact). The latter, given that it would require approximately 700 notarized signatures, is unrealistic during a pandemic but we believe will be achievable with a community effort once public health restrictions are no longer necessary.
What do we recommend?
The CC&R subcommittee recommended to the LCA that we pursue option 3b noted above, through a series of events held this Summer 2021 to obtain in-person notarized signatures, assuming this is safe from an infectious disease perspective (we anticipate that it will be). This can be part of Ladera 75th Anniversary events, and we can have notaries present at July 4 and other high-turnout summer festivities. We also propose holding dedicated Ladera CC&R events, in order to capture as many Laderan signatures as possible. We will realistically need more than 2/3 votes (approximately 700 signatures), given that there is always some amount of turnover in the neighborhood. We will work with the County to ensure that the process allows expedient amendment of the CC&Rs once all signatures are obtained. We do not expect fundraising to be a limiting factor, and we do not plan to use "community funds" (e.g., LCA or LRD funds). We anticipate total costs <$15k but will obtain more accurate estimates based on legal fees and mobile notary rates.
