Our Plan to Renew the Community Design Committee(CDC)

The CDC: Protecting Princeville Without Freezing It in Time

The Community Design Committee is one of the least visible but most consequential parts of PHCA.

Every time a homeowner builds a house, changes a roof, adds a pool, replaces windows, changes landscaping, installs lighting or repaints a home, the CDC can affect the result. Its decisions shape individual properties, neighboring properties and, over time, the appearance and value of Princeville itself.

The CDC therefore needs to do two things well at the same time: protect the character of Princeville and provide homeowners with a fair, understandable and efficient review process.

Friends of Princeville believes both objectives are possible, hence our broad plan below.

In the last few years, the CDC has been seen by members, as well as contractors, as an obstacle. This is a shame! The CDC should be seen as a friend of members, a “customer-oriented” tool designed to preserve the quality of our community while enable members to design and build their homes as they see fit within rules grounded in common sense and reasonableness. Read on to find out more…

The original purpose still matters

Princeville’s Protective Covenants did not create architectural review simply to regulate homeowners. They established it to keep the community attractive, protect its natural beauty, and enhance the value and desirability of property. The current CDC rules carry that purpose forward. They identify several useful principles:

• Preserve Princeville’s rural island character,

• Respect mountain and ocean vistas,

• Balance individual and community interests,

• Encourage construction appropriate for our North Shore environment,

• Protect property values, and

• Apply the rules fairly and equitably.

Those principles should remain at the center of CDC decisions. The question is how to apply them in a community that continues to change.

Start with each application

CDC work begins with individual applications. Each application deserves more than a checklist review. The Committee should consider the applicable rule, the physical conditions of the property, drainage and topography, the design of the existing house, effects on neighboring properties and the broader setting. That is particularly important because many CDC decisions involve judgment.

A 20-foot setback is measurable. Whether a color “blends” with its surroundings is different. Whether a proposed material is appropriate for Princeville, whether landscaping affects a neighbor’s view, or whether an addition fits the original house requires interpretation. The current rules recognize this. They contain both fixed standards and broader aesthetic standards, and they specifically state that each property is unique. That makes consistency of reasoning particularly important.

Prior approvals should not automatically dictate future decisions. The current rules expressly say they do not create precedent. But the CDC should still understand how similar cases were handled. If two apparently similar applications receive different decisions, there should be a clear site-specific or design reason.

Make the process easier to understand

Friends of Princeville reviewed architectural-review procedures from planned communities around the country. One recurring lesson is simple: good design review starts before the committee meeting. Communities such as The Capes in Oregon and Briar Chapel in North Carolina use detailed application checklists, distinguish simple projects from complex ones, encourage applicants to ask questions early and identify missing information before formal review.

PHCA already does much of this. Major projects proceed through initial consultation, conceptual review, detailed review, written approval and final inspection. Minor applications generally receive simpler treatment. The next step should be to make the process even clearer. An applicant should be able to understand, before spending money on plans:

• What information is required?

• Which rules apply?

• What questions will the CDC consider?

• How long should review take?

• What happens if changes are required?

Clear requirements reduce incomplete applications, repeated submissions and frustration for everyone—including CDC volunteers.

Move toward principles where principles work better

Some CDC rules should remain precise. Building height, setbacks, drainage requirements and construction controls need measurable standards. Other areas may benefit from a more principles-based approach. Consider exterior color: The important question should not be whether a color appears on a predetermined list. It should be whether the overall color scheme complements the architecture, landscaping, surrounding properties and Princeville’s natural setting.

The same approach can apply to some building materials, landscaping and architectural treatments. Do houses painted white with black trim belong in Princeville? Briar Chapel’s design guidance provides a useful model: It establishes broad design principles and then allows different architectural solutions that meet them. Its stated objective is essentially coherence without uniformity. It also uses performance requirements in some areas rather than prescribing a particular manufacturer or product. That approach allows a community to evolve without abandoning its character.

Learn from other communities—and from Kauaʻi

The CDC should periodically look outside Princeville. Friends of Princeville reviewed 40 documents from architectural-review boards, design committees, large planned communities, the Community Associations Institute and other governance sources. These communities use different approaches, but several themes recur:

• Clear application requirements,

• Written criteria,

• Defined review periods,

• Documented decisions,

• Procedures for variances and appeals,

• Communication with applicants, and

• Uniform enforcement.

The Community Associations Institute similarly recommends regular communication, transparent governance, well-publicized grievance and appeal procedures, and uniform enforcement of architectural guidelines. But benchmarking does not mean copying another community. Princeville has conditions most mainland developments do not: intense rainfall, salt air, trade winds, tropical vegetation, steep lots, drainage issues, strong sun, mold, termites and rapid material deterioration. Our CDC rules already recognize many of these conditions. Future research should continue on roofing, exterior materials, corrosion resistance, drainage, tropical landscaping, dark-sky lighting, solar technology and maintenance practices specifically relevant to Kauaʻi.

Give the CDC a roadmap

Annual rule revisions are useful, but adding another rule whenever a new issue appears can eventually create a complicated rulebook without a clear underlying structure. The CDC should maintain a longer-term roadmap. That roadmap could identify rules needing clarification, recurring applicant problems, outdated requirements, new technologies, areas of inconsistent interpretation and opportunities to replace narrow prescriptions with clearer principles. Members should be told what is being reviewed and why. The objective is not fewer rules simply for the sake of having fewer rules. It is better rules: understandable, defensible and connected to the purposes of the Covenants.

Flexibility and consistency can coexist

The CDC should not make every Princeville house look alike. Nor should architectural review become so subjective that homeowners cannot reasonably anticipate how an application will be judged. The balance lies between those extremes. Princeville can allow architectural variety, new materials, new technology and individual expression while protecting neighboring properties, community aesthetics, natural surroundings and property values.

That requires experienced committee members, careful application review, active discussion among CDC members, good support from the CDC Administrator, continuing research and clear communication with homeowners. The CDC has an important responsibility: Its job is not to preserve Princeville exactly as it looked yesterday. Its job is to help Princeville evolve without losing what makes it Princeville.

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