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| Four Seasons Hemet Herald | APRIL 2024 | 9 Visualize driving or walking down the street in front of your home… What if you could easily see solar panels on the roofs of EVERY home as you go by? What if there was silver colored conduit running all over the roof connecting the solar panels? What if the silver conduit ran down the side of the homes into gray boxes mounted on the outside walls? Would you like to see this affecting your home's value? This could be the case if Four Seasons did not have Architectural Standards and Regulations that applied to the installation of solar panels. If the homeowner didn't know better, or didn't care, contractors could place the panels and run the conduit wherever they wanted to keep their costs low while charging the most. Who would know, particularly if the contractor said that is the only way it can be done? According to the Architectural Standards and Regulations for our community, solar panels should be placed on the roof to minimize their appearance from traffic driving and people walking in front and behind the home. No conduit should run on the roof. All conduit and equipment mounted on an outside wall must be painted the same color as the wall. Also, panels must be located at least three feet from the roof 's edge. Unfortunately, some Four Seasons' homeowners sign agreements with solar panel companies, and others, beginning work without receiving approval from our Architectural Review Committee. In 2022, 80 of the 355 applications reviewed by the ARC were for solar panels, 28 of the total number of applications were completed without prior application and approval. Here's what happens if a project is started or completed without a prior application and approval. If identified while in progress, the ARC/HOA can direct the homeowner and solar installation team as to how the project is to be installed. The project will then require approval after it is completed. If the project is already completed, the ARC will require the homeowner to apply, after the fact. If the completed project does not comply with the Standards, the ARC can require the homeowner to make the revisions necessary to bring the project into compliance with the standards for the community, at the homeowner's cost. Suspension of a project or requiring changes to a project can be very inconvenient to the homeowner, even expensive. Homeowners have been required to have the solar panel contractor relocate solar panels and conduit; the house repainted; and the landscaping redone. Depending on the agreement with the contractor, the homeowner may have to pay the additional cost. Homeowners can save themselves inconvenience and added expenses by obtaining approval from the Architectural Review Committee, before any construction begins. Review the applicable Standards, incorporate the Standards in every agreement you have with a contractor, submit a complete application to Maria Donti, the Architectural Staff at The Lodge. DO NOT begin work until the application is approved by the ARC, and be sure to verify the work is completed according to the approved application. Things will go much smoother and better by doing this, and your neighbors will appreciate it. Architectural Review