We the undersigned urge the City of Shoreline to recognize the validity and importance of covenants as these are vested property rights.
The Innis Arden covenants include provisions that regulate vegetation and have as one of their purposes protection of the community’s Puget Sound and Olympics Mountain views. Court of Appeals Judge Anne Ellington wrote over 20 years ago that “protection of the area’s Marine and Mountain views is eminently reasonable and such views very obviously are and always have been one of the principal attractions of the Innis Arden development”.
The Club has a half century tradition of responsible stewardship of views and of its reserves. The Club has thus long managed the reserves to preserve views, removing trees that were blocking residents’ views and replanting the affected area with lower growing tree species. (See video of Grouse Reserve: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otzHGYrqfg0) Every time the Innis Arden covenants have been considered by the Washington Courts, they have been upheld.
