Section 11.1. Declaration of Easements and Rights.
In addition to the reserved rights and easements set forth in Appendix Two of this Declaration, the following easements and rights are hereby declared and reserved:
(a) The Declarant reserves the right to grant easements, both temporary and permanent, to all public authorities (including, but not limited to, all State and County governmental authorities and agencies) and utility companies over any part of the Property.
(b) Each Living Unit and the Community Property are hereby declared to have an easement, not exceeding three feet (3’) in width, over any adjoining portions of the Community for the purpose of accommodating any encroachment due to engineering errors, errors in original construction, settlement or shifting of the Living Unit, roof overhangs, gutters, architectural or other appendages, draining of rainwater from roofs, or any other similar cause. There shall be valid easements for the maintenance of said encroachments so long as they shall exist, and the rights and obligations of Owners shall not be altered in any way by said encroachment, settlement or shifting; provided, however, that in no event shall a valid easement for encroachment be created in favor of an Owner or Owners if said encroachment occurred due to the willful and knowing conduct of said Owner or Owners.
(c ) There is hereby reserved unto the Declarant and to such other parties as the Declarant may specifically, and in writing, assign such rights, for the benefit of the Community, blanket easements upon, across and under the Property for (i) vehicular and pedestrian ingress and egress, (ii) curb cuts, slope, or grading easements, (iii) for the placement of signs, including, without limitation, signs relating to the Community and signs used for sales and marketing purposes, (iv) the right to erect entry features, promotional and sales displays and other similar items within the Property provided they do not unreasonably and materially interfere with the use, operation and enjoyment of Living Units within the property, (v) for the installation, replacement, repair and maintenance of all utilities, including, but not limited to, water, sewer, drainage, storm water detention and/or siltation, gas, cable television, telephones, broadband, Internet, communications services, and electricity, and further including the right to connect to and use any such utilities which may exist or be located upon the Property from time to time, and (vi) such other purposes reasonably related to the development activities of the Declarant. By virtue of the utility easement set forth in this subsection, it shall be expressly permissible to install and maintain the necessary pipes, lines and other equipment within the Property, to affix and maintain electrical or telephone wires and conduits, sewer and water drainage lines, on, above, or below any portion of the Property, including any improvements constructed thereon, and to have construction vehicles, equipment and the like exercise the aforesaid right of ingress and egress within the Property. There is further reserved unto the Declarant the right to grant specific easements, both temporary and permanent, to any person or entity, including all public authorities and utility companies, over any part of the Property in furtherance of the blanket easements created by this subsection. Further, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Declarant reserves the right to unilaterally execute and record such additional easements and agreements as may be necessary to give effect to the foregoing easements and other rights, which additional easements and other agreements need not be consented to or joined in by any Owner or other party having an interest in the Property; provided, however, that if requested by the Declarant, any Owner or other party having an interest in the Property shall promptly join in and execute such confirmatory easements and other agreements.
(d) Each Living Unit shall be subject to a public pedestrian access easement over and upon any sidewalk, alley or pathway constructed within the Living Unit, which sidewalk or pathway is reasonably deemed to be for the use of the Community.
(e) There is hereby further reserved for the benefit of the Community and the Owners a right for any Owner (or such Owner’s guests, invitees, licensees or other parties entitled to occupy any dwelling unit within the Community) to use any recreational or other similar facilities that may, from time to time, be located within the Community; provided, however, as a condition precedent to the exercise of such rights, the election to allow the use of such facilities is specifically made by the Declarant pursuant to a written instrument recorded among the Land Records. If the rights contemplated by the provisions above are elected, then the parties benefiting from such rights shall be obligated to pay their pro-rata share of the cost of maintaining, operating and repairing such facilities, which share shall be computed by multiplying the total of such bona-fide costs times a fraction, the numerator of which shall be the number of convicted dwelling units owned by the party from whom such contribution is sought and the denominator shall be the total number of completed dwelling units entitled to use such facilities. The computation contemplated by the immediately preceding sentence shall be made at each time a contribution for such costs is sought. It is the intention of this Section 11.1(e) to permit reasonable rights of use over the Property for the benefit of the Annexable Property in the event any portion of the Annexable Property is not annexed into the Community. Upon any such annexation, the provision of this Section 11.1(e) shall no longer be applicable because the right of use will otherwise be established by this Declaration.
(f) A blanket easement is hereby reserved to the Declarant to enter and utilize the Property during the period of construction and sales within the Community, and to maintain such facilities and perform such operations as in the sole opinion of the Declarant may be reasonably required, convenient or incidental to the construction and sale of residences, including, without limitation, business offices, sales and/or rental offices, storage areas, construction yards, signs, displays and model units.
(g) The Declarant reserves the right to enter any portion of the Community for the purpose of carrying out any obligations it may have, or assume, with respect to the curing of any defects in workmanship or materials in the Community or the improvements thereon or to fulfill the requirements of the Community Plan. There is further reserved unto the Declarant and its agent(s) a non-exclusive easement over, across and through all of the Community Property for the purpose of access, the storage of building supplies, materials and equipment and, without any limitation, for any and all purposes reasonably related to the completion of the development, construction or repair of the Community.
(h) For a period of twenty (20) years from the date of conveyance of the first Living Unit, the Declarant reserves a blanket easement and right on, over and under the Property to maintain and to correct drainage of surface or subsurface water in order io maintain reasonable standards of health, safety and appearance; provided, however, that the Declarant shall have no obligation to exercise such right. Such right expressly includes the right to cut any trees, bushes or shrubbery, make any gradings of the soil, or to take any other similar action reasonably necessary, following which the Declarant shall restore the affected property to its original condition as near as practicable. The Declarant shall give reasonable notice of int action to all affected Owners, unless in the opinion of the Declarant an emergency precludes such notice. There is further reserved unto the Declarant the right to grant specific easements, both temporary and permanent, to any person or entity, including all public authorities and utility companies, over any part of the Property in furtherance easement created by this subsection.
(i) The rights and duties with respect to sanitary sewer and water, electricity, gas, cable television, master television antenna systems, security and surveillance systems, telephone lines, broadband, Internet, communications services and similar utilities, including all appurtenances to each of the foregoing (individually and collectively, “Systems”), shall be governed by the following:
(i) Whenever Systems are or have been installed within the Community, the Owner of any Living Unit and the Association shall have the right, and are hereby granted an easement to the extent necessary therefore, to enter upon or have a utility or repair company enter upon any portion of the Community in which the Systems lie, to repair, replace and generally maintain the Systems. Such easement shall include, without limitation, the right to enter upon any portion of the Community, including private streets, for the installation, replacement, repair and maintenance of water and sewer lines.
(ii) The rights granted in subsection (i) above shall be only to the extent necessary to entitle the Owner or the Association serviced by the Systems to the full and reasonable use and enjoyment of its property, and provided further that anyone exercising said rights shall be responsible for reasonably restoring the surface of the easement area so used to its condition prior to such use.
(iii) In the event of a dispute between Owners with respect to the repair or rebuilding of any Systems, or with respect to the sharing of the cost thereof upon written request of one of such Owners addressed to the Association, the matter may be submitted to the Board of Directors or Covenants Committee, who may (but shall not be required to) decide the dispute. Any decision of the Board or Covenants Committee made pursuant to this subsection shall be final and conclusive as to the parties.
(iv) Each Living Unit (other than any rental apartment or condominium unit) which is attached to another Living Unit, is hereby subject to an easement upon and across such other attached Living Unit for the drainage and discharge of water from any storm drain or downspout situated on the other attached Living Unit and the Owner of such Living Unit may not alter or obstruct such drainage or flow of water to the detriment of the other Living Unit or the Community Property.
(j) The Association shall have an easement to enter any portion of the Community for the performance of its duties under the Governing Documents, provided that such easement shall not entitle entry within the interior portion of any dwelling located within the Community, and provided further such easement in no way interferes with the development related activities of the Declarant.
(k) A mutual right and easement for the Systems is hereby established for the benefit of all Owners, such that no Owner shall take any action which would in any way interfere with the Systems being provided to other Owners within the Community. If a Living Unit contains any utility pipes, ducts, conduits, wires or other Systems which are for the benefit, in whole or in part, of other Owners within the Community or any Community Property, then the Owner of such Living Unit shall promptly, at such Owner’s expense, repair any damage to such Systems caused by the Owner.
(l) Each Living Unit (other than any rental apartment or condominium unit) shall be subject to a non-exclusive easement and right of passage for the benefit of any adjacent attached Living Unit (the “Benefited Living Unit”) to the extent reasonably necessary to permit the Owner of the Benefited Living Unit (the “Benefited Owner”) access to the exterior of any adjacent Living Unit for purposes of inspecting, maintaining, repairing, replacing and otherwise caring for the exterior of the Benefited Living Unit; provided, however, that the Benefited Owner shall take reasonable steps to minimize any damage to an adjacent Living Unit and that the Benefited Owner shall restore as nearly as possible to its original condition any adjacent Living Unit damaged or altered as a result of the exercise of this easement. The Benefited Owner’s exercise of its rights hereunder shall be at reasonable times and shall not unreasonably interfere with any Owner’s use and enjoyment of its Living Unit. The Benefited Owner shall indemnify and save harmless any Owner of an adjacent Living Unit from any loss or damage that such Owner may sustain, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, as a result of entry by the Benefited Owner on the adjacent Living Unit.
(m) The Declarant shall have to the power, without the consent or joinder of any Owner or other party, to grant such easements as it deems appropriate across any portion of the Property for the benefit of persons who are not Owners or residents of the Community for ingress and egress to and from areas within or adjacent to the Community.
Section 11.2. Association Easements.
The Board of Directors shall have the right to grant easements, rights-of-way, licenses and similar interests over any part of the Community Property for any lawful purpose which the Board, in its sole discretion, determines to be in the best interests of the Association, provided that during the Declarant’s Rights and Obligations Period, the prior consent of the Declarant is obtained.
Section 11.3. Forest Conservation Easements.
Certain portions of the Community are required by the State of Maryland to be forest conservation areas (“FCA”) pursuant to a Declaration of Deed Restriction for Perpetual Protection of Forest Conservation Areas dated May 20, 2002 and recorded among the Land Records in Liber 3347, folio 132 (the “FCA Declaration”), as may be amended from time to time. The locations of the FCA are or will be shown on the record plats of subdivision for the Community. Among other things, the FCA Declaration restricts the removal of trees within the FCA and prohibits construction, excavation and other activities that would violate governmental regulations concerning drainage, flood control, water conservation, wetland protections, erosion and soil control and wildlife habitat preservation. All Owners of property within the FCA, including the Association with respect to Community Property within the FCA, shall comply with the State’s forest conservation requirements for the FCA, including the provisions of the FCA Declaration. The Association may, but shall have no obligation to, enforce the State’s forest conservation requirements against any Owner. In such event, the Association may exercise all of its rights and remedies available under the Governing Documents for violations of the Association’s covenants with respect to any Owner that violates the provisions of the FCA Declaration or other forest conservation requirements.
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