Information about FAQs

This is not uncommon, and usually works itself out.

Here's a few steps you can take to recover your bin quicker and without incurring any fines for not bringing in your bins:

• The trash collectors sometimes move bins around. Look in other nearby clusters of bins.

• Wait until most bins have been retrieved, and roll any bins that remain to the appropriate garage.  Often an owner will see a bin in front of their garage and realize they have retrieved the wrong bin, and put it back.

• Check the curb in the days following trash day.  Sometimes a neighbor will realize they have the wrong bin and return that bin to the curb.

These steps can make it harder for a neighbor to mistake your bin for theirs:

• Write your unit number (example: "970 D") on your trash bin using a thick permanent marker, in more than one place on your bin.

• Make your bin stand out by adding big stickers or different colors. A sleepy neighbor is less likely to accidentally grab yours if it looks less like theirs.

If your package is shown as delivered, but you can't find it, here are some steps to take:

• Check your mailbox, and your garage door area, as well as the steps leading up to your unit. These are all places where delivery people can leave your package.

• Go on a walk and look on your neighbors' porches. Sometimes your package will be at another unit in your building, or at a building with similar numbers as yours. (Or sometimes at a building with totally different numbers... go figure!) If you find your package and take it from another's step, inform your neighbor that you have picked it up to avoid any misunderstandings.

• WAIT.  Very often delivery services will report a package as delivered but it hasn’t actually been delivered yet so you just have to wait, and within a few days it might show up on your step (this has happened many times).

• Some of us would request that you avoid emailing LaMesaNeighbors, because it clogs up people's inboxes, and it's not very effective anyway - many people aren't on the list, and many will bring you your package anyway without a mass email.

For ideas on avoiding theft, see part 2 below.

We do experience thefts at The Gardens, and see people who look like opportunists looking to steal packages.  Here are a few tips to make our community less attractive to thieves:

• Check your doorstep regularly for packages and know when you expect to receive packages. DO take care to bring in your packages as soon as possible - a lesson some of us have learnt the hard way. (Tip: get in the habit of checking your front door each night before you go to bed. Because packages left out overnight are at high risk of getting taken.)

• Introduce yourself to your immediate neighbors. Let them know if you will be out of town or are otherwise not residing in your unit for an extended period. Your neighbor can bring inside any deliveries you receive while you're away, and generally keep their eyes out!

• Close your garage door when you're not outside! If you notice that a neighbor's garage door has been open for a long time and nobody is outside, knock on their door or send them a text message to let them know. (This author has both given and received texts like this, and been very grateful. We do have residents who left their garage door open overnight and had valuable items stolen from their car.)

• If you see a package on a neighbor's porch, you can reach out to them to let them know.  (Not by emailing the entire mailing list, but by knocking on their door or texting them.)

Consider avoiding directly confronting potential thieves, as that could be dangerous.

USPS Mail Alert!

We have had our mail stolen from our mailboxes on FOUR different nights in February, 2023.  Thieves have the master key and are using it to open the entire mailbox and retrieve any mail that looks to have any value (relief debt cards, credit card or bank information, tax documents).  Please be aware, and protect yourself! Options include: 

1. Be careful about collecting mail

• Check your mail every day, so nothing is left in the mailboxes overnight - if your box is empty, the thieves can't steal anything!

• Consider asking the post office to permanently put mail delivery on hold, and go there to pick it up a couple times a week.

• When going on vacation, put your mail on hold or ask your lovely neighbor who is taking in your trash cans to also collect your mail for you.

2. Sign up for USPS Informed Delivery

• https://www.usps.com/manage/informed-delivery.htm

• It's free and gives you the ability to see most everything from email.  Also, if something goes missing you have a chance to know about it and follow up.

3. Minimize the amount of sensitive info coming in the mail

• Get important documents delivered digitally if possible. (Like credit card statements.) Going paperless saves paper too.

4. Complain/Report

• Contact the post office directly

• Contact United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS)

• Representative Ro Khanna: https://khanna.house.gov/contact

• Senator Dianne Feinstein’s office: https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact

Mailboxes are the property of the U.S. Post Office.  If you lose your mail key, you have to contact them get a replacement.  They usually have to come out and replace the lock and give you a new key.

For Mailbox thefts, and how your mail is not secure, see the USPS Mail Alert! in "Deliveries Part 2" above.

Our neighborhood is home to a main pool area with a pool, spa, shower, bathrooms, kitchenette, and patio area.  This is often a popular place for neighbors to gather in the summer.

We also have two "satellite" spas, located apart from the main pool area.  One is by building 987 and the other by 963 (see Site Plan on "Maps" page).

• Hours: 6am - 10pm the pool area is "open" for use, year-round.

• Heating: 

  • The spas are heated year-round to around 102-104 degrees.

  • The pool is heated to a more swimmable temperature only during the summer months. (However you're welcome to swim in the pool even when it isn't heated, if you can handle cold water.)

    • Our management company notifies us when the board decides to START heating the pool - usually in May, when the weather gets warmer, often by Memorial Day weekend.

    • Our management company notifies us when the board decides to STOP heating the pool - some time after Labor Day when the nighttime temperatures drop into the mid-50's.  These low temperatures mean that 1) the pool loses so much heat at night that it gets super expensive to heat it (our utility usage would skyrocket), and 2) it's colder in the daytime too, so fewer people want to swim anyway.  In previous years this has occurred as early as mid-Sept and as late as Oct 22, 2020.

• Access: You will need a key to get in the gate to the pool or spas.  Contact your landlord if you need a replacement key, and they may contact our management company (FSR) if they need to.  If you would like to swim, you must be a resident (or the guest of a resident, with the resident present).

• Email: Go to https://groups.google.com/g/lamesaswimmers to be added to our swimmers' list if you'd like to stay up-to-date with pool details. The list hasn't been used much since COVID restrictions have been lifted for the pool, but gets occasional notices.

Our HOA allows for reservation of the pool's kitchen area if you wish to hold a party in the pool area.  But please note that does not reserve the entire pool for your exclusive use - the pool area still remains open to all residents. If you'd like to hold a gathering:

1) Check the date with FSR and ask to reserve it. (Update: FSR's new portal may actually have a very convenient way to reserve!)

2) If approved, you will get:

• approval to bring more than the usual maximum of 2 guests

• exclusive use of the kitchen

• use of the counter space around the kitchen

• use of up to 2 of the 3 tables (but leave the 3rd table for other residents)

3) Once reserved, you can contact the management company to arrange to pick up the key to the kitchen area (which is different from the key to the pool gate).

We currently are not charged a deposit or fee for reservations. Do remember to follow all posted rules and keep the noise level respectful of residents who live nearby.  Thanks!

Our beautiful landscaping and upkeep is done by Valley Landscape.  They cut the grass, trim bushes, do routine tree-trimming to keep our trees healthy and maintained, and maintain our sprinkler system.  George is the founder of Valley Landscape, and he is the longest servicing contractor we have here at the Gardens - for over 30 years!  It's been said that he's so proud of the work he's done for our complex that he takes prospective clients here to show off a sample of his high quality work. :)  Here is a nice article about Valley Landscape, with a quote at the bottom from Jim Hattrup, our previous Board President.

The gardeners are normally scheduled on Wednesdays, but are often additionally here on Thursdays when we have a lot of debris (leaves) to be cleaned up.

The irrigation team, lead by Joel, is here throughout the week, whenever necessary to perform repairs and preventative maintenance.

Open flame BBQ grills, both charcoal and most propane grills, are prohibited on townhouse wood balconies.

The 2019 California Fire Code  308.3.1 restricts BBQ grill use effective 1/1/2020 —and the use of any open-flame cooking device—in the following ways:

• Open-flame cooking devices can’t be operated on “combustible balconies.” Wooden decks and similar structures can easily catch and spread fire, making them risky places to operate a BBQ grill.

• The 2019 versions of California Fire Code do not allow grilling in condominiums and townhouses unless the decks are protected by an automatic sprinkler system.”   No exemptions of the automatic sprinkler system are permitted.

• One type of open-flame device is acceptable around combustible construction or balconies: propane (“LP-gas”) grills with especially small tanks. Those tanks may have a “water capacity” no greater than 2 1/2 pounds. The water capacity measures how much water, in pounds, the container could hold. But, in short, these tanks are of the small, portable variety used with camping gear not the larger ones used on most BBQ grills.

Please make sure you compliance with these regulations. Failure could result in financial and criminal liability if a fire were to result.

While your deck is for your own "exclusive use", it technically belongs to the Association.  That means the HOA does cover repairs necessary due to normal wear and tear.  It also means we must abide by rules to care for it.  So make note:

• We do not have the right to puncture the desk surface in any way.  That is against the rules, and for good reason: water leaks through the hole and under the deck, creating expensive wood rot problems.

• It is against regulations to put any covering on top of the deck (including, but not limited to, fake grass or flooring tiles), because water can accumulate under the tiles and eventually deteriorate the patio surface.  Doing so could void our warranty and could cause homeowner liability for damage.  We are having to pay a lot of money to repair decks which have water damage over the years, and don't want to do anything that could damage them in the future.

See this PDF with lots of details about our decks and their usage.  The information about Massingham is outdated (they were our management company before Grayson, before Willis, before FSR) but much of the other info is still correct.

According to the City of Sunnyvale's smoking ordinance, smoking is prohibited in multi unit residences like ours, including:

• Inside any new or existing unit, including private and shared balconies and patios

• Indoor common areas, such as lobbies, halls, stairs, community rooms, shared cooking and eating areas and parking garages

• Outdoor common areas, such as courtyards, paths, walkways, stairs, swimming pool areas and parking lots

Let’s all respect each other’s health and commit to obeying the law, even inside our own residence, as second-hand smoke carries into other units nearby.

Areas that you CAN smoke in include any location not on our property which is also 25 feet away from any operable doorway, window, opening or vent of buildings.

Keep in mind that while we "own" our unit, we actually own everything inside our walls, but not the outer walls themselves. The HOA rules do NOT permit us to make modifications to the outside of our units, including adding or taking away windows, or running electrical conduits down the outside walls, to name a few examples. (This is what helps keep our community uniform and visually appealing.)  The HOA rules DO allow us make many modifications inside our units, but the city requires a building permit for remodel where plumbing and electrical changes are made.

To find out if your specific remodel requires HOA approval, email our management company.  If an approved "architectural modification form" is required for the change you want to make, note that all architectural modifications must be submitted to our management company, and approved by the Board, prior to starting work.

Here is a link to a copy of the Architectural Modification form.  Modifications that must be pre-approved include (but are not not limited to) HVAC installations, garage door replacements, and window replacements.

Remember that we are not allowed to get ANY paint on the sprinkler covers in our ceilings.  Remind any contractors you hire to not get ANY paint on them, or else it will be observed during a sprinkler inspection and you'll be charged to replace them.

The reason for this is that the sprinkler covers are heat sensitive and will deploy the sprinklers at a certain temperature, and any paint can make them ineffective.  This rule is in our governing documents, but deserves highlighting here.

If you wish to touch up the outside of your home or garage door, you may do so as long as you use the current paint colors and NOT a different color.  Here is the original PDF of paint codes.

Tip: if you just need a small touch-up, you may have a neighbor with some leftover paint you can use.

Many residents have replaced old garage doors with a sectional roll-up garage door.  Acceptable doors are supplied by many vendors but must match in color and number of panels of the Overhead's, plain-face roll-up doors, "Almond" color code 399.

Here's a suggestion for how to go about it:

Step 1: Complete and submit the Architectural Modification form to our management company. (Required)

Step 2: Schedule an appointment for a company (consider the companies recommended at the bottom) to survey your garage and give you a quote.

Two recommended vendors (that have installed many doors at The Gardens and are familiar with the HOA requirements):

The Overhead Door, 1266 Lawrence Station Rd, Sunnyvale, CA 94089, (408) 734-8010

Campbell Overhead Doors, 1800 De La Cruz Blvd. Santa Clara, CA 95050, Phone: (408) 265-9792, (408) 379-2151, (408) 370-7968.

Here's what one resident said in April 2023:

"Overhead Door company of Santa Clara Valley and it cost us $3281.  The lead time was around 3 weeks and the installation took about 4 hours."

Here's what one resident said in Feb 2021 (note that costs have definitely gone up since then):

"Just the garage sectional door quote plus installation was $1900.  This does not include an opener (Chamberlain, etc.)

The sectional roll-up door usually takes about 1 week to get shipped from Sacto to COD (Campbell Overhead Door).

9 out of 10 garage entries at The Gardens don’t fit the exact size of the standard sectional roll-up door.  So COD will usually need to add some wood to both sides of the garage entry.  It usually amounts to about 3 inches.  They also include the rubber trim with their installation.

If you have COD install a new garage opener (Chamberlain, Linnear, etc.) that will cost another $600-$700.  There are new laws for Sunnyvale and COD won’t install with keeping the existing older Chamberlain opener.  So you might need to have a new opener installed.

Total cost was approximately $2500."

As our complex is now over 30 years old, many of the original HVAC units have needed to be replaced.  Our community has really banded together and showed impressive teamwork and research skills on this topic!  Visit the LaMesaNeighbors archive for many emails where people have shared their research on the best value HVAC unit, given the requirements of weight on our roof and other specs.  Neighbors have teamed up to share the cost of cranes needed to lift the units onto and off of our roofs.

Many of us have used Jim's Air Conditioning to service our units, and found him extremely knowledgable and helpful.  (Note that this recommendation, and any others on our site, or not officially recommended by our HOA.  They are simply recommended by individual homeowners based on their experience.)

Certain procedures must be followed if the homeowner chooses to install a Digital Broadcast Satellite dish on their roof.  Check out the PDF of satellite dish specs for more info. 

Please Inform Your Renters

If you rent out your unit, please be sure to give them the information they need to be good neighbors.  We do have a welcoming committee which would be more than happy to reach out to them with all the info via email and/or a physical packet.  Please email the welcoming committee with your renters' email and/or Unit #, so they can follow up with info like: a welcome message, website address, TRASH RULES (very important!), email list info, etc.

Legal Requirements for owners who rent out

Owners have the right to lease his or her Unit, provided:

(i) The Owner notifies the Board of the name of the tenants and members of the tenants' household and provides the Board with a copy of the signed lease, and any amendments thereto, at the beginning of the tenancy term and thereafter on an annual basis; and

(ii) there is a written lease or rental agreement which expressly provides that the agreement is subject to the provisions of the Governing Documents and that the breach of any provision of the Governing Documents shall constitute a default under the lease.

(ii) Smoking - Sunnyvale prohibits smoking in any unit or on the grounds of our community. It is required in the ordinance that a provision stating the restriction be included in any lease.

(iii) Short-Term Rentals (AirBnB or similar) - Rental for any period less than thirty (30) days is prohibited

No Owner may lease less than the entire Condominium.

Failure to comply can result in a disciplinary hearing and fine.

When you're updating the management company (FSR) with the information about your renters, that's also a good time to tell them to make sure your renters get added to any necessary email lists for communication.

The Website Committee would love to get a new volunteer to help us develop a section on Recommendations.  It would be great to have a form in the website where residents could submit contractors who they recommend.  Can you volunteer to help us?  Email the webmaster! (address is in the footer)

In the meantime, the LaMesaNeighbors mailing list is a great place to get recommendations.  (Do note that these are NOT official recommendations endorsed by the Board.)  Below is a list of threads that contain useful recommendations.  You will only be able to view them if you're a member of the mailing list.  See #2 on this page with more info about the LaMesaNeighbors Google Group, and info on how to become a member.

Plumbers

Contractors

Electrician