About
governing body that oversees 234 acreas Fountaingrove's Common Open Space
ABOUT US

We're Fountaingrove II Open Space Maintenance Association

The Open Space Maintenance Association (OSMA) is the governing body for 591 homesites within Fountaingrove II that oversees the management of approximately 234 acres of Common Open Space comprised of 18 acres of landscaped areas and 216 acres of forested wildlands, which includes 14 acres of City park wildlands maintained for both fire safety and to protect native plants and animals and their habitat. 

The OSMA is managed by a volunteer Board of Directors elected by the property owners and is responsible for the retention of major topographic and tree mass characteristics, native plant and wildlife habitat conservation, the preservation of visual quality and natural drainage, and erosion control and recreation.  These elements were defined in the original Design Guidelines filed with the Community Development Department of the City of Santa Rosa in April 1992 (Amended April 5, 2010 and July 7, 2011), and were further defined in the Open Space Maintenance Declaration recorded and filed in Sonoma County in 1996.  

The OSMA contracts for installation and maintenance of irrigated landscaped areas and for the creation and maintenance of the open space fuel breaks and forestry management.  It has a perpetual agreement with the City of Santa Rosa to maintain the undeveloped portions of Rincon Ridge and Parker Hill Parks, helping to keep the threat of wildfire in the wildlands to a minimum.  

Fountaingrove II is located within a designated Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone and Wildland Urban Interface (WUI – pronounced woo-ee), where native wildlands abut and intermix with manmade urban sprawl. The threat of wildfire always looms in such areas, since humans are responsible for approximately 95% of California’s wildfires, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.  Humans that enjoy living so close to nature must take responsibility to maintain their property and perform ongoing vegetation management.  

OSMA does its part my maintaining fuel breaks next to residences, weed-abating over 100 acres of open space, thinning too-numerous or dead trees, and treating chaparral regrowth.  But this annual ongoing effort to help protect all our properties is a wasted benefit if YOU do not maintain your own property in a fire safe manner.  There is a wealth of knowledge about the OSMA and fire safety tips for your reference on this website – use it.

Our Mission

Fountaingrove II Open Space Maintenance Association (OSMA) is charged with responsibly managing its Wildland Urban Interface as a scenic treasure, balancing preservation of a self-sustainable environment of native vegetation and habitat, with the concerns of fire safety for the Community. It must also protect rare indigenous plants, and promote native plants in the revegetation of its landscaped parcels that transition residences to the Open Space Wildlands.

Supplemental Mission Statement:

Inform and involve the Community of the objectives and purpose of the Fountaingrove II Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) including:

1. Inform and Involve Inform the residents of Fountaingrove II and surrounding communities of the important role they each have to make Fountaingrove Fire Safe.

2. Work to Educate Work with Vegetation Specialists and Fire Agencies to educate the homeowners of their need to:
  1. Create defensible space around their homes
  2. Landscape in a Firewise manner
  3. Be prepared to react if a fire should threaten their home or that of their neighbor

3. Continue to Maintain
  • A proactive management plan of its Open Space for fire safety
  • Fountaingrove II’s recognized leadership role in taking fire safety measures that benefit the Community
  • Necessary compliance measures that will annually renew Fountaingrove II’s
    1. CWPP
    2. National status as a Firewise Community
  • How OSMA Operates​

    The funds to operate the OSMA are derived from monthly dues which are assessed to the Fountaingrove II homeowners.  Management is under the direction of a Board of Directors consisting of 5 volunteers who are elected by the homeowners of Fountaingrove II. The effort of the Board is supplement by other volunteers who serve with the Board Members on Committees for Landscape, Fire & Safety, Finance, Graffiti Abatement, Crime Prevention and Hospitality.  The Board has hired a real estate management company to assist with the administration of the organization. OSMA is not responsible for enforcing the Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (CC&Rs) that exist for Fountaingrove II. This is the responsibility of three separate Architectural Review Committees (ARCs) which have authority to exist in the East, West and Summit portions of the Fountaingrove II development.

    Background and Purpose

    The City of Santa Rosa decided it was beneficial to create a cross-town connection as an alternative to existing routes. The route selected was over the ridgeline of Fountaingrove which at the time had limited access and was a scenic view for the homes located below it. After considerable studies and debate, including an Environmental Impact Report, the construction of the Fountaingrove Parkway was approved to connect Montecito Boulevard at the intersection of Chanate Road to the partially competed Fountaingrove Parkway which terminated at Parker Hill Road on the East Border of the development of the Fountaingrove Master Ranch Association. To finance the Parkway, a plan was implemented to allow construction of nearly 600 homes which would pay for 60% of the nearly $20 Million to build the approximate 2 miles of the Parkway. This was done with a special assessment bond which was attached to the properties and is being repaid through direct property tax assessment of the FGII homeowners, over a 15 year period. This arrangement allowed the creation of the development of Fountaingrove II and a means to finance a significant portion of the costs to build the Parkway. The environmental impacts were numerous, and included the elimination of scenic views with houses built on ridgelines, disruption of habitat, erosion concerns, and the issue that some of the prime home sites would be on or near locations inhabited by the rare indigenous Rincon Manzanita and Rincon Ceanothus.  

    The Policy Statement enacted by Santa Rosa Ordinance stated that as a condition of the development of the Fountaingrove II Parkway and Residential Project a Design Program be implemented for both the design of the development, and a long range plan to manage the 200+ acres of Open Space being set aside as Wildlands or Landscape transition areas to the residences that sprawled over 600+ acres.

    A further condition was that a special assessment district, or homeowners association, would be formed to manage the environmental and fire safety concerns of the Open Space into perpetuity.The document created in April 1992 was the Fountaingrove II Design Program – Design Guidelines and Open Space Management Plan. The creation included input from several sources, including outside input from Biologists, California Department of Fish and Game, and the Native Plant Society. When the Fountaingrove II project commenced, the management shifted to the developers, who made the decision in October 1996 to form a Specific Purpose Non Profit Corporation to manage the Open Space. This purpose is detailed in wording of OSMA’s Articles of Incorporation as per below:

    “The specific purpose for which this Corporation is formed under the Davis-Sterling Common Interest Development Act is to be a management association organized and operated to provide for the administration, maintenance and preservation of certain open space, buffer and landscape areas within that certain real property situated in the City of Santa Rosa, County of Sonoma, State of California (the “Project”) and more particularly described in the Fountaingrove II East, Fountaingrove II West and The Summit Open Space Maintenance Declaration, (the “Declaration”) which has been recorded in the Office of the County Recorder of Sonoma County. Notwithstanding any of the above statements of purposes and powers, this Corporation shall not, except to an insubstantial degree, engage in any activities or exercise any powers that are not in furtherance of the specific purpose of this Corporation.”

    After development was substantially completed, the control of OSMA shifted to the present 591 lot owners of Fountaingrove II, of which only 6 remain undeveloped. The management of the Open Space, consisting of 201.7 acres of Wildlands and about 15 acres of Landscape parcels adjacent to the Parkway or interior streets is under the direction of an elected Board of Directors consisting of 5 volunteers. 

    The Design Program established the following objectives for the Open Space management for Fountaingrove II:

    1. To retain a maximum of the natural values embodied in the site’s existing vegetation and associated wildlife.

    2. To preserve existing resource features of concern and restore or enhance selected communities and habitats.

    3. To preserve the visual quality of the natural landscape in open space areas considering views from offsite as well as onsite.

    4. To minimize the potential fire hazard associated with the open space/development interface.

    5. To control erosion in areas where it occurs currently and to minimize the potential for future erosion.

    6. To provide for certain recreational uses such as hiking consistent with the other natural resource protection and management objectives.