Trees & Pools in Summerville (how much, buying a home, neighborhood)

[Barbara]

We are planning on moving to Summerville. We would like a house with a pool or buy one without it and put it in later. My question is about the tree laws or rules. I understand why they are strict as I love trees, but I also like pools. My question is if we buy a house without a pool and there are alot of trees in the yard, would we have a big problem with being approved to take some down to have a pool? The more I research this the more I find myself worrying about the backyards on top of all the other stuff you have to consider when buying a home! We are leaning towards the Ashborough subdivision. If anyone's had any experience with this sort of thing I could use some opinions.

Thanks

[DJShymansky]

Aside from Live Oaks, I don't think Ashborough's covenants have any declarations regarding tree removal or placing in-ground pools in the rear yards. I'll run through them and check for you though.

Edit- Nope, nevermind. Here's the relevant portion of their covenants regarding tree removal. http://ashborough.org/Documents/modi...emovalinfo.pdf which doesn't sound too prohibitive. As to how willing the ARB and Dorchester County are to grant tree permits, that's going to differ depending on how much you're looking to change the lot. Many pool companies though are highly skilled with working around the yards terrain, so even without removing trees, you could have plenty of options. The full covenants for the neighborhood can be found here, and pools are allowed. http://ashborough.org/Documents/cove...onsfinappr.pdf

[OleTomCat]

You need to look at the layout of the back yard also, we could not put a pool in out back yard because the electrical wires ran from one corner of our lot diagonally across the back yard to the back of the house cutting right through the middle of the yard....

We would have had to move the electrical wires to put in even an above ground pool....

[Barbara]

Wow, even more stuff to think about. How do you find out about underground wires in your yard? I already know about the covenents in Ashborough, thats why I was wondering how hard it would be if you needed to apply for some sort of varience. Are Live Oaks different than regular Oaks?

[OleTomCat]

You call PUPs and they come out and mark your yard.

[Barbara]

Thanks for the reply but what is PUPs? I would like to call them to find out if they will check out yards before you buy the property.

[OleTomCat]

Palmetto Utility Protection.

[rexdp10]

Also, as it concerns the trees. Aside from the HOA, i think the town of summerville has some rules concerning tree removal. Something about circumfrance a certain distance off the ground...like 4' up from the ground, can't be larger than 24" around...or something like that...idk...just going off of memory...i think...

[OleTomCat]

The sub she is looking in isn't in the city limits of Summerville...

[Barbara]

The Asborough covenants and restrictions are similiar to the Summerville ones. There is the Architectural Review Board (ARB) and Dorchester requirements as well as bylaws. You can apply for permits to remove trees from your property (fines if you don't) but I was wondering if anyone on this board actually has applied because they wanted a pool and how hard it was to do. I guess what I really want to know is, since having a pool is a big requirement for my family, how important is it to pay attention to the yard as well as the actual home? I almost feel like I should check out the backyard first before actually bothering to see the house.