"This section is not to be read as justification to create views not present when the Lot was originally purchased."
That sentence ends Section 10.13 of the Amended and Restated Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions for Awbrey Butte. It may be the most important line a view-home buyer on the butte will ever read. The rest of the section is generous to owners. It says the height of improvements, vegetation and trees on one lot "shall not materially restrict the view of other Lot owners." It also gives the association the power to make a neighbor fix the problem. That last sentence sets the limit. The covenant protects a view that existed at a fixed point in the past. It does not promise the view a buyer sees from the great room on a showing day.
On a butte where Cascade panoramas carry real value, the gap between those two views is where the money sits. Nothing in a standard Oregon purchase will measure it for you.
The baseline is set at purchase, and it is not written down anywhere
The declaration took effect June 4, 2008. It replaced the original 1984 covenants that Brooks Resources Corporation adopted when it developed the Awbrey Butte Homesites. Many lots on the butte have changed hands several times since then. The phrase "when the Lot was originally purchased" is not defined in the section itself. One reading points to the first sale out of the development. Another points to a later purchase. Which one applies to a given lot can decide whether a pine that has grown into a sightline over twenty years is a covenant problem. That is a question for an Oregon real estate attorney, not a listing description.
Either way, the baseline is a historical fact. No recorded document captures it. The declaration contains no photographs, survey of sightlines or schedule of protected views. Even the buyer who reads the whole recorded text is left with a standard that turns on what someone could see from a lot years ago.
One committee decides, and its answer is final
The covenant leaves the call to the Architectural Review Committee, or ARC. The Board forms the committee, and it has three to five members. Section 10.13 names the ARC "the sole judge of the suitability of such heights." If it finds that a view is materially restricted, the steps are set out in the declaration.
- The ARC delivers written notice to the owner of the lot with the offending trees or improvements.
- That owner has 30 days to remove or cut back the trees or structure as the ARC directs.
- If the work isn't done after 30 days, the declaration says the ARC "shall enter the offending Lot," do the work itself and charge the owner the reasonable cost.
This cuts both ways in a transaction. A buyer who values the view gets real leverage over neighboring trees. A buyer who values a screen of mature ponderosas along the property line is buying trees that the ARC can order cut down if they block someone else's view.
The ARC's reach goes beyond views. Under the declaration, no improvement may be built, altered or removed without its written approval, and that includes exterior changes and landscaping. A submission includes site, architectural and landscape plans. The landscape plan must show any vegetation proposed for removal. Once the ARC has a complete application and the full fee, it has 30 days to issue a written decision. If it says nothing in that time, the application is deemed approved. The declaration lets the committee set its fee from time to time and allows it to adopt design guidelines, but it doesn't require them to be published. Anyone planning a second story or a deck that rises into a neighbor's sightline should expect the view covenant to come up in that review.
First, confirm the lot is in the Homesites
"Awbrey Butte" is a place name. It is not one association. The Homesites association covers recorded plats Phase I through Phase XXXIII under a single declaration. Brooks Resources lists Awbrey Glen, Awbrey Park and North Rim as separate communities. A home on the same hillside may fall under a different set of covenants, with different view language or none. Everything in this post applies to lots subject to the Homesites declaration.
There is a second practical gap. The association's former website no longer resolves, and we could not verify current dues, ARC fees or published guidelines from public sources. The declaration says the board sets assessment rates at least 30 days before each period, but the recorded text gives no dollar figure. These numbers have to come straight from the association during the transaction.
The City has its own layer, separate from the ARC
An ARC order to trim a tree does not show that the City has approved the cut. Bend's tree-preservation code exempts housing development on sites of one acre or smaller from its preservation standards. The City's own guidance still sends some removals through City review, though. Trees in a Waterway Overlay Zone have their own review path. A street tree in a City planter strip needs a City removal permit. Some land in Bend is also mapped as an Upland Area of Special Interest. On those parcels, the Bend Municipal Code generally prohibits clearing native vegetation outside specific exceptions. Whether that applies depends on the mapped boundary, not the neighborhood name. The City's interactive maps are where a parcel-level check starts.
So a view dispute on the butte can involve two separate sets of rules. The covenant can require a cut that the City still has to approve.
Where the covenant shows up in a purchase, and where it doesn't
Oregon has a well-built disclosure system. None of it was designed to report a view baseline.
| Document | What it gives you | What it leaves out |
|---|---|---|
| Seller's property disclosure statement under ORS 105.464 | Item 1.K asks whether CC&Rs affect the property. Items 7.A–F cover the HOA, assessments, special assessments, association litigation and whether the property violates recorded CC&Rs | Any question about views or tree heights. The answers reflect only the seller's "actual knowledge" |
| Revocation right under ORS 105.475 | Five business days after delivery to revoke by signed written statement, unless waived in writing. The right ends at closing | Time to rebuild what the view looked like years ago |
| Association records under ORS 94.670 | On an owner's written request, the declaration, bylaws, amendments, rules and any architectural standards within 10 business days, for a "reasonable fee" | A statement of pending view complaints. The separate statement of assessments and charges due covers money owed, not covenant enforcement |
| Preliminary title report | CC&Rs listed as numbered exceptions | What the covenant means on the ground for this lot |
The statutory form says "five days," while ORS 105.475 itself says "five business days." The statute is the operative text. Taken together, these documents tell a buyer that the covenant exists. They do not say which view it protects, whether a neighbor has complained or whether the trees next door are on the ARC's radar. A buyer gets those answers by asking the association directly and in writing, and by asking the seller whether any view requests have gone in either direction.
The disclosure itself has a trap, too. Item 7.F asks whether the property violates recorded CC&Rs. A seller whose own trees have grown into a neighbor's sightline may not see that as a "violation" until the ARC sends notice.
Sellers face their own exposure when marketing a view
In June 2026, the Oregon Real Estate Agency published guidance titled "Before You Market It, Confirm It." It warns that advertising a feature the CC&Rs prohibit or restrict can lead to license discipline. It describes publishing a feature without first reviewing the CC&Rs as conduct that could be considered reckless under ORS 696.301(4). The agency also notes that the buyer's duty to review CC&Rs "does not excuse a licensee from responsibility for misrepresenting a property feature."
On Awbrey Butte, "protected views" is exactly that kind of claim. Section 10.13 does protect views, but it ties that protection to what existed at the original purchase and leaves the decision to the ARC. The accurate way to market a Homesites view is to describe the view as it is today and point to the recorded covenant. Promising that the view is permanent goes beyond what the document says. The agency's best practice is to review the documents before marketing and to send clients to legal counsel when a provision's application is unclear.
Questions buyers and sellers ask
Has the view covenant been amended since 2008? The 2008 declaration is the recorded text available through the Deschutes County Title CC&R library, and that library warns it may not include every recorded document. Ask the title officer and the association to confirm that the 2008 declaration is the full current text.
Can I build a guest house or detached studio? The declaration limits each lot to one single-family residence. It also prohibits barns, shacks and similar outbuildings, whether permanent or temporary. Any project like that should go to the ARC and an attorney before it goes to an architect.
Does Bend's 35-foot height limit settle how tall I can build? The City's 35-foot maximum applies in several residential zones. On the Homesites, the ARC's view review is a separate check, so a design can meet the City's height limit and still be judged to restrict a neighbor's view.
Who do I call about the view language? The association's ARC, through whoever manages the association now, and an Oregon real estate attorney for any question about how the language applies. This post is not legal advice.
On Awbrey Butte, the panorama is often what the price is paying for, so it deserves the same document review as the roof or the well. If you are weighing a Homesites property, or getting ready to market one, Karen Wilson can sit down with you, the recorded covenants and the right professionals before any view claim goes into an offer or a listing. Schedule a Private Consultation.
