Neualtenburg Grant Deed and Covenant Part 1

In another thread I suggested that we partially privatize our next sim by allowing individuals to purchase land by means of a grant deed with a restrictive covenant (two links). A grant deed conveys ownership from an old owner to a new owner and includes a warranty that the old owner's claim to the property is valid. Restrictive covenants are transferable and unchanging conditions attached to the acceptance of a deed, to which a buyer must agree. Thus, those owning land will truly own the land but they will be bound by the covenant in the grant deed.

The absence of a restrictive covenant is what allows owners of land in SL to do whatever they want on their land, including building grief structures, clubs, ugly builds, and script intensive object to name a few. Our restrictive covenant will be the legal document which doesn't just define what can and can't be built on land in the city but will define citizenship itself.

The goal of this thread is to first write up the deed and then move on to the more interesting part -- the restrictive covenant. As each day goes by, I'll try to post more pieces of the document. Because this defines citizenship, please feel free to comment on things you think are too restrictive or remind me of things that should be mentioned that I'm missing. If you're not sure what this is about, hang on a couple of days and you'll see as the document starts to take form.

~Ulrika~

As the city layout slowly converges, I'm getting some ideas for the covenant.

I was thinking of creating three general covenants:

1. A covenant for land outside the walls.
   
2. A covenant for land inside the walls.
   
3. A covenant for land inside the walls that's hybrid public-private.
   

I'd also like to have you look at the slightly revised price list I've put together. I've created a second table of prices for land inside the city walls. The land costs the same to purchase and twice as much per square meter per month (still cheaper than SL) and is available in a range of lots from 144 m^2 (a single fachwerk) to 2048 m^2. Let me know what you think. I just made this up as I went.

I'll publish my draft covenants in the next couple of days and after including feedback, I'll put it on the web.

~Ulrika~

Here's my working version of our Grant Deed with sample values filled in. Please feel free to make suggestions and corrections.

~Ulrika~


Assesor's Parcel No.: 01-1234
Parcel's Address: 300 Hauptgasse
Neualtenburg, SLDR
Parcel's Area: 144 m^2
Consideration: US$15.00
Monthly Consideraton: US$5.00/month (3:1)
Property Transfer Tax: US$1.50 (10%)


GRANT DEED

OLD LANDOWNERS as Grantor(s) for the consideration of FIFTEEN
U.S. DOLLARS (US$15.00), hereby convey, grant, and deed to NEW LANDOWNER
as Grantee, the real property located in the sim of NEUALTENBURG, city of
NEUALTENBURG, commonly known as 300 HAUPTGASSE, NEUALTENBURG.
Buyer acknowledges that Seller intends to encumber the Land with certain
conditions, covenants and restrictions by means of a Declaration of
Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (the "CC&R Instrument", the
preliminary form of which is attached hereto and incorporated herein
by reference as EXHIBIT "A".

On this TWENTY SECOND day of MAY 2005, in the sim of NEUALTENBURG,
city of NEUALTENBURG, I/we herewith sign this Grant Deed.


_______________________
OLD LANDOWNER

_______________________
NEW LANDOWNER

On this the TWENTY SECOND day of MAY 2005, before me, the undersigned
a notary public in and for said County and State, personally appeard
OLD LANDOWNER and NEW LANDOWNER, personally known to me (or proved to
me on the basis of satisfactory evidence) to be the person(s) whose
name(s) is/are subscribed to the within instrumental and acknowledged to
me that they executed the same in their authorized capacity(ies), and
that by their signature(s) on the instrument the person(s), or entity
upon behalf ow which the person(s) acted, exectued the instrument.

WITNESS my hand and official seal.

_______________________
Signature of Notary

Attached is the covenant in its working form. It isn't in legalese rather it's just a list of rules. Feel free to add, subtract, or discuss limitations. Once this is up and on the website, we'll be ready to start selling land.

~Ulrika~

DECLARATION OF CONDITIONS, COVENANTS, AND RESTRICTIONS (CC&R)

City-Wide CC&R

Community
  Government
    - All covenants are subordinate to city laws and zoning guidelines.

  City Plan
    - The city makes all sim-wide zoning decisions, including theme,
      terraforming, lot size, street locations, street names, 
      script usage, prim usage, and addresses.

  Community
    - Residents must consider the effect that their build will have on 
      their neighbors' structures and land.
    - Residents must consider the effect that their build will have on
      the asthetics of the greater city.

   Individual
    - Individuals must follow the covenant attached to their lot of land.


Zone-Specific CC&R

Zone
  Location
    c City     - Neualtenburg inside walls
    b Bavarian - Neualtenburg outside walls
    m Modern   - Neualtenburg outside walls by bridge

  Theme
    c The theme of this lot or zone is Medieval Bavarian 
      with post-modern elements in a dense build.
    b The theme of this lot or zone is Medieval Bavarian 
      with post-modern elements.
    m The theme of this lot or zone is post-modern with
      Bavarian elements.

  Philosophy
    c The goal is to create the look of a Medieval Bavarian city that
      exists in modern times.  Bauhaus-esque post-modern elements are 
      allowed as long as the Medieval Bavarian theme is dominant.  
      The goal is to create a zone with a coherent but varied
      theme that contrasts architectural styles of past and present.
      Designs should be organic, avoiding boxy structures which are 
      aligned to a NESW grid and placed in the center of a lot.
      Homes will be provided and placed by the city to achieve the
      feel of a dense urban build.
    c All lots in this area are zoned for both commercial and 
      residential use.

    b The goal is to create the look of a Medieval Bavarian city that
      exists in modern times.  Bauhaus-esque post-modern elements are 
      allowed as long as the Medieval Bavarian theme is dominant.  
      The goal is to create a zone with a coherent but varied
      theme that contrasts architectural styles of past and present.
      Designs should be organic, avoiding boxy structures which are 
      aligned to a NESW grid and placed in the center of a lot.
    b Lots in this area are zoned for residential use only.

    m The goal is to create the look of a post-modern Bauhaus-esque
      city that evolved in an old city with Medieval Bavarian architecture.  
      Medieval Bavarian elements are permitted as long as the 
      post-modern theme is dominant.  The goal is to create a zone 
      with a coherent but varied theme that contrasts architectural 
      styles of past and present.  Designs should be organic, avoiding 
      boxy structures which are aligned to a NESW grid and placed 
      in the center of a lot.
    m Lots in this area are zoned for residential use only.

Environment
  Terrarforming
    - The general lay of the land must be preserved.
    - Land must transition smoothly and naturally between neighboring lots.
    - The general smoothing of land is not permitted.
    - Visibly otching out land to accomodate structures is not permitted.

  Trees
    - Land must have a minimum of four trees per 512 m^2.
    - Trees must not obscure neighbor's views or penetrate dwellings.
    - Trees should be changed to match the season.
    - Trees should be planted in groves where neighboring trees have 
      similar styles.
    - City trees should be used to allow for the automatic changing 
      of trees by script during season change.

Usage
  Retail
    - Clubs are not permitted anywhere in the city.
    - No commercial gatherings are allowed without permit.
    - Only city maintained vendors are permitted.

  Rental
    - Rental of land to a third party is not permitted.

  Speculation
    - Purchasing of land for speculation is not permitted.  Land market
      liquidity is provided through fixed-interest-rate bonds issued 
      by the city.


Structures
  Specifications
    c Structures are owned and placed by the city to give the
      center a dense Medieval Bavarian feel.  Structures may not 
      be replaced or moved regardless of ownership without prior consent.
    c Structures must be built on solid foundations of brick or stone.
    c All buildings must have tiled roofs with a 60-deg or greater pitch.
    c Windows should be no larger than 1 m wide and 2 m tall on the outside.

    b Structures must be built on solid foundations of brick or stone.
    b All buildings must have tiled roofs with a 60-deg or greater pitch.
    b Windows should be no larger than 1 m wide and 2 m tall on the outside.

    m Structures must be built on solid foundations of modern materials.

    - All windows must have window panes.
    - All buildings must have functioning doors at least 4 m in height.
    - All buildings should have interior ceilings 5 m in height.
    - The maximum height for all structures and objects on land is 20 m.
    - Structures must be physically plausible (no floating structures).
    - Structures on stilts are not permitted.
    - Large lots are encouraged to build larger structures from several 
      smaller joined structures, giving the illusion of many structures.
    - No default wood-textured prims created during construction 
      are allowed to be left in the city for more than a day.

  Resource usage
    - At most 1 script per 100 m^2 of land is permitted.
    - Scripts which use llListen (voice command) are only permitted, 
      if they listen only after a touch and then deactivate after a 
      certain period of time.
    - Scripts which spy on residents are not permitted.
    - Bounce script are not permitted.
    - Scripts which create autonomous wandering objects are not permitted.
    - Particles can only be used in effects that have real-world
      analogies, such as lights, smoke, and fire.
    - Particles should be set no higher than 10 particles per second.
    - Scripts, particles, and scripts attached to avatars are unregulated.

  Placement
    - Structures must interface with the street by either facing it or
      connecting to it with a path.
    - A stand off of 8 m from the edge of a lot is required for all objects 
      (except for trees) greater than 2 m tall (exceptions exist for 
      neighbor-neighbor collaboration), if possible.

  Neighbors
    - Neighbors are encouraged to build structures that meet at or
      cross over boundaries with other neighbors.

  Signs
    - The address of a home must be visible from the street.
    - Only approved wrought-iron signs are allowed outside of structures.
    - No rotating signs are allowed.
    - No signs with particles are allowed.

  Review 
    - All buildings are subject to review.
    - Requests for improvement will be submitted.

Content
  Furnishings
    - No hot tubs are allowed outside of dwellings.
    - No RL or SL commercial pornography is allowed anywhere 
      in the city.


Land-Specific CC&R (Example)

Zone
  Location
    - 1820 Kendrastrasse

Structures
  Specifications
    - Building is named the "Morganhauas".

A couple of days ago, I proposed a slight revision on these initial prices ( /103/ca/47477/1.html ). I wonder if we could alter the chart to show these figures. Or, at least discuss them.

The share purchase prices are the same. US$0.029 per meter, or L$7.4. (I think the L$ is the same; it should probably be explicitly mentioned, since I propose that we do not use a current exchange rate from the markets).

But the monthly rates are a bit higher, from a concern I have about meeting our monthly costs. If we agree on these rates, I feel it would be good to alter the chart, even though the chart displays prices for standard-sized plots, and few if any of the plots are standard-sized.

The other thing which I feel would be extremely important to mention on the prices page is that both share purchase prices and monthly fees are subject to change. As land sales by the City proceed, we may well want to raise the prices, or possibly even lower them. And monthly fees may also see a flucuation. All these changes would be decided by the RA (or is it the Guild?), but I feel that's it's important to mention.

In a sense, the "Join" page on the site is what they call a "prospectus", or an "offering", and we must be very precise about the terms of the offering.

Sudane

Ulrika, absolutely great! But, also, very funny. This is certainly how it's done. Makes our old Anglo-Saxon legal traditions look rather quaint.

I've quoted this section because I feel we should add the clause in "Monthly Consideration" that the amount is subject to change from time to time by action of the RA. Also, this is SL after all, and not the US. So the L$ value should be given at least equal prominence.

And, I guess its not important here, but for the initial purchase of land from the city, I presume that the Transfer Tax is waived. We may want to add a mention of the transfer tax on the "Join" page of the site.

Oh, and I love the bit with the notary public (one of THE MOST out-dated institutions in "western" legal tradition). But, really, how are we going to seal this transaction?

Sudane

Ulrika! Whew! You must have had a direct energy field drain! This covenant is a major piece of work, on top of the rebuilding and re-zoning of the City! Congradulations! You'll need that vacation.

(Says she as she then proceeds to offer her long list of suggestions. )(Well, maybe, not so long. )

I got a little confused as to which items were "Zone-Specific CC&R", and which were overall. Would you like help with re-org of the paragraphs, or just the suggestions?

As you know, we're working on a system in which the seasons change periodically in Neualtenburg (perhaps by resolution of the RA ). For this to work, citizens must choose trees from the "Neualtenburg Tree System" package that I'm putting together. I'll have it available in the plaza in the next day or so, and trees which have gone in already I'll be re-naming to work with the system. So, could we add a line here that all trees must be chosen from the Neualtenburg Tree System package? BTW, all the trees in the package are Linden trees, and they are all chosen to maintain the Neualtenburg theme. Also, no need for the "Trees should be changed..." line, because hopefully this system will take care of the changing.

Could we make this lower, please? 20 meters, outside the walls, is still a pretty tall building. Not by SL standards, or course. Just a request, to help preserve an organic land/building relationship, and to help maintain the dominance of the City structure.

This appears to me a very rigorous standard, and one which should have a major impact on the quality of the sim, altho the prohibition on llListen's will hurt. Does this section apply to vendors? That might be a problem. Also, how about scripts which drag resources hardly at all? One idea we have discussed is having a library in the City, where there would be shelves with books, each book hav a llLoadURL script. This would kill that idea.

I'm totally in favor of severe script restriction, having just experienced performance in a sim next to where I live drop to 9 FPS because of a resident "computer center". I just wonder what the effect of quality of life and attractiveness of the sim to others will be.

And, very important, do we have a way of enforcing this? Can we require all scripts be open for inspection? Can a script parse another script, looking for violations?

Finally, I too am totally against porn. But don't we need to define it if we're going to prohibit it? Or, will the standard be the infamous "I know it when I see it". We did want a mature sim, after all.

All in all, reading these covenants makes me very excited, and positive about the future of Neualtenburg. Thank you!

Sudane

Done. I updated the costs to reflect the slightly higher rate. I went with 0.005894 m^2/US$ instead of 0.006000 m^2/US$ (a difference of -2.3%), in order to make the numbers come out nice.

I do have one concern. I didn't realize it but land in the center of the city is no longer competitive with SL rates for lots above 512 m^2 for folks who keep paying for the Linden US$10 per month premium membership fee. Do we want to price them more agressively? For instance making the fee inside the walls 1.333 times the fee outside the walls (we currently have 2.000)? If we're at 1.333, we beat LL for all available lots. Second, I didn't realize it until now but the 2.0 multiplier becomes quite burdensome for those taking on large lots in the city. I don't think I can afford the whole castle lot anymore. Of course, changing the multiplier would undo the increase we just added to the prices. Hmm.

Done.

Done. Changed the name of the page title to Prospectus.

~Ulrika~

I suspect it may be a good idea to lower the ratio to 1.333. The city is the smaller part of the sim, so this figure has a smaller impact on monthly revenues than the overall m2 rate on which it's based. And some might argue that being inside the walls is not necessarily worth more than being outside. So, I would feel fine with that.

Actually, I'm eagerly looking forward to the actual list of sellable properties, and the m2 amounts. That will do the most to tell us how much revenue the city area may draw.

Sudane

What I liked most was the building "restrictions", although how we're going to enforce them, will be the question...

I won't mind if the height limit is set to below 20 m. However, I also believe that in some cases - like a structure embedded in a hill or so - you may give people extra allowance there (with a request that needs approval by the RA or so).

Fighting lag, hmm... "No voice-commanded scripts whatsoever" is tough. Some systems simply cannot work well without voice commands. However, good scripts only activate the voice commands when necessary - either when someone touches them or sits on the object. I'd be glad to lift the restrictions in that case. (A simple example: the "good" radio boxes, which change the streaming URL of the parcel, work like that: it only replies to a voice command when you touch it; after a minute or so, the script removes the listener and the timer that has waited for that minute - so, lag is zero on those).

Hmm, the "pornography issue" will be the most difficult to enforce. I like the idea of "no hot tubs in the outside". Basically, although it's a Mature sim, I'd suggest something like "no public demonstration of mature content outside of homes and buildings except by special consent of the City Government". This means that people wouldn't be able to dance on the street naked - but they could ask the Government to allow them to do that as a special event to demonstrate for a specific "cause" (in which case, everybody in the city would be warned beforehand). Of course, since sound and chat crosses walls, and people can peek inside anyway, furious, violent sex inside people's homes is semi-private at best

I'll add this.

I think 20 m is the height of our standard fachwerk. I'll log in and check. I want to make sure that the fachwerk can be sold outside the walls, so folks have a prebuilt option from the begining.

~Ulrika~

Done.

Done. (In another thread.) I'm working on a map as well, updating it as I work.

~Ulrika~

Sure. We don't have to be dogmatic about it. It's my feeling that anything may be overridden with approval. As for enforcement, that's the job of the Philosophic branch and I for one welcome the opportunity to crack heads over ugly builds.

Yes. I'll modify this to allow llListen on touch only. As for enforcing it, we'll have to wait until LL delivers a CPU resource-management utility, so we can see who the big users are. Also, I should say that the 1 script per 100 m^2 was recommended by a Linden and posted to the forums by Eggy.

I actually included this accidentally. It was a placeholder for something which I was having difficulty articulating.

I love controversial images, whether they're political, religious, sexual, or otherwise. As art there is just about nothing I would say no to. What I am really really averse to, are forms of commercial media which exploit female or male bodies for the sole purpose of providing arrousal ("pr0n". In essence, I don't want scanned images from the "skin trade" to have a presence in the city. If someone wants to put a nude picture of themselves wearing a pope hat and rollerskates in their in-world home, I think that's smashing.

Besides, the homes aren't really private, it contributes nothing to the theme, and it's only a matter of time before someone moves in and gives us something to wince about.

~Ulrika~

I updated the covenant to include suggestions, corrections, mixed-use information from another thread, and a couple of new ideas.

Modified or new entries are shown in blue. Entries which require further discussions are in red. If there's anything else you'd like in here, now's the time.

~Ulrika~

It sure looks OK to me.

Perhaps you could add some of what the lawyers call "boilerplate":

1) Residents seeking variances from any provision contained here shall bring those requests to the RA (or the SC, or the Guild, whichever is consistent with the constitution).

2) All provisions contained here are subject to alteration by the RA (or the SC, or the Guild, etc), and such alteration may include the requirement that objects and practices meeting the former provisions be modified to comply with the newly enacted provision (in other words, "grandfathered" objects and practices will not necessarily be protected).


Sudane

I think we should add to the following section:
The textures which Ulrika has created for the fachwerks (buildings within the City walls) are essential to the character of the City. However, certain catagories of modification to the textures will be necessary.

For the outsides of the buildings, modifications may be necessary to reflect the varieties of uses to which the building may be put; residential and/or commercial. I suggest that a collection of replaceable textures be provided (sorry, Ulrika, for the extra work) for the street-side outside of the buildings. The fachwerks are ideal now for residential use, but a shop-owner will want a street-front which will attract the attention of passers-by. We must develop a policy here of preserving the environment of Neualtenburg AND providing an environment very conducive to business.

Alternatively, approved architects can be provided who can do an alternate texture for a fee. That could be very nice for the store owner who really wants to make an impression. But for this beginning stage, when we really want to attract citizens by our affordability, a collection of free textures I feel would be very important.

Also, for the outside surfaces, is the very important issue of signs. Eugene brought this up with me yesterday. We must have an approved provision for signs, for much the same reason as the surface texture. Maintain the quality of Neualtenburg; and, create a conducive environment for business. Again, my initial suggestion would be a collection of free signs, without the words, which could be flat signs applied to existing surfaces, or hanging signs which extend from the street-side surface of a building. And, approved sign builders could be made available, which the shop-owner could use for a fee.

Finally, the inside textures of buildings within the city should be more flexible, of course, than the outside ones. Subject to some sort of minimal appropriateness, citizens should have access to alter the textures on the insides of their fachwerks as they see fit.

These would be my suggestions for the wording:

1) c Textures on the outside of structures may not be altered, except to replace the street-side face with approved textures provided by the City, or with textures created by approved City architects.

2) c Signs advertising the business carried on in that building may be placed on that building, but they must be signs provided by the City (with textures which are modified by the citizen only by the addition of wording), or provided by approved City architects.

3) c Interior textures may be modified or replaced by citizens, provided that such textures are minimally consistent with the two themes of the City: medieval Bavarian and/or Bauhaus post-modern.


Sudane

Awww, what can I say, Sudane?? I fully endorse your post

Ulrika has done one "shop front" texture for her own Werkstatt in the Marktplatz, so I guess that would be a good start!

And yes, I love the idea of "official signs" where you can drop your own textures with your logo - but everybody has to use the same size, etc. We'll need at least a "horizontal" type of sign - covering the façade - and a hanging sign which is at right angles to the façade (and no, please no physical scripting that makes it move with the wind, and squeak - at least not until Havok 2 comes out!).

I would also like to know your opinion on the MetaAdverse project - a SL-wide network of advertising signs, where the owners earn L$ for renting advertising space, and merchants rent the space from MetaAdverse inside their network. This is a wonderful idea, one of those things I imagined to happen back in September or so, but, as it usually happens, I never managed the time to implement it Still, it would be a source of income to Neualtenburg, with the disadvantage, of course, that billboards would appear inside the City. At this point of time I would be more interested in knowing if you have done business with the owners of MetaAdverse and understanding any reasons you may have not to do business with them.

Please ignore my last paragraph - Ulrika has surpassed herself on this weekend!

Wow, way to go, Ulrika!!

I can provide textures that are more appropriate for shops if asked by the owners. I would just have to drag and drop if I owned the structure or replace an existing structure with a modified one. The best way to handle this is on a case-by-case basis.

Signs are a very very important part of the atmosphere in the city. If you look at images of Rothenburg, all shops have large ornate wrought-iron signs, which stick out from the building perpendicularly usually with a small object, depicting what they sell (a shoe for a cobbler). I have some signs and I'll try and get a sample up on the Warenhaus and Bank as soon as possible. I'll also provide them in the free homeowner's pack.

I will make signs for folks for a small fee.

OK. Here's where things get difficult.

I am very concerned about protecting my Fachwerk and its textures. It's one of the few objects I've worked on in SL that I think I can make some good money off of as soon as I have time to put it up for sale. I worry that if I am not careful with permissions, folks will take my IP and sell it themselves (it happened to me once with animations).

For now, buildings can be purchased in place using "Sell Original", which I have to set. The owner will not be able to modify or copy the structure after purchase. I would consider a no transfer, no copy setting, if I were certain that the textures and structures couldn't be nabbed. Does anyone know any more about this?

~Ulrika~

This is certainly an important issue, since residents inside the walls MUST take the fachwerks. At the same time, Ulrika surely has a right to protect her work.

So that we understand the issues clearly, could you explain how the structure or texture could be copied, if the no copy/no transfer permissions were set? I myself have been unable to extract a texture from an object, even a copyable object. Granted, I am a complete neo-phyte at building; but I feel it would be helpful if we knew the risks so that we could help come to a solution.

As we all know, there is a huge shortage of prims in our new sim. In a situation like that, the ingenious entrepeneur, or even the ingenious house-owner, will look to texture modifications to create something of their own expression. Our goal needs to be to encourage such entrepeneurship.

Sudane

I know. I'm the ingenious entrepreneur who originally created the low-prim fachwerk in response to the Neualtenburg prim shortage.

~Ulrika~

I reduced the maximum building height from 20 m down to 16 m, to match the standard building which is 15 m in height.

~Ulrika~