Dover Shores News, April 1, 2026

Spring is finally here, although it seems like we have already started to experience summer! Your HOA Board is working hard to keep our neighborhood running smoothly. Here again, is the latest update about what is going on in our Dover Shores community.

March 17, 2026 HOA Meeting

Here is a brief overview of the main discussions and actions taken at our most recent Dover Shores General Meeting:

Beach Policy Revisions:

The Beach Committee Chair, Emily Leach, presented the Board with the Beach Committee’s proposed changes to the Beach Policies and Rules, which had been unanimously approved by the Beach Committee.

What was the process used by the Beach Committee to approve the changes? First, the Beach Committee Chair, Emily Leach, in her leadership role, proposed certain draft changes based on feedback from the community and issues experienced over the past year or so that appeared to require solutions and changes. The Beach Committee, consisting of 4 members: Chris de la Torre, Jodi Cassutt, Emily Leach and Sherry Bilbeisi, met twice and further communicated by email to discuss the changes, discuss alternate language and compromises, and finally came up with language all agreed on that would be presented to the Board.

At the Board meeting, after having an opportunity to review the changes and discuss them, the Board voted to approve the proposed Beach Policy changes, which means they will now be mailed out to the entire Association for a 28 day review and comment period. Then at our next HOA meeting, the Board will further discuss and vote on whether to adopt the new beach policies.

Some but not all of the main changes include:

• The number of persons required for a Beach Reservation is increased from over 16 to over 20;

• The non-refundable deposit for having a Beach Reservation will remain the same at $75. However, the refundable security deposit is eliminated. Instead, in the event the HOA incurs costs relating to damage or extra cleaning because of a resident’s use of the beach, reimbursement to the HOA will be added to the resident’s HOA account after notice and an opportunity to be heard. A resident’s violation of beach policies may also result in a longer suspension period of beach privileges.

• Blackout days for reservations will be on Saturdays, for association events, and on major holidays. Residents who make reservations will have priority use of the BBQ equipment and countertop area, as well as priority use of the 2 tables near the BBQ. Again, reservations do not entitle anyone to exclusive use of the beach or the facilities.

• Music should not be heard beyond immediate area, no external speakers or devices used solely to play music are permitted, and music must be turned down if homeowner requests. AV /PA systems are prohibited.

• Because music at the beach continues to be a hot topic, to clarify, if you want to play music at the beach, you are limited to whatever music comes out of your device (i.e., phone or laptop), played at a reasonable volume so other beachgoers and residents will not be disturbed. Again, reasonableness by everyone is the goal.

It was pointed out at the HOA meeting, that if the changes do not work out, or if additional changes are needed, the Beach Committee can always do further revisions to the Beach Policies at any time in the future. That is how the process works to address new issues or outdated, ambiguous language. The Beach Committee is always open to suggestions from the community.

Beach Security

The Beach Committee also submitted recommended security enhancements. The existing Ring cameras will continue to be used, and a virtual Ring security monitoring system will be added. The effectiveness of this system will be reevaluated after one year. BHE was also asked to get estimates for a new on-call security company that can respond more quickly than has happened in the past. Allied Security was suggested.

The Beach Committee discussed installing a keypad entry system at the Beach gates. However, as North Star does not yet have electricity, it could only be done at Larry’s at this point, with keys possibly also needed for the restroom, and also keys needed at North Star temporarily. The Beach Committee is continuing its search for a smooth, workable keypad or fob entry system that can be used for both beaches with ease of operation.

New HOA Web Site Software

BHE Management advised the Board that they will be implementing a new software, Vantaca, to provide real-time financial transparency. The platform will also include a homeowner portal for documents and account information. Additional details will be sent to the Board, with notices to all homeowners in April at no cost to the Association.

Dover Shores Trademark

Many realtors continue to mislabel homes as being in "Dover Shores" degrading the exclusivity of real Dover Shores homes, potentially lowering property values. Director Gula discussed exploring how the Association can enforce use of the “Dover Shores” name now that it has been trademarked and suggested consulting legal counsel, such as Roseman Law, for guidance.

Election By Acclamation

Current law allows Associations to elect Board members by Acclamation if they have achieved quorum during the past 3 years. Dover Shores did indeed achieve quorum 2 years ago. This can be done if and only if there are as many or fewer candidates than there are spaces. We will have three positions up again this year, and we cannot know how many candidates we will have. The advantage to this is the cost saving of the mailing of ballots, as well as the hiring of the Inspector. The Board voted to continue Election by Acclamation for our 2026 election.

What this means:

• By April 7, 2026, to send out early notice of Nomination including the number of positions available, and the deadline for submitting nominations which will be July 15, 2026.

• Between June 17 and July 10, 2026, to send out a reminder notice to owners of the number of positions up for election and to notice that if there are the same number of candidates (or fewer) than positions open for election, that the Board of Directors may, after voting to do so, seat the qualified candidates by acclamation without balloting.

• If there are more candidates than open spaces, we move forward in July with selecting the Inspector, and send out our pre-ballot notice to the membership in August.

• If there are NOT more candidates than spaces by July 15, 2026, the Board can select the meeting (in our case October of 2026) at which the qualified candidates will be seated.

A Message from BHE Management Corporation:

Springing forward Together

With our continued efforts to rejuvenate the spirit of community, we had a great March Board meeting!

Elections

Yes, it’s already that time again to begin our process! In early April we will be mailing out the first Call for Candidates for our 2026 election. The community will have 3 seats up for election. As was the case last year, if we have 3 or less candidates for the Board when the Nomination Period ends, we will complete the election by acclamation; if we have 4 or more candidates, we will send out ballots. Watch for updates in future newsletters!

Summer Barbecues

The Social Committee is hard at work planning our summer barbecues! Do you have some ideas you would like to share? Please let us know if you are willing to help on the Social Committee – thank you!

Spring Improvement Projects

If you are planning some improvements to your home, PLEASE remember to get architectural approval BEFORE you begin work! We really hate it when we have to make someone remove alterations that they have already commenced – thank you for your cooperation!

BHE Management Corporation
www.BHEManagement.com (949)363-1963
Marla Hemmel, Managing Agent, MarlaH@bhemanagement.com
Lisa Parra, Community Manager, LParra@BHEManagement.com
Melissa Mora, Assistant Manager, AP@BHEManagement.com

Landscaping

We’ve just completed re-landscaping entrances to our neighborhood of Dover Shores on the corners of Santiago and Galaxy at one end, Pescador and Santiago at the other end. In addition we have added boulders for interest on the slopes of Holiday and Galaxy. There will be a few more plantings added to the recent corner redos as well. Now just hoping for a bit of rain!

Communications Committee

WANTED: Tech savy people to help create a permanent Dover Shores web site. Our URL: https://dovershoreshoa.org just redirects to the BHE web site. We want to create a real web site of our own that shows off the amenities and benefits of living in Dover Shores. We will continue to use BHE for services like billing. If you can recommend someone to help create and maintain a simple web site, please let us know.

STILL WANTED: DOVER SHORES PHOTOGRAPHERS: We always like to open our Newsletter with an interesting photo of Dover Shores, and we need your help. If you ever take a picture of our community that you would like to share with our Dover Shores residents in our Newsletter, please submit it by replying to this newsletter, and hopefully we will be able to use it in the future. Of course, our photographer neighbor will be sgiven credit. Thank you.

CERT and Neighborhood Watch

Connect Newport Beach

The NBPD has launched a new program to better make use of the many cameras in our communities. This program differs for homeowners versus commercial businesses:

• Homeowners - can register your cameras with the NBPD so they know whom to ask for video footage when a crime has been committed. The NBPD has NO direct access to your cameras; when needed, they will ask you to share what you might have recorded.

• Commercial businesses - you can add some additional equipment made by Axon to your system that DOES let the NBPD access your cameras. The extra equipment is essentially an additional video recorder that the NBPD can access remotely. More details on camera integration here.

For more information, go to the Connect Newport Beach page on the NBPD web site.

Note that the city has installed 70 Flock ALPR (automatic license plate reader) cameras in various locations around the city that are continuously monitored by the NBPD. Some cities have decided to terminate their contract with Flock because of concerns about sharing of information with government agencies (which Flock disputes). A policy document about how the NBPD uses these cameras is available here.

In the past, Ring has offered archived customer footage to police. Ring discontinued their "Request for Assistance" program in 2024. Police may still post on the Ring neighbors app to request that people share videos with them. Ring has entered into partnership agreements with Flock Safety, which definitely does share with police, and Axon, who make the equipment used in the commercial business aspect of the NBPD Connect Newport Beach program. The significance of these Ring partnerships is not yet clear.

April CERT Classes

The spring CERT classes from NBFD start April 14. To apply, follow the application link here.

Next Dover Shores HOA Board Meeting: May 19, 5:00 PM

The board is continuing to offer Zoom access to board meetings. All meetings will use the same credentials listed below. The general session for homeowner participation for these meetings begins at 5PM.

Join Zoom Meeting with your browser

Meeting ID: 880 4927 2107
Passcode: 940601
One tap mobile: (669)900-6833

For the foreseeable future, those wishing to attend in person can attend at the principal office of the Association which has been designated by the Board as the place of business of BHE Management, located at 30011 Ivy Glen Dr., Ste.118, Laguna Niguel, CA 92677. BHE Management will be present.

Board meeting occur bimonthly on the 3rd Tuesday. Dates of the remaining board meetings for this year:

• May 19
• July 21
• September 15
• November 17

Committees

Finally

If you would like to submit an article for publication in the Newsletter that you think might be of interest to Dover Shores, please let us know by responding to this Newsletter by email.

Please let your neighbors know how to contact us at board@dovershoreshoa.org if they are not part of our email list and would like to join. Or please forward this email to them. Our goal is to reach every Dover Shores neighbor.

Note that past newsletters are always available at our archives.