[villagetinker]

Oh this is going to be interesting. I am guessing the preserve may come under the same rules from the water district, so I would be VERY cautious of doing any clearing. When we were looking at houses, we were asked if we wanted a water view, and I guess we were very lucky when it was mentioned that these were 'protected' areas, we declined the water view, and found a wonderful house, with a view that will change very little.
As for previous comments (online news and others), I am GUESSING that going forward there could be some type of assessment attached the those specific houses involved in this agreement, This would avoid the new neighbor saying well I am not going to pay.
I tend to agree this may have opened a can of worms, but it may be possible to control with a special assessment or something similar.