09/29/1986 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

9/29/86 Page 3 Mayor Carmen asked Mr. Feneli to explain how he arrived at the decision that since the property owners applied for the permit under the old ordinance, although a new ordinance has been passed, that they have the right to build under the old ordinance if their plans are approved by the A.R.B. Mr. Feneli said that according to the information he received, the property owners applied for a building permit in July and the building permit was issued around that time. They were told to go ahead and construct a slab or foundation and some certain sewer improvements by Mr. Amendola. While this was pending, Mr. Amendola rejected two sets of plans because they were not in conformance with the type of plaris the A.R.B. likes to review. A third set of plans was submitted that Mr. Amendola felt would be appropriate to submit to the A.R.B. for their consideration. In the meantime, the series of ineetings were held as mentioned by Mr. YEtz l'er. At "that time it -was his understanding that the building permit had been issued.after approval of.the plans from the A.R.B. TYiere was a misunderstanding. . Since that time, it was pointed out to him. that the plans kiad never formally been presented to the A.R.B. for their review, and not approved. He then contacted the Building Commissioner who confirmed that the plans were scheduled to be before the A.R.B., but had not been presented to them. He then contacted the Mayor. He and the Mayor felt the building permit was void because the code clearly states that no permit can be issued until the plans are approved by the A.R.B. The building permit was then voided and has not been reissued. Now the question becomes, which code section applies since while all this was going on, the current code was amended to allow a maximum size building of 675 square feet. Mr. Feneli said since the application for the permit was filed in July, that the parties who applied at that time had their . rights vested to have al,l code sections in effect at that time. apply to their property. To com pound matters, a munici.pal official, the Building Commissioner, told these people they could go ahead and do certain work, and issued them a permit. The property owners then constructed approximately $11,000 worth of improvements on their property. Mr. Feneli explained that they have vested rights because they have relied on the municipal officials involved and have expencled certain sums of money based on that reliance. Mr. Feneli said that he has no question in his mind, after reviewing it a great deal, that the building permit can be issued for this project based upon approval by.the Architectural Review Board. He explained that the A.R.B. does have the authority to reject the permit. According to their minutes, they have asked that the plans be redrawn so that the design of the building better fits a residential character. Pending A.R.B. approval, Mr. Feneli said the buil.ding can be g-,pnstructed to this size.