Second-story deal something of a success

Deirdre Newman

Adding a second story is not easy these days.

Instead of signifying an end to the process, an approval from the

zoning administrator can set off a frustrating roller coaster of

appeals culminating in a public hearing before the City Council,

costing time and money.

This week, for a change, the dispute between two neighbors over

privacy was resolved before it got to the council, thanks to Mayor

Gary Monahan.

The resolution saved both homeowners -- John Rice, who was trying

to add the second story, and Mike Snyder, who had the privacy issues

-- more stress and left the council time to consider other issues on

the agenda.

Being a father of five gave Monahan a seasoned perspective on the

issue of privacy, he said.

“It was pretty obvious that the neighbors just hadn’t gotten

together and, having several kids of my own, I understood the privacy

issue pretty well,” Monahan said. “I though it could be pretty simply

solved without a full-blown hearing.”

But Rice is not entirely happy with the results.

“I felt I was actually being penalized because I was the first

house on my block [to add a second story],” Rice said. “Because I was

breaking new ground, I was being asked to do different things that

other people haven’t done. ... I think that [Monahan] was just trying

to come up with a solution that would satisfy my neighbors in the

back, and I’ve paid $3,500 to my neighbors [for privacy].”

Snyder was not available for comment on Friday.

John Rice, who lives at 256 Rose Lane, said he began designing the

expansion last May and spent about $15,000 on the original drawings.

But city planners did not approve, so Rice redrew the plans for

another $10,000 to $12,000, he said. The new design will cost $20,000

to build and include less square footage than the original plans, he

said.

Rice said he and his family -- which includes his wife and young

son -- wanted to expand to make room for his father-in-law and his

mother, who are not in good health, should they need to move in. The

plans call for a building height of 23 feet, the limit being 27 feet

for second stories.

On April 3, the zoning administrator approved the expansion. A

week later, the Snyders appealed. Mike and Tracy Snyder said they

were considering moving if the expansion was approved.

Since the project met or exceeded all applicable residential

guidelines, the Planning Commission approved it, with the provisions

that the Rices agree to install landscape screening along the rear

wall to a height of 9 to 10 feet and increase the wall height to 8

feet along the rear property.

But that wasn’t enough for the Snyders, who asked Monahan to

appeal the issue to the council. He did.

But he also tried to resolve it before it got that far.

Monahan met with the Snyders and talked to the Rices’ architect,

Jeff Mayland.

They arrived at the solution of taking a 3-foot high window in the

back of the house and making it a 2-foot window. Since the bottom of

the window would be higher, just walking by the window would not

provide a glimpse into the Snyders’ house, Rice said.