City Commissioners

City Clerks

Planning department

RE: Exception to Ordinance No. 7841 as applied to Lots 2A and 3A Homewood Gardens Subdivision No.

            We come before you to respectfully request an exception to ordinance No.7841. We contend that our project was “On the Board” prior to the City establishing this temporary building permit moratorium. Although no official file was created with the City’s Planning Department to establish an actual file date, research and discussions had begun as early as August 31, 2004.  The department was approached on or before that date to verify current zoning and to ascertain the City’s opinion and requirements of this Infill construction project. No zoning changes were required as the property was and is currently zoned RM-1. At that initial meeting we agreed with the City Planner’s desire and request to submit a simple Lot Split to change the frontage of these Lots to Ward Ave as opposed to Haskell Avenue. This change alleviates the City’s concern with driveway access onto collector streets. We contacted the Owner of these lots, after verifying that they were “buildable”, and signed a purchase agreement on September 2, 2004. Once the contract was signed we ordered EBH & Associates to survey the property and prepare the Lot Split changing the frontage to Ward Avenue. This survey was completed and present to the City Planners office before the end of October 2004. No official file was created at that time as the City then requested a “Dedication of Right-of-Way”. We graciously accepted their request and agreed to convey ownership of the East twenty feet, running parallel to Haskell, to the City. EBH & Associates then returned with their survey crew and equipment to establish this “dedication”. The Lot Split was then redrawn and officially submitted to the City in December 2004. We accepted all of this at our additional expense. Over the months before, during, and after this process there was never a mention of a proposed or established moratorium. We would have requested an exception to this ordinance when it was passed if we had been notified. Permits were ready and construction was scheduled to begin on April 15, 2005. However, at the last minute Neighborhood Resources refused to release the permits due to the possibility that this ordinance pertained to these Lots. We are now at a point that as every day  passes without building permits we suffer a loss. We ask that you accept this project as one that was already begun prior to the moratorium and order the release of our building permits. We would like to thank Dave Corliss and Linda Finger for their help and understanding in the process and the Commissioners for their consideration.

Sincerely,

Randy Ham

AssociateBroker, ABR, CRS, GRI

785.766.7575

Glen Sohl

Realtor, ABR, GRI

Realty Executives – Hedges Real Estate, Inc.

785-766-7653