|
234
<br />
<br />Febr~2rv ?~6 1974 _
<br />
<br />NBW BUSINBSS
<br />
<br /> 74-85 The following letter received from Leslie O. Cox, President, Central Civic
<br />~oru~ was read:
<br />
<br /> "Recently
<br />Committee, and
<br />nelly designed
<br />that the forum
<br />composition of
<br />
<br />there has been an effort by the Council to ~evamp the Citizen Advisory
<br />rightly so because we feel it has not been doing the things it was origi-
<br />to do. However, the main reason we are writing this letter is to request
<br />be allowed some input in the Citizens Advisory Committee as for as the
<br />the membership is concerned by recommending two blacks from this communit
<br />
<br /> We represent a cross section of the black community and feel we can therefore render
<br />a valuable service to the city in providing some input in this very importan Committee.
<br />Thanking you for your consideration."
<br />
<br /> Motion of Mr. Barly and seconded by Mr. King, to be referred to:~conference when
<br />members to Boards and Commissions are .d.~s-e~ssed, was adopted by unanimous vote.
<br />
<br />74-86 The following letter from William B. Moore, 5725 Craneybrook Lane, was read
<br />
<br /> "I regret that ! must come to you again about a so-called "temporary" building
<br />erected on land in Merrifields zoned R-100. This building is metal, built on concrete
<br />foundations and is 80' wide and 100' long (8,000 sq.ft.). It is not, in my opinion,
<br />within the intent of Section 504 of the Building Code with respect to temporary permits
<br />for "construction sheds". This building, which is diagonally across the street from my
<br />home, appears to be a combined construction shed, office, warehouse and industrial build-
<br />ing. I and my neighbors (in Bdgefield) affected by this building have homes built on
<br />land zoned R-150 in an established neighborhood.
<br />
<br /> The building referred to above is owned by the Merritt Construction Corporation.
<br />The lots on which it is built are a part of a large tract of land being developed as
<br />Section 5 of Merrifields. I feel the builder is uszng this building to service all of
<br />building projects in the city.
<br />
<br /> My neighbors and I find this building and the land surrounding it to be: (1) highly
<br />objectionable since it looks more like a junk yard than the kind of building you would
<br />expect to find in an area zoned for low density residential housing; (2) it adversely
<br />affects the value o& our property; (3) we believe it is not within the intent of Section
<br />504 of the Building Code. Furthermore, we feel that the area aro~d this building looks
<br />as bad or worse than much of the property in some of the most blighted areas of the city.
<br />
<br /> I have been unable to find a similar building (in size, etc.) at any of the building
<br />projects in Tidewater that I visited including Green Run at Virginia Beach. Also, I
<br />talked with personnel in the Building Inspector's office in Norfolk to see if they would
<br />approve the construction of a building of this size and type as a "temporary" building;
<br />I was told that such approval was highly unlikely.
<br />
<br /> The building was erected at 4100 Swannanoa Drive by authority of Building Permit No.
<br />297S-D dated July 20, 1972. In fact, it was moved from 4100 ~ueenswood Drive (a remote p~
<br />of Merrifields) to its present location. I reported to the Council - by my letter dated
<br />August 1S, 19?2 that I understood it had been at its previous location for 5 or 6 years.
<br />
<br /> In the City Manager's letter 72-376 dated September 12, 1972 to the Council, he
<br />stated that the Merritt Construction Corpora2ion had been informed that Building Permit
<br />~2975-D was for one year only. We waited one year, hoping at the end of this period the
<br />building would be removed; however, nothing happened - the building remained so I wrote
<br />to the City ~lanager on September 13, 1973. In response, the City Manager's letter of
<br />September 26, t9~3 stated:
<br />
<br />'--- the Building Official's office advises me that Merritt Construction Company
<br />has been ordered to remove the shed at 4100 Swannanoa Drive. Merritt Construction
<br />Company has 30 days from September 25, 1973, to have this building removed.'
<br />
<br /> Again, 30 days passed and nothing happened, so I wrote to the City Manager on
<br />November 15, 1973. By his letter dated November 26, 1973, he advised me:
<br />
<br />'Since the Building Official's letter to Mr. Merritt giving him 30 days fromm
<br />September 25, 1973, to have the building removed, an investigation has been
<br />made of the situation. It has been found that due to weather conditions during
<br />the fall and winter of last year and the money market, construction has not
<br />progressed as anticipated. There are approximately 50 vacant lots in this
<br />section of Merrifields in which no construction.has commenced and approximately
<br />15 houses under construction. Due to the circumstances, an extension of the
<br />present permit for an additional two years has been granted.'
<br />
<br /> We feel that some city officials have broken faith.with us by granting this extensio~
<br />Furthermore, we feel that we have been grossly discriminated against and that our rights
<br />property owners have been violated. Hence, we feel that the extension should be rescinde~
<br />and the building removed as soon as possible. However, we ~feel that the rights of both
<br />sides (the builder and propety owners) should be considered.
<br />
<br /> Accordingly, we recommend that this matter be referred to
<br />knowledgeable people with respect to land use matters, such as
<br />for review and recommendation to the Council.
<br />
<br />an impartial group of
<br />the Planning Commission,
<br />
<br />~t
<br />
<br />
<br />
|