Planet Weekly Complete Distribution List
  Editorial - August 28, 2002 - Number 165 - Jackson's Alternate Weekly  
Treehouse blends nicely with home

 
Clinton Zoning Czar on
Warpath
  by Ed Inman  
  Planet Weekly News Editor  
  August 14, 2002  
I've hesitated thus far to stick my nose too deeply into the ongoing zoning
controversy in Clinton that has the family of Scot and Mary Welch fighting
City Hall over a treehouse.

Perhaps itıs because I know Clinton is a very conservative, close-knit
community which generally resents advice from would-be "outside liberal
agitators."

Perhaps it is because Iım overly hesitant to step on too many toes in a
community where my own great grandfather was once postmaster and where I
still have deep family roots.

Perhaps it is because I understand the need for reasonable zoning
regulations and enforcement. One needs to look no further than the capital
city to see how many historic neighborhoods have been ravished by commercial
encroachment, poor maintenance, and lax zoning from years past.

But the latest demand from Clinton City Hall that a handcrafted gazebo built
by Greg Harris as a gift to his fiancée must be removed, combined with the
much publicized treehouse incident, convinces me that something really is
askew in our fair community to the west.

I may not be an attorney, nor a mayor, nor a zoning administrator. But Iıve
covered municipal politics as a reporter long enough to understand a few
things about how local government works. Politicians will argue that this
issue isnıt really even about a treehouse or a gazebo.  It's about proper
enforcement of the zoning ordinance and protection of the neighborhoods.
(Heaven forbid that the city might become overrun with treehouses and
gazebos!)

The only problem with such literal interpretations of law and hard-line
approaches to enforcement is that simple common sense can end up being
thrown by the wayside. Such appears to be the case with what is going on now
in Clinton.

The term "accessory structure" generally refers to utility sheds and
portable buildings. Expanding it to include treehouses and gazebos may sound
logical, but from an enforcement perspective it appears to be more of an
attempt to expand the original intent of the law. There is not a lot of
legal precedence in Mississippi where cities have gone after treehouse and
gazebo owners in the past.

Of course expanding the intent of law may not necessarily be a bad thing
when there is good reason to do so. But the key here is "good reason." Does
the City of Clinton really have any good reason to start demolishing
treehouses and gazebos? Who wins?

Itıs certainly not the children who enjoy the treehouse. Itıs not the
citizens of the neighborhood who have overwhelmingly expressed support for
the treehouse. Itıs not the devoted gentleman who built the gazebo as a
loving tribute to his fiancée. And it doesnıt appear to be the city leaders
either graves with these arcane demands.

If they are really so concerned that treehouses and gazebos are going to get
out of hand the least they could do is to grant a variance to allow the
existing structures to remain with conditions, then rework the ordinance to
more clearly regulate any future such handiwork.

They might also start thinking more about uniform enforcement of more
fundamental zoning issues affluent neighborhoods.

During a brief drive through Clinton this weekend I observed one unkempt
yard covered with debris, a second lot so overgrown that it appeared the
house was abandoned, and a third house where much of the exterior siding had
fallen off the wall.

If Zoning Administrator Gary Ward is really interested in preventing blight
and protecting the beauty of the city, he and the other city officials need
to start concentrating on these more fundamental zoning issues rather than
harassing treehouse and gazebo owners who are just trying to improve their
properties.