 |
| City Council Meeting Transcript August 6, 5:30 PM |
| Mary Welch's Comments |
| Transcript Menu |
|
BY MRS. WELCH: I don't have a speech. I was just going to talk
to you. You all know the facts. You know that I went to the
city. Mr. Ward has said that it's his interpretation that the treehouse is
an accessory building. Had I gone to Mr. Ward, initially, he would have
given me his interpretation and we would never be here tonight.
Unfortunately, I didn't. I went to Julian Lowther, who apparently
interpreted it differently, and he didn't have a problem with us putting up
this treehouse. So we have Gary Ward's interpretation now, his
interpretation then. Change of administration, change of
interpretation. What happens when someone else comes along after Mr.
Ward and he interprets things different than Mr. Ward did? Are we going to
tear down things that Mr. Ward said could be put up? It seems to me if
the city is going to have an ordinance, it needs to be stated clearly and
should not be subject to one individual's interpretation. That's not
fair to Mr. Ward to put all that on him, that he's responsible for
interpreting an ordinance that he didn't even write. Just consider
that. Under the old ordinance, I got the interpretation from Mr. Lowther.
I got the permission to build it. So technically, it was legal under
the old ordinance. In his interpretation, it was a treehouse. As
a platform, it was a treehouse. There was no doubt. If anybody
looked in our yard and saw a platform in a tree, they knew it was a
treehouse. Whey they saw the platform with the walls, they knew it was
a treehouse. When they saw the siding, they knew it was a treehouse.
The windows, the door. They knew it was a treehouse. It was in a
tree. But the minute we put a roof on it, it's an accessory building.
How does that happen? Now, who in here has an accessory building
anywhere on your property? Hopefully, in the backyard. Who lets your
children play in it? How many are in a tree? None. Because it's
an accessory building. And we have a treehouse and Mr. Lowther granted
me permission to build. That was his interpretation. Now we have
another interpretation. The next zoning administration might have
another interpretation. I don't think an ordinance should be up to
that many interpretations. I think it should be made clear. You
have the power to do that, and I hope that you can do that. Thank you
for listening.
BY MAYOR AULTMAN: Thank you. (Clapping by audience.) |
|
|