soundspawn
Junior Member
Dallas, Oregon
Sorry, this is going to be a long one... ***Skip to post 4/5 for super short story and questions***
In 2009 I was given permission to erect a "membrane structure" by the City Planner on my property in a location that would normally be restricted... the location was too close to the side lot line (side yard set back). I was told that membrane structures, such as tent canopies, metal standalone car ports, etc, are not considered accessory structures and are not subject to such restrictions and do not require permitting. I cleared out the land (it was rocky and had an old gate and small outbuilding in the way) beginning immediately, poured a concrete slab, and erected said structure. The process drug out quite a bit as I was doing it all myself, but the final product was done by fall 2011.
In May 2012 a Code Enforcement Officer dropped by unannounced and took a photo of the structure standing approximately 50 away from the street and on to my property, well beyond the front of my house and by all means in the curtilage, and proceeded to tell my wife (I was at work) that the structure violates building code and must be torn down. I tried to work with the city but long story short they are under the impression that it is attached to my house (it is not) and that it is too close to the side property line (because they say it is now considered an accessory structure). In correspondence from the city attorney it has been made clear that effective January 2010 all new secondary structures were to be considered accessory structures.
During the early part of the back and forth with the city I placed a no trespassing sign on my front porch (approximately 30 feet in front of the membrane structure and less than three feet off to the side of the driveway so pretty obvious placement). The same CEO as before visited me shortly after and upon his departure I sent an email to him, his boss, the City Manager, the City Attorney, and the County Sheriff (most of them CC'd) informing the city that he as well as anyone from the "Community Development Department" were not allowed on the property and that I was copying the County Sheriff to create a clear record that future trespass will be considered criminal. During the same email I pointed out that they continue to claim my structure is too close to the property line however they are measuring from the building to the fence and the fence is on my property (not on the line). As I measure it (based on a total of nine monuments that were located via a professional survey in 2010 for a fence project) I have 37-39 inches of space, however the existing fence was built way out of spec so it's about 20 inches from my building. I fear it's close enough that if they were to somehow establish it as an accessory structure, they could have some "expert" opinion that I'm actually at 35" somewhere and the whole thing needs demolished.
Anyway, about two days after the email to everyone and their dog, my wife witnessed a man in business casual attire over at the corner of our property nearest the street poking around. It is possible he stayed physically standing on the sidewalk. When he left my wife went out there and noticed a single freshly unearthed monument.
Another couple days later I received a letter from the City Attorney. He stated that the city had sent out an official who found a monument and from that monument they now know where the property line is. He stated that unless I provide a survey proving otherwise, they will cite me for being under 36" from the property line. He also stated that "simple observations" proves the structure is attached to my house and that since it is attached I needed a permit. He also confirmed that the change in codes (removal of all membrane structure designations) took place in early 2010. He provided an application and gave me approximately a week to comply. I responded within his time frame with an affidavit swearing that the structure is not attached, the structure violates no codes, and the fence does not run parallel to the property line (the fence runs a V shape, basically 10 degrees out of whack (west half runs 10 degrees southward toward the North center of the property, east half runs 10 degrees northward, and of course my structure sits right at the greatest distance from property to fence). As to the belief that one can draw a line with one point... at the distance from that monument to the front of my structure (approx. 70 feet) a 2.5 degree variance is over 36" meaning that margin of error alone would be the difference between totally legal and encroaching.
Then there was silence (basically June 15th or so on)... Until July 11th when I received a letter from a "Building Official" which stated it had "come to [his] attention that construction took place at [address] that requires a building permit." He provided an application, stated that the structure would have to meet today's codes, and that I had ten business days to comply. He cited 8.115(3), an ordinance giving a "Building Official" the right to issue an Order to Correct if he deems a State code was violated. I again submitted an affidavit within the dead line, swearing that the structure is not attached, violates no codes, and did not require permitting.
On Monday, July 30th the original/same CEO this time accompanied by a City Police Officer came to my door. I answered and the CEO explained that he was there to issue a pair of citations. I told the PO that the CEO was not allowed on the property, that there is written documentation with the County Sheriff and city officials establishing it. She said "It doesn't matter, this is an enforcement issue." After fighting them on that he issued me two citations and handed me a letter, then left.
The letter was from the Building Official, stating that I had failed to comply with his Order to Correct and that pursuant to 8.115(5)[sic] he was imposing an Administrative Penalty of $1000. The only references to codes/ordinances/etc were 8.115(5), ability to skip an order to correct in emergencies and repeat offenders, and 8.115(3), his right to issue an Order to Correct. I believe he meant to cite 8.115(4), his ability to impose an Administrative Penalty for failing to comply. The letter explained that I have a right to appeal and ten calendar days to respond.
I filed an appeal that Friday and in addition emailed the Mayor explaining in short the situation and in detail the trespassing that happened the previous Monday. I mentioned considering legal council for the offense but that I would prefer this whole mess just go away to everyone's mutual benefit, and asked him to intervene before things get even worse. He responded Saturday that he was forwarding it to the City Manager (Pro Tem); The City Manager responded Monday morning saying he would look in to everything and keep me apprised.
Later that Monday (August 6th) the same CEO and PO were at my door again; this time the CEO said he realized the citations he issued a week prior were missing information (date issued) so he was issuing new, replacement ones. I interrupted him and said "No, you both need to leave right now". The PO said "We are enforcing the law, we have every right to be here." I stated that there are Administrative Warrants for such things and that unless they have one they need to leave. She refused and said "You have to follow the law just like everyone else, we aren't leaving." I said "Yes, I do have to follow the law, and so do you, and one of those laws is that you can not stay on this property without a warrant or probable cause." Around that time the CEO held his hand out with the citations and said "I need you to take these from me." I said "I don't understand what you mean by saying it like that, but I think you both need to leave instead." The PO said "Just shove them in his pocket and we're done." I quickly opened my front door and hopped inside (not that I think I would somehow be free of an obligation to respond to the citations but because F*em if they won't follow the law I'm not going to make their lives easy... in my mind I already had the citations, this sounds clerical to me). As I went inside the PO followed me, stopped in the doorway, leaned in to my house (at least her upper half well inside the living room) and placed the citations on my shoe rack, several feet inside. This is the kind of lean where you hang on to the door frame as you go in because without a grip you would fall on your face. This really freaked my wife out and pissed me off. I said to my wife "Do you see that they won't leave, that they just came in our house?" Then they left.
Both of these recent Mondays the visit was about 8:15pm and unannounced.
So now at this point I'm looking at a court date (to plead not guilty and request trial) of 8/23 for two citations, one 2.2.030 (building standards, I'm sure this has to do with the side yard set back), and 4.2.030 (First time I heard about this one, it's some right to review new constructions that require permitting). I'm also looking at an appeal hearing somewhere between 10 and 25 days from now.
Sorry, this is going to be a long one... ***Skip to post 4/5 for super short story and questions***
In 2009 I was given permission to erect a "membrane structure" by the City Planner on my property in a location that would normally be restricted... the location was too close to the side lot line (side yard set back). I was told that membrane structures, such as tent canopies, metal standalone car ports, etc, are not considered accessory structures and are not subject to such restrictions and do not require permitting. I cleared out the land (it was rocky and had an old gate and small outbuilding in the way) beginning immediately, poured a concrete slab, and erected said structure. The process drug out quite a bit as I was doing it all myself, but the final product was done by fall 2011.
In May 2012 a Code Enforcement Officer dropped by unannounced and took a photo of the structure standing approximately 50 away from the street and on to my property, well beyond the front of my house and by all means in the curtilage, and proceeded to tell my wife (I was at work) that the structure violates building code and must be torn down. I tried to work with the city but long story short they are under the impression that it is attached to my house (it is not) and that it is too close to the side property line (because they say it is now considered an accessory structure). In correspondence from the city attorney it has been made clear that effective January 2010 all new secondary structures were to be considered accessory structures.
During the early part of the back and forth with the city I placed a no trespassing sign on my front porch (approximately 30 feet in front of the membrane structure and less than three feet off to the side of the driveway so pretty obvious placement). The same CEO as before visited me shortly after and upon his departure I sent an email to him, his boss, the City Manager, the City Attorney, and the County Sheriff (most of them CC'd) informing the city that he as well as anyone from the "Community Development Department" were not allowed on the property and that I was copying the County Sheriff to create a clear record that future trespass will be considered criminal. During the same email I pointed out that they continue to claim my structure is too close to the property line however they are measuring from the building to the fence and the fence is on my property (not on the line). As I measure it (based on a total of nine monuments that were located via a professional survey in 2010 for a fence project) I have 37-39 inches of space, however the existing fence was built way out of spec so it's about 20 inches from my building. I fear it's close enough that if they were to somehow establish it as an accessory structure, they could have some "expert" opinion that I'm actually at 35" somewhere and the whole thing needs demolished.
Anyway, about two days after the email to everyone and their dog, my wife witnessed a man in business casual attire over at the corner of our property nearest the street poking around. It is possible he stayed physically standing on the sidewalk. When he left my wife went out there and noticed a single freshly unearthed monument.
Another couple days later I received a letter from the City Attorney. He stated that the city had sent out an official who found a monument and from that monument they now know where the property line is. He stated that unless I provide a survey proving otherwise, they will cite me for being under 36" from the property line. He also stated that "simple observations" proves the structure is attached to my house and that since it is attached I needed a permit. He also confirmed that the change in codes (removal of all membrane structure designations) took place in early 2010. He provided an application and gave me approximately a week to comply. I responded within his time frame with an affidavit swearing that the structure is not attached, the structure violates no codes, and the fence does not run parallel to the property line (the fence runs a V shape, basically 10 degrees out of whack (west half runs 10 degrees southward toward the North center of the property, east half runs 10 degrees northward, and of course my structure sits right at the greatest distance from property to fence). As to the belief that one can draw a line with one point... at the distance from that monument to the front of my structure (approx. 70 feet) a 2.5 degree variance is over 36" meaning that margin of error alone would be the difference between totally legal and encroaching.
Then there was silence (basically June 15th or so on)... Until July 11th when I received a letter from a "Building Official" which stated it had "come to [his] attention that construction took place at [address] that requires a building permit." He provided an application, stated that the structure would have to meet today's codes, and that I had ten business days to comply. He cited 8.115(3), an ordinance giving a "Building Official" the right to issue an Order to Correct if he deems a State code was violated. I again submitted an affidavit within the dead line, swearing that the structure is not attached, violates no codes, and did not require permitting.
On Monday, July 30th the original/same CEO this time accompanied by a City Police Officer came to my door. I answered and the CEO explained that he was there to issue a pair of citations. I told the PO that the CEO was not allowed on the property, that there is written documentation with the County Sheriff and city officials establishing it. She said "It doesn't matter, this is an enforcement issue." After fighting them on that he issued me two citations and handed me a letter, then left.
The letter was from the Building Official, stating that I had failed to comply with his Order to Correct and that pursuant to 8.115(5)[sic] he was imposing an Administrative Penalty of $1000. The only references to codes/ordinances/etc were 8.115(5), ability to skip an order to correct in emergencies and repeat offenders, and 8.115(3), his right to issue an Order to Correct. I believe he meant to cite 8.115(4), his ability to impose an Administrative Penalty for failing to comply. The letter explained that I have a right to appeal and ten calendar days to respond.
I filed an appeal that Friday and in addition emailed the Mayor explaining in short the situation and in detail the trespassing that happened the previous Monday. I mentioned considering legal council for the offense but that I would prefer this whole mess just go away to everyone's mutual benefit, and asked him to intervene before things get even worse. He responded Saturday that he was forwarding it to the City Manager (Pro Tem); The City Manager responded Monday morning saying he would look in to everything and keep me apprised.
Later that Monday (August 6th) the same CEO and PO were at my door again; this time the CEO said he realized the citations he issued a week prior were missing information (date issued) so he was issuing new, replacement ones. I interrupted him and said "No, you both need to leave right now". The PO said "We are enforcing the law, we have every right to be here." I stated that there are Administrative Warrants for such things and that unless they have one they need to leave. She refused and said "You have to follow the law just like everyone else, we aren't leaving." I said "Yes, I do have to follow the law, and so do you, and one of those laws is that you can not stay on this property without a warrant or probable cause." Around that time the CEO held his hand out with the citations and said "I need you to take these from me." I said "I don't understand what you mean by saying it like that, but I think you both need to leave instead." The PO said "Just shove them in his pocket and we're done." I quickly opened my front door and hopped inside (not that I think I would somehow be free of an obligation to respond to the citations but because F*em if they won't follow the law I'm not going to make their lives easy... in my mind I already had the citations, this sounds clerical to me). As I went inside the PO followed me, stopped in the doorway, leaned in to my house (at least her upper half well inside the living room) and placed the citations on my shoe rack, several feet inside. This is the kind of lean where you hang on to the door frame as you go in because without a grip you would fall on your face. This really freaked my wife out and pissed me off. I said to my wife "Do you see that they won't leave, that they just came in our house?" Then they left.
Both of these recent Mondays the visit was about 8:15pm and unannounced.
So now at this point I'm looking at a court date (to plead not guilty and request trial) of 8/23 for two citations, one 2.2.030 (building standards, I'm sure this has to do with the side yard set back), and 4.2.030 (First time I heard about this one, it's some right to review new constructions that require permitting). I'm also looking at an appeal hearing somewhere between 10 and 25 days from now.
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