Planning commission discusses building permits

An application for a setback variance at the October 10 meeting of the Saratoga Planning Commission led to discussion over the Town of Saratoga’s procedures for building permits, meanwhile a residential project is on hold.

Megan Werth and her contractor, Jack Leiseth of Osprey Construction, appeared before the planning commission to discuss their variance application. Werth, who has employed Leiseth for an addition on her 1702 South Veterans property, told the board they were two months into construction before they were notified of a discrepancy with their building permit by Director of Public Works Emery Penner.

“We kind of have a sticky situation where we have an approved permit from Emery here and we’ve already started construction,” said Werth. “It’s been two months of construction, so we don’t really have to plan anything. It’s really kind of an extenuating circumstance.”

The extenuating circumstance came down to measurements taken by Leiseth and where they were taken from. The property in question, located in the residential zone of RD 7200, is a corner lot which per municipal code must have a setback of 15 feet. The setbacks, per code, are to be measured from the property line. According to Leiseth, he took the initial measurements from the edge of the street. This mismeasurement meant that one of the setbacks was now less than four feet from the property line.

“Now I understand that was my mistake, but it was clearly labeled ‘curb’ on the drawing. I guess that was missed by Emery when he signed the permits, but that’s where the discrepancy is,” said Leiseth. “I measured from the curb and I guess it should have been measured from the property line. I made that mistake, but that was how it was labeled on the permit when I filled it out. It wasn’t like I was trying to hide anything or pull the wool over anybody’s eyes.”

While the error in measurements was explained, there was still question in how construction had continued for two months before the issue was found. According to Penner, the property was turned in by Town staff.

“The reason it got brought up is because we wanted to make sure that we were doing everything like we were supposed to be doing,” said Penner.

“To be clear, our measurements are still exactly what is on that sheet,” said Werth. “Nothing has been changed, we haven’t tried to build it bigger than what was originally approved.”

John “Johnny” Portillo, a member of the planning commission, asked who was responsible for the issue Werth was now facing. Werth said she believed it fell on the Town of Saratoga for approving the building permit and not requesting additional details or pointing out the error in measurements.

“Going forward, can we ensure that this doesn’t happen again?” asked Portillo “That they get a copy of the setbacks and the ordinances with the application for their job so that it’s all together and clear going forward?”

Both Penner and Mayor Chuck Davis said the process was being evaluated following the situation with the Werth property. Despite having begun construction on an approved building permit, Werth was informed she would still need to go through the variance process and that construction must cease until the variance was approved.

“There is nothing we can do to expedite the variance process,” said Kylie Waldrip, legal counsel for the Town of Saratoga. “That is set out in ordinance, it is what it is.”

According to municipal code, a notice for a public hearing on a variance application must be published at least 15 days prior to the hearing. Penner said, while the planning commission wouldn’t meet until November 14, it could hold a special meeting for the express purpose of holding a public hearing on the variance application.

The next meeting of the Saratoga Planning Commission will be at 5:30 p.m. on November 14 at Saratoga Town Hall.