You can’t fight City Hall, Paul Minze discovered last week. Circuit Judge Scott Jackson ordered Minze to comply with the directive of the Historic District Commission regarding a window he had moved.
Minze bought a house at 35 Mountain St. in 2014. His carpenter appeared before the HDC in January 2015 asking permission for several exterior changes. The video and minutes from that meeting left some question about which windows Minze could move, but he appeared before the HDC again in July of that year. Commissioners told him not to move a window facing Mountain St. After Minze had workers move the window, the city placed a Stop Work order on the property.
The city subsequently allowed Minze to proceed with some interior work, and a court hearing on June 12 gave him approval to proceed with work on his roof and porch. In a special session on Sep. 5, Jackson heard arguments about the window.
Right from the start, City Attorney Tim Weaver renewed his contention that Minze has violated city laws, and did not follow proper procedures for appealing. At the June 12 hearing, Minze testified that he came to court for permission to work on his roof to protect the rest of the house. Minze said he did not believe the city would allow him to proceed, so he sought relief in court. Weaver said allowing Minze to come to court at that time constituted an appeal of a decision that the city had not made.
In June, Jackson ordered the city to allow the roof work, postponing a decision on the particulars of the Stop Work order.
Last week, Weaver argued that Minze had to comply with the HDC’s regulations, like other residents. “This is the issue, not the window,” he said. He further explained that allowing Minze to flout regulations would mean the city could never get compliance with a Stop Work order.
Minze’s carpenter, Chris Bradley, testified to his appearance before the HDC in January 2015. At that time, the HDC refused permission to eliminate a door facing Mountain St., but allowed some requested changes to the alignment of windows. Bradley said those changes included moving one window facing Mountain St. to align it with two other windows. “I thought we had approval for the window,” he said.
Minze’s attorney, Tim Parker, led Bradley through a description of the framing around the window, which he said indicated the window had already been moved from its original location. In reply, Weaver pointed out that those framing changes could have been made during the original construction.
Minze followed on the witness stand, and said he proceeded on the basis of the HDC’s original ruling, which he thought gave him approval. Weaver pointed out that he did not have the window moved until after the July meeting, in which the HDC explicitly refused permission.
Weaver then called Glenna Booth to the stand. She serves as staff to the HDC, and recounted the history of Minze’s application. Parker showed her an older drawing of the house, showing the three windows in line. The judge pointed out that other parts of the drawing did not conform to reality, and Weaver objected, calling the speculation “beyond the scope of this proceeding.”
Several HDC commissioners took the stand, each stating they did not approve moving the window facing Mountain St. Doug Breitling described the site visit, which preceded the January 2015 meeting, and said they had discussed other windows. Parker showed him the Certificate of Appropriateness issued after that meeting, and pointed to the section relating to keeping the same configuration on the windows facing Mountain St. Breitling agreed that the handwriting looked different from the rest of the notation.
Steve Holifield followed, and said he would not have voted to move the window because of the HDC’s guidelines. He also described Minze’s reaction in July, when the commission refused his request to move the window. “He wasn’t very happy,” he said. “That’s why I remember the meeting.”
Former commissioner Melissa Greene said, “I was empowered to protect the integrity of the HDC, and I take that very seriously.” She pointed to her statement in the January 2015 minutes, calling for keeping the same configuration on the windows.
Building Inspector Bobby Ray said when he contacted Minze after the window was moved, he was referred to Parker. Ray said he tried to “get this worked out” without issuing a Stop Work order, but could not get any cooperation. “The work was done without HDC approval, and without a permit,” he said. Ray reported a Stop Work order to Booth and the police department, and informed workers on the site when he posted the order.
In response to questions about the history of the window, Ray said, “The only thing I can go by is what was there before.” He added his own historical perspective, saying, “I was born and raised here, and that’s the only way I’ve seen those windows.”
In his closing arguments, Parker said the city had no way of knowing the original location of the window, and asked the court to let it stay where Minze had moved it.
Weaver said the city has a duty to the other residents of the HDC. He said Minze had not appealed the city’s decision, but tried instead to circumvent it.
In making his ruling, Jackson recapped the latitude he had given Minze during the proceedings, allowing him to proceed with work on his roof and porch. With regards to the window in question, however, Jackson backed up the city. “The only finding this court can make is to move the window back,” he said. “You were told ‘no’ and you moved it anyway.”
During his ruling, Jackson specifically commented on Parker’s suggestion that the original certificate of appropriateness had been altered. Minze had testified that he kept his copy of that certificate, but did not produce it to contradict the city’s copy.
Speaking to the Independent after the ruling, Parker shared his frustration. “When you come to court, it’s like the movie ‘Forrest Gump,’” he said. “You never know what you’re going to get.” He and his client will “weigh our options,” he said. One of those options includes the possibility of pursuing a jury trial regarding monetary damages.