by Becky Gillette
Paul Minze, who owns property at 35 Mountain St., has filed a lawsuit against the Eureka Springs Historic District Commission (HDC) challenging what he says are conflicting Certificates of Approval for the same work at the property. Minze said he was caught in the Catch 22 where he couldn’t do the work approved by one COA without violating a second COA issued six months later.
The city issued a stop work order on the home Minze has been renovating over the length of one window facing Mountain Street. The lawsuit filed by attorney Tim Parker in Carroll County Circuit Court asks for a declaratory judgment, an injunction, or other legal and equitable relief. It also requests “court costs, attorney’s fees and all other just and proper relief.”
The complaint states that in January 2015, Minze received permission to perform certain repairs at 35 Mountain, with the stipulations that he could not remove the front door, as he had requested, and must use wood on the front porch replacements. All requested modifications to windows and upper decks were approved by HDC, the lawsuit states.
A COA posted on the door of the home dated in January states that work allowed includes repair/replacement of windows.
“After the work was completed on the home at 35 Mountain St., the City placed a stop work order and tagged his house indicating he was in violation of HDC regulations,” the lawsuit states. “In all respects, Mr. Minze has complied with the requirements set out in the January 2015 HDC meeting and has completed the work as specified and agreed upon by the parties.”
The lawsuit represents only Minze’s side of the argument. Mayor Butch Berry said he could not comment on pending litigation.
After work was done on the windows, Minze was contacted by city Building Inspector Bobby Ray who said there was a problem because a window on Mountain St. was four inches shorter than it was supposed to be.
“I told Mr. Ray I had a permit to do those windows exactly as I did them, and have a transcript from the Jan. 21 meeting and a copy of the permit to prove it,” Minze said. “Then they came back and dragged me back in front of the commission in July and disavowed any knowledge of the January meeting. At the July meeting, they gave me a permit in the opposite direction. You can’t do two different things on one window. You can do one or the other. I chose to do the first permit. If I did the second, they might have tagged me for the first permit.”
Minze said that while the dispute continues to linger, the house deteriorates and he is unable to replace the roof and do inside repairs.
“I should be allowed to continue to work inside the property,” Minze said. “It is very frustrating and it should have never happened. When they tag their own permit, it should be a criminal activity. I am requesting an investigation from the Attorney General’s office. Trust me, I’m not stopping at a lawsuit. I want a complete investigation not only of their activities, but of their charter from day one. I’m not going to back off of it. They gave me a permit, didn’t rescind it, and then ran another over on top of me.”
At the July meeting, Minze said he felt the windows – added on at various times through the decades – should be uniform. He said he didn’t want to spend a lot of money renovating the house and still have a house that was ugly. At that point, he said one commissioner told him that history isn’t always pretty.
Minze said it isn’t just about his property, but inconsistent and irrational decisions by the HDC that harm economic development. He said he plans to spend about $200,000 on the project, which has now been stalled for half a year.
One of the contractors who worked on the house for Minze was Chris Bradley, who has been a contractor in town since before the historic district was created. Bradley said members of the commission change frequently and so do the rules.
“I support historic preservation, but the rulings of the HDC are completely inconsistent,” Bradley said. “It seems things are legal on Monday and illegal on Tuesday afternoon. It is hard to know what to do. They will let someone do something at the top of the street and then later won’t let someone at the bottom of the street do the same thing.”
Bradley said he thinks Minze should be given credit for trying to restore a deteriorated building.
“I have worked on a lot of old houses in this town, and that house is in as bad a shape as any house in town,” Bradley said. “It is absolutely a nightmare. Everything is wrong with the house. He was rebuilding the way it should be done replacing interior supports, and not just doing cosmetic fixes. In most towns you could have had it condemned it was in such bad shape. The city ought to be thanking him for cleaning up this slum.”
If someone doesn’t like a decision of the Eureka Springs Planning Commission, they can appeal to the Eureka Springs City Council. But appealing a HDC denial of a COA requires filing a lawsuit in the Circuit Court of Carroll County.