HomeMy WebLinkAboutAO-22-03 - Supplemental - 0029 0031 0039 0041 Elm Street (6)
Appellant Statement in Appeal #AO-22-03
By Rosanne Greco (designated representative)
20 September 2022
I am Rosanne Greco, a neighbor of Bruce Leavitt, and his designated representative. I
met with Bruce before he left for Rwanda and am familiar with the issue. I trust you all
read Bruce’s written statement. In the interest of time, I’d like to read you a three-minute
clarifying statement. It does not contain any new information.
The intent of regulating the heights of houses in a neighborhood is mostly about how
the house looks in its setting. This house clearly looks much taller than the nearby
houses. Lots of my friends and neighbors commented on how massive and out of
character it looked.
The LDRs give a relatively straight-forward way to measure the height of a house with
this type of roof design: take the height of TWO points on the building (the peak and an
eave), add those two numbers together, and divide by 2. If you do that for these two
houses, both exceed the LDR height limit of 28 feet.
In contrast, the calculations shown on the permits take the height of THREE points on
the house (the peak and two eaves). The developer added two of these points (the two
eaves) and divided by 2. He then took that average and added it to another point on the
house (the peak) and divided that number by 2. This resulted in an average of an
average. Calculated that way, the height is less than 28 feet.
Logically, the LDRs intended that the uppermost eave on a house is the one to be used
to determine the overall height. But, the developer used two eaves, one of which was
over the first floor. It makes no sense to determine the height of a two-story house by
using an eave over the first floor.
The developer devised a new way to assess house height, which resulted in his houses
meeting the height limit. Rather than using two points on the house, he used three
points, and took an average of an average.
This is NOT what the LDRs say to do. We think the city administrative officer erred in
approving these two permits. I request, if possible, that this matter be continued until Mr
Leavitt can attend it. Thank you.