Couple told to raze Chevy Chase home

The Washington Times ^ | 3-17-06 | Tarron Lively

[pointsal]

Hmmm....

what did the seller's REALTOR know?

[Ouderkirk]

Get the local high school hooligans to have a party there and set the place ablaze and your problems are solved

[linda_22003]

Here in the DC area, there is a lot of bad feeling (especially in older, close-in suburbs like Arlington, Bethesda, and Chevy Chase) about people tearing down older houses and building monster houses that do not really fit in, and dwarf and impinge on their neighbors. I'm sure that feeling is helping to fuel this problem.

However, in this case, it sounds like the owners did everything they could to work within the system, and the county screwed up. If they do have to tear down, I think the county should have liability for the permits it approved.

[drlevy88]

The couple received the renovation permits to put a two-story addition at the rear of the home. But problems quickly arose when crews found mold, wood rot and termite damage, making additional construction necessary. The damage was so extensive that more than 50 percent of the existing walls were removed, which meant the building should have been classified as a new home and subject to different zoning regulations.

I guess what they needed was the bureaucratic equivalent of shoot, shovel, and shut up.

I.e. fix half the bad walls, wait a year or whatever, fix the other bad walls. THEN do the addition.

[FReepaholic]

...William Hamilton, an editor at the Washington Post, and his wife, Jane Mayer, a staff writer for the New Yorker. ... ABC News reporter Jackie Judd; and prominent lawyer Michael Eig and his wife, Emily, are among those who have complained about the Duffys' home. ...

Ah, don't you just love the Liberal Elite.

[paul51]

It really does look too close to the street.

It's typical of the neighborhood less 7 feet. From the size of the front yard, it doesn't appear the 7 feet is that significant.

[JackDanielsOldNo7]

Neighbors from hell. They would put these people into bankruptcy over a couple of freaking feet?

What kind of people are they?

Liberals?

[Captain Rhino]

Reduce the width of the main house by seven feet, rejoin the addition to it, and move it and the addition forward by two feet (or some variation of these steps).

No more variance required. Problem solved.

Yeah, its a lot easier to write than to do. But they've already spent $50,000.00 enriching lawyers that could have gone into the expense of repositioning the structure.

[Ouderkirk]

Neighbors from hell. They would put these people into bankruptcy over a couple of freaking feet? What kind of people are they?

They're editors from the Washington Post...liberals all....says it all.

[D-Chivas]

The couple received the renovation permits to put a two-story addition at the rear of the home. But problems quickly arose when crews found mold, wood rot and termite damage, making additional construction necessary.

The damage was so extensive that more than 50 percent of the existing walls were removed, which meant the building should have been classified as a new home and subject to different zoning regulations.

Regardless of the complaining neighbors, what kind of person buying a $725,000 house wouldn't have it thoroughly inspected for mold, rot, and termites??????

[Savage Beast]

Nice neighbors.

Is Chevy Chase a Leftist infestation?

[plain talk]

This a perfect illustration of rules-based lawyerly thinking run amuck without a lick of common sense. And probably most, if not all, of the people involved in this mess are voters. Scary.

[rightinthemiddle]

Darn...I was hoping someone was going to raze that lefty Chevy Chase's home.

[sure_fine]

I assume the Duffys have a Bush/Cheney bumper sticker

[P-Marlowe]

Mr. Hamilton and Mrs. Mayer; ABC News reporter Jackie Judd; and prominent lawyer Michael Eig and his wife, Emily, are among those who have complained about the Duffys' home.

One of the complaining neighbors:

Michael J. Eig
michael.eig@lawforchildren.com

Michael J. Eig, the founder and owner of the firm, has been practicing special education law and advocacy in the metropolitan D.C. area since 1975. His educational background includes degrees in cultural anthropology and education from Brandeis University (1970), a Masters in Education and Social Policy from Harvard University (1972), and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center (1975).

Apparently he doesn't care too much for his neighbor's children. He would prefer to see them on the street.

[Spunky]

From Article:Mr. Hamilton and Mrs. Mayer; ABC News reporter Jackie Judd; and prominent lawyer Michael Eig and his wife, Emily, are among those who have complained about the Duffys' home.

I always thought she looked like she had a stick up her b*tt.

[Centurion2000]

What kind of people are they?

California NIMBY liberal scumbags.

[pgkdan]

What kind of people are they?

A Washington Post editor, a New Yorker staff writer and an ABC News reporter, MSM Journalists...you know, compassionate, wonderful champions of the little guy.

[plangent]

UPPITY is right.

This is the same Jane Mayer, who with the screech-voiced Jill Abramson, did a hatchet job on Justice Clarence Thomas a few years ago: "The Selling of Clarence Thomas".

The entire neighborhood should be condemned just because of the Jane Mayer pollution.

[George from New England]

OUT OF CONTROL bureaucracy.