As a sports reporter for , Jim Hayes travels quite a bit covering the ºüÀêÊÓƵ Cardinals and Blues when they are out of town.
So it took him awhile last summer to recognize the scope of his neighbors’ building project. Before he knew it, the massive addition was just a few feet from his home, literally casting a shadow over his property.
“All of a sudden, this thing went up, and up, and up,†Hayes says.
Today, as it has been for several months, much of the unfinished addition to 2100 Bopp Street in Crystal Lake Park is wrapped in plastic sheeting, stuck in legal limbo.
In September 2016, the building inspector for the city of Frontenac, which contracts with the city of Crystal Lake Park, issued a stop order for the construction, which consists of a four-car garage, family room and master suite. The inspector found that the construction went beyond the footprint allowed in the variance granted by the city.
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Crystal Lake Park is a small municipality of less than 500 residents north of Des Peres and east of Town and Country. Like most of the smaller cities of the 89 in ºüÀêÊÓƵ County, it contracts out for many municipal services.
The problem is bigger than a couple of feet, Hayes says.
In March, he and his wife, Erin, sued both the city of Crystal Lake Park and their neighbors — Robert and Carol Ann Giovando — alleging that the variance that allowed the house addition never should have been granted. The lawsuit describes a series of decisions by Crystal Lake Park officials that, if true, indicate multiple violations of city regulations.
According to the Hayeses’ lawsuit:
• They “never received due notice†of the variance hearing. Nor did “several other residents of the City who lived within 185 feet of the property.â€
• The city planner (Ada Hood) and city attorney (Paul Martin) “constantly steered the Board (of Adjustment) away from its legal responsibilities by their comments at the hearing. … the professional advice from the City Attorney and City Planning Consultant/City Planner constituted a pre-calculated and successful effort to lead the unwitting Board to vote unanimously, without meeting its jurisdictional responsibilities, to grant the variance.â€
• The variance violated several city ordinances, including that the Giovandos show a “hardship†in order to be able to build beyond the city’s set-back requirements and that there was never a finding that the project would not “impair an adequate supply of light†to a neighboring property. In fact, the lawsuit alleges, “the resultant construction on the subject property has created a dramatic impairment of light onto the Hayes’ property by shadowing from the addition.â€
• The city determined that the Giovandos have “three front yards†in order to get around larger backyard set back requirements.
Complicating the issue is this: In April 2016, after the Giovandos were granted a variance, but before construction began, Carol Ann Giovando won a write-in election to the Board of Aldermen. The Hayeses’ lawsuit alleges that she had “ex parte†communication with at least one member of the board prior to the variance being granted.
The Giovandos declined to comment. In legal filings, both the Giovandos and the city deny the allegations and are seeking dismissal of the lawsuit. In its response to the lawsuit, the city does admit that the reason for the stop order, that the construction “was not in the permitted location,†is accurate. But attorney Kevin O’Keefe, who is representing Crystal Lake Park, says the city “is confident that all interested parties, including Mr. & Mrs. Hayes, were made aware of the Giovando’s application and the variance proceedings in ample time to have their opinions heard. The city is also confident that everything the law requires with respect to the variance process was satisfied.â€
For now, as has been the situation for several months, the dispute is stuck in a legal standoff. The half-built and unused house addition dwarfs the Hayeses’ back patio. A legal determination of what to do next awaits.
Hayes says he just wants the addition to meet city requirements, even if it has to be taken down and started over; and he wants his attorney’s fees paid for. “The city, to this day, has not admitted any wrongdoing,†Hayes says. “This is incompetence, but it seems like there’s something more.â€