issue of concern to the council is the fence and not the garden. I looks
like Melvin is hoping to see if there is someway to modify the fence that
might make all happy or less upset.
One interesting issue that came up is that the appellant filed the appeal
to late. That may make the appeal mute, but what is interesting about it
and what has always been a problem in neighborhoods in Saint Paul is that
when the City issues a building permit if it is to be appealed, it must be
appealed within ten days. The problem is that if it is the staff that
determined that there was nothing wrong with the person getting the permit
nobody
on the planet at all is informed that the permit was issued.
So, house of hope was issued a permit to build the fence. They did
nothing for ten days (because they aren't safe for ten days) then they build
the
fence, the first time anyone who lives in the area has any idea that they
have been given a permit to build a fence is when they see it going up. So,
they go to the city and file an appeal and now they may have no chance
because they filed to late....
I don't have an opinion one way or another on the fence, but I know that as
a community organizer it is extremely frustrating that if the City staff
has determined that something is "normal" that they can issue permits that
nobody has the chance to appeal, unless the person who gets the permit is
not smart enough to wait ten days.
Chuck Repke