Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Condo's new parking lot becomes costly mistake

The Kenneth City complex will redo the lot because it left out handicapped spaces and didn't have a permit.

By ANNE LINDBERG
Published October 1, 2006

KENNETH CITY - The parking lot at Clearview Oaks looks brand new, after getting resurfaced and striped.

The trouble is the work will need to be redone. The condominium and apartment complex's operators never applied for a permit to do the work, and they forgot to include handicapped parking.

It will be a costly mistake, said Brian Rounds, the town's building inspector. Not only is there the loss of the $140,000 it cost Clearview Oaks Management Co. to resurface the parking lot, the company also will have to pay to have it redone and a "two-times" permit fee, meaning the company will have to pay twice the cost of a permit as a penalty for failing to get one before the work was done, Rounds said.

Sidney Colen, head of Clearview Oaks Management, could not be reached for comment and did not return a phone message.

It was unclear when the lot will be fixed, Rounds said. The company has to present Kenneth City with plans to approve before the permit can be issued.

Even though it has been two weeks since Rounds spoke with Clearview Oaks Management, he said, "they aren't tardy with it, and I don't think they're putting it off."

Rounds spotted the problem a couple of weeks ago when he saw the newly refurbished parking lot at the complex, 5700 40th Ave. N. Rounds, who is also in charge of building permits for Kenneth City, said he did not remember issuing one for Clearview Oaks.

Then he saw the lack of handicapped parking, which not only is required by law but also is especially necessary at Clearview Oaks, which caters to seniors.

Rounds said he contacted a representative of the management company, who said, "The Colens have this listed as private property."

Rounds replied, "Ah, that's not going to fly."

The rules, he said, apply even on private property.

[Last modified September 30, 2006, 22:34:28]