The ZPA and the BSC approved making a recommendation to council to prohibit basements during a meeting on Thursday.
After nearly two years of discussing whether or not to allow basements to be built in West U, the Zoning and Planning Commission and the Building and Standards Commission Thursday reached a decision to prohibit basements altogether.
In November of 2008, city council asked the ZPC and the BSC for a recommendation on whether to permit basements with strict regulations or to prohibit them entirely.
The ZPC made a recommendation to city council during a special session in July to not allow basements and subterranean structures to be built in West U. Council did not take any action on the recommendation, but asked about regulations that would allow wine cellars to be built.
For the past several months the two commissions have been going back and forth on whether to prohibit basements from being built or to have strict regulations that would allow for a mechanical use or a wine cellar.
The two commissions reached their decision Thursday night after nearly two years of discussing the matter.
The ZPA approved five-to-one to prohibit basements from being built in West U. Board member Bruce Frankel was opposed.
The BSC approved four-to-one to prohibit basements. Board member Laurinda Lankford was opposed.
ZPA board member Bob Higley said he didn’t know why the commissions were even entertaining city council’s suggestion of regulating basements.
“Why should we counsel with them on something that’s absolutely absurd?” Higley said. “It’s absurd.
Frankel responded saying, “There are some on this committee who think that residents have rights.”
Several ideas were proposed to regulate basements including using the space for anything other than an inhabitable space, restricting basements for mechanical use only and allowing wine cellars.
“If you add wine cellar, which I don’t think is an unreasonable request … then you have to account for other things,” Frankel said.
ZPA board member DeDe DeStefano said that if you start defining use then you can’t monitor it.
“We need to be really careful about something that can be misused,” said ZPA Chair Steve Brown, adding that he tends to side with Higley on this matter.
“You can put lipstick on the pig but you really can’t take her to a dance,” Higley said. “This is a pig.”
BSC board member David Flame said he’s been on the record saying they shouldn’t allow basements.
“I think it’s become the point of personal and property rights,” Flame said.
Lankford said residents should be able to decide if they want to build a basement.
“I think it’s the home owners right to do what they want with their property,” she said. “I think they should have the opportunity.”
After nearly an hour of discussing whether or not to restrict basements, Higley made the motion to prohibit basements from being built in West U.
Staff will finalize the recommendation to prohibit basements and then it will be given to council to consider.
Council may decide to approve the recommendation at a future meeting.
January 16, 2011 at 8:59 pm
“There are some on this committee who think that residents have rights.”
“Some” is the key word. It should tell you all you need to know about this issue.