Reply to Massive home addition causes confusion in Fairfax County neighborhood

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Like many things in life, it looks like the winners here will ultimately be the lawyers, as this has the potential to be tied up in the courts for a while.

If anyone needs an attorney in this matter, it is the next-door neighbor. Should the BZA somehow rule in favor of the owners of the addition, the next-door neighbor, as an aggrieved party, has 30 days to file an appeal to the Circuit Court per Virginia Code 15.2-2314. In a TV inteview, the next-door neighbor lamented that that there was nothing she could do to stop the project, however as a result of the permittee violating setbacks and it moving to the appeals process, she now has some cards to potentially play.

The owner of the addition would also be within their rights to file an appeal if the ruling is unfavorable to him.

Once an appeal can make it to the the courts, the BZA no longer has any say. BZA approvals absolutely can be overturned in the courts. Cochran v. Fairfax County Board of Zoning Appeals found that zoning variance can only be granted by authorities is if that zoning bylaw makes all reasonable beneficial use lost on that property. I am not a judge, but I would find it difficult to successfully argue that a denial of the variance renders ALL beneficial use lost on the property.

Should the next-door neighbor, or some other aggrieved party with standing choose to appeal and litigate, it may be some time before any progress is made, be it construction in its current form, alteration, or demolition. It is certainly not good for the owners however to have the addition remain in limbo for long as unfinished construction can deteriorate quickly. The next-door neighbor will be stuck in the meantime with an unfinished white-elephant next to her. This situation underscores why it is critical to do all of the proper planning and monitoring to mitigate this sort of thing happening after construction has started.[/quote]

That would seem to argue for allowing the construction to finish. Otherwise Courtney may very well find herself with a neighboring home that isn't just a tall eyesore, but rather a dilapidated, tall eyesore. I doubt there's much of a path to demolition at this point. The owners would drag it out until the county comes in to do it.[/quote]

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