Until last February, I had no idea what 'zoning' meant.  It all started earlier this year when my neighbor's vacant house had a sign in his yard that said "This property is under consideration for a zoning variance.  Please contact the city."

Unknown what this was, I contacted the city.  They proceeded to tell me that the owner wishes to doze the house, and have a developer build a house on the lot that is not only a monster, but will proceed to block what little view I have in addition to be a horrid nuisance.  The variance was 1' on each side setback (which is a 20% 'give' on the zoning code).  I'm furious.  My entire view will be a vinyl wall 28' in the air.  My house is a modest 1400 sq ft. pre WWII cape cod.  To add insult to injury, the neighbor won't live there...just reap the profits from the sale of his vacant house.

I put my auditor skills to work and present data to the zoning board.  Owner never shows to the meting.  I have several neighbors come with me.  Vote was 0 for 7 against (in my favor).  Said neighbor's developer pulls out.  Neighbor hates me and will not talk to me anymore.  Won the battle, now time to win the war.

That was February.  Since then, been pushing the Zoning board that it's time to change the code in my residential zone to stop vinyl monstrosities from overshadowing WWII +/- 10 year homes.  Yep it increases you property value up front, but long term, you are nothing but a teardown.  All for development...but let's not build a skyscraper next to me, OK?

Zoning ordinance change begins to develop.  People see my name on the meeting minutes, and start to take interest.  Naturally, heated debates start.  All the while, I stand my ground, but nicely.  Related, but unrelated to my issue, referendums are put on the ballot this November saying that ALL ZONING (even 1 word change to the code) needs to be agreed upon by the public each November.  This obviously is bad policy since everything has to go to the voters once a year, and has unintended consequences...such as stagnant development and little change.  More heated debates happen.

Still stand my ground.  City Council knows me now by name.  I say please, thank you, and am respectful.  Opposition people are not very nice, and get little attention by city leadership. 

We'll see what happens with my proposed zoning change and the issues on the ballot.  I think there is a light shimmering at the end of this long political tunnel that I have been fighting.

Wish me luck...

Fight the power man!

Seriously good luck and all the best to ya

Oh wow, that's fantastic man! Keep up the fight!

Sticken it to the man and a good cause.
Well done

Nice one. Have a cyber beer 

Winning a fight for all the right reasons is the sweetest of all victories. Keep on keepin' on!

I agree in principle ... and on content too with you jester ... like you cane change set backs or zoning BS ... however I dont like WW2 era BS, not only do I not like the plans and in some cases even the materials - like hardwood floors, my feet hurt on those, need carpet. They also have crap like - leaded paint and asbestos in the walls.
Cool.
Buddha.

My neighbor had a weird issue like this. On my block, we live across from a park, you are allowed to park on the opposite side of the street but not on the residential side. This changes a block down when both sides are residential and I guess you are allowed to park on both sides. The issue is that in our neighborhood our mailboxes are on the curb and there is a law or USPS regulation that unless the USPS mail truck can access you curbside mailbox they will not deliver your mail. Anyways most neighbors park in their driveway since most of the house have a 2 car garage but this one neighbor would park in front of the other's mailbox out off spite so that he would not get his mail. This went on for about 3 months where the cops would show up but could not do anything since by law he is allow to park there. Anyways that one neighbor hired a lawyer to try and change the zoning law but by then the other one had moved out.

It's a weird issue. Three blocks in out neighborhood have curbside mailboxes while the rest have mailboxes on the house.

the fun of municipal govt Eh? ohh theyre fun to fight. but when ground is stood and done so respectfully alot more is accomplished. but in reference to the OP. would it have accomplished more had the are been zoned historical? or something like it such as, If you wish to build here, you must do so with a home that looks similar to others in the area.

Update 10/23/12

Still have to wait until 11/06 to hear about Issue 14 (Ballot thing in OP) 

Had a city council meeting tonight.  Had my PowerPoint slide deck all set.  The assistant to the city manager didn't have the presentation on the computer,  but my laptop was with me so that saved the day.  Showed a ton of pictures from the back.  Most new houses look nice from the front, but are a vinyl wall along the side and in the back.  Presented, and I got more "You have my attention now...I want to help you" conversations after the meeting in the parking lot from city officials than ever before.   

The legislation was sent back to the zoning board for additional clarification and specifics to be added.  It's written vaguely with the potential for unintended consequences (more negative than positive) if passed with the wording as-is.

This is utterly exhausting....

Quote from: jestercinti on October 08, 2012, 08:05:30 PM
Related, but unrelated to my issue, referendums are put on the ballot this November saying that ALL ZONING (even 1 word change to the code) needs to be agreed upon by the public each November.  This obviously is bad policy since everything has to go to the voters once a year, and has unintended consequences...such as stagnant development and little change. 

Madeira, Ohio voters have spoken. 

MADEIRA CHARTER AMENDMENT:

No - 72%
Yes - 28%

Crisis Averted.  Process remains unchanged.  Back to the Zoning board negotiations...

Spent 3 hours last night at the zoning meeting only to have my issue tabled. At one point, the chairperson said something like "I don't know what to do with this..."

What a complete waste of time. After I walked out, I met the builder. In going to call him, he and I can work out something, and then present to the city since they obviously have all the ideas and motivation.

After months of back and forth, agonizing negotiations, racism connotations by the builder, posdible intentional delays by the city...the ordinance has settled to 28% (down from 35%).

Still not finalized, but I'm done. The system has broken my patience and tolerance threshold. Months of this BS and while stable, still has a ways to go.

Stepping away from this. The home across the street was foreclosed and bought by the builder. I only hope that they build to the new proposed standards.

Gave it my all, but in the end it got to me too much and it's not worth fighting any longer.

Update.  Home across street dozed.  Will be built to 25%, which is 10% lower than current zone ordinance, and 3% lower than proposed.  So, a win there.

City council meeting tonight.  Proposed ordinance has Third Reading tonight and may be voted on.  Will attend out of sheer curiosity.  This changes the lot coverage from 35 to 28%, eliminates an entire zone, and also limits an accessory structure size on a lot for my residential zone to 140 sq ft.

God, I hope this ends soon...More has happened since I stopped paying attention to this.  Maybe subconscious more than anything else.  We'll see.

Keep up the fight mang, I had forgotten about this one.. At this point is seems like any little steps in the right direction are big wins. I'll be watching for the next round of updates!

City of Madeira Ohio Ordinance 13-10:  Approving text amendments for Residence 'B' to reduce the Maximum Lot Coverage from 35% to 28% and to reduce the accessory building structure size.

For: 7
Against: 0

Becomes law in 45 days...In OH, people have 30 days to get signatures for a referendum on the ballot in November if enough residents disagree with the legislation (We live in a democracy...).  Doubtful that will happen in this case.

This whole thing started when my neighbor tried to shimmy in a very large house on a postage stamp lot.

I said. "You cannot do this!" and began to fight.  That BATTLE was won, now time to change the law to win the WAR.

Nearly 13 months later, both the battle and the war were won.  V-I-C-T-O-R-Y        

EDIT:  For those municipal code peeps, here's the new verbiage.  The changes in red and strike-through will be incorporated into the ordinance after 45 or so days:  http://www.madeiracity.com/documents/19/21/634/13-10%20Approving%20Zoning%20Text%20Amendments%20for%20Residence%20B_201303081546339208.pdf

HAHAHAHA i know they got rid of that one house, (the huge a$$ grey siding house is that gone too?

I wish!  It's still there.

If I had Adidasguy money, I'd buy that ugly ass vinyl house, doze it, and turn it into a park.

hehe. if you can sometime, can you get me a full front shot of the monsterhouse?, i need a challenge with photochop. 

Awesome news, Well done