Indebted developer Sean Dunne and his wife Gayle have been captured on camera leaving the site of a US property at the centre of a bitter planning dispute. Work has resumed in recent weeks on the $2m Victorian-era house on Bush Avenue in the plush enclave of Belle Haven in Greenwich, Connecticut. Local zoning officials infuriated local residents by lifting a stop-work order on March 29th, allowing building work to proceed under the original permit for the site. Neighbors have now lodged an appeal against that decision. It will be heard on April 29th.
The local newspaper for the area, Greenwich Time, has posted a video on its website at the weekend, showing the couple leaving the construction site on Bush Avenue last Friday. “You’re trespassing,” Sean Dunne says to the reporter, as he walks from the site with his wife Gayle. The reporter replies that he had been given permission by a neighbor to view the project from their property. The Dunnes then drive off together in a silver Lexus SUV parked nearby, as a construction worker appeals with the reporter not to film his image.
A lawyer representing local residents, Jim Fulton, told the newspaper that the town had “turned a deaf ear” to their concerns. The paper reports the property’s owner struck a deal with zoning officials indemnifying them from potential lawsuits in return for the required permits. “I don’t think that’s right,” said Mr Fulton, “I don’t think it’s appropriate to ask for such indemnifications in return for issuing zoning approvals or lifting stop-work orders.”
The second and third floors of the structure have been built in the past few weeks, and neighbors are furious that work was being allowed while their appeal was still pending. But David Studley, zoning enforcement officer with Greenwich Town Council told me that he was allowing work because he feared the building could be in peril if he didn’t.
“They are not in violation of zoning,” he said, “Just because some people are unhappy with what’s going on there doesn’t mean that it’s in violation. If I put a stay on the work, in my opinion, the building is in such a condition that it would damage the property.”
Local residents are unhappy about the size of the house being built on the half-acre site, and recently they presented the trustee and architect for the site with an outline of the parameters of what would be an acceptable compromise to them.
It’s not known if the Dunnes still plan to live at the property, which is listed as Gayle Dunne’s residence on two company files lodged with the Connecticut State Department. The ownership of the house is hidden behind a trust operated by respected Greenwich lawyer Thomas J Heagney, whose name appears on the deeds.
[View the full video of them leaving the site: http://www.greenwichtime.com/local/article/Town-gives-green-light-to-Irish-emigre-s-home-1329482.php]
No comments:
Post a Comment