Stephenville -
The repeal of a previous motion of the Stephenville town council to deny a permit to Tony Smith at 71 Hillview Ave. now paves the way for him to build a house at the location.
When council last discussed the request at a meeting on Nov. 12, the request was denied due to a recommendation of the planning and traffic committee because the development did not conform with the esthetics of the area.
Coun. Cec Stein had said at the time it was a stretch to turn the application down based on esthetics when looking at some of the other properties in the town that are dilapidated.
Mayor Tom O'Brien had said at that meeting that sometimes rear-yard development creates a problem for servicing and history has shown when people run into problems, they make it a town problem.
At the recent council meeting late last week, Stein questioned whether this all comes without a cost to the applicant, and O'Brien replied that he wouldn't have to pay.
The mayor said the planning committee was asked to review the application and asked for additional information, and when it was reviewed the planning committee made recommendations to council to rescind the motion.
Stein questioned what the new facts were since, he said, the plot plan presented during the original application had not changed.
O'Brien said neither he nor the planning committee had seen a plot plan the last time around, and Coun. Laura Aylward, chair of the planning committee, said she hadn't seen one either.
They wondered why Stein had one at that time when nobody else did.
O'Brien said the only change in the application was the location of the house on the property, however, that wasn't the sole reason why the permit motion was rescinded. He repeated from the former meeting the town has some conflicting regulations it is are working on.
As an example, he said one of the regulations states that property must front on a publicly maintained road, while there is another that allows rear-yard development. He said depending on what jurisdiction you are located in, one could conflict with the other.
A review of the rear-yard regulations is taking place and council is looking for input.
Stein said he was cited by O'Brien as being on one side on an issue and the rest of council on the other.
"In this instance I was when it came to the issue of the esthetics, and that still rings through. I wish the Smith's good luck in their new home," he said.
"We were asked to review the application and a decision was made. We really don't need this type of showboating," O'Brien shot back at Stein.
