Court Rules Home Owner Must Remove Pool After Commerce Twp. Mistake

Court Rules Home Owner Must Remove Pool After Commerce Twp. Mistake
(compiled, Aug. 16, 2015)
A homeowner got approval – including a building permit – from Commerce Township to construct a pool on his property, but after construction began the township said they made a mistake.
They said that the pool did not meet zoning requirements and construction had to stop.
According to a report in Westend, the homeowner sued in Oakland County Circuit Court for the right to keep his pool and lost.
The future of the pool at the lakefront property located in the 8000 block of Flagstaff has been in limbo since construction began in Nov. 2013.
According to Kevin Elliott’s report in Westend in November the homeowner’s contractor “submitted a site plan to the township for approval, which was subsequently approved by the township’s planning and building department, along with an associated building permit. Initial construction started that same month. However, [the homeowner] was advised by the township in May 2014 to stop work on the pool because it violated the side yard setback requirement in the township’s zoning ordinance.  Commerce building official Jay James admitted at a July 31,2014 ZBA meeting that he erred in approving the plan, stating he ‘missed the distance between the pool and the side property line.'”
The ZBA denied the homeowner’s request for the variance, and the homeowner then sued to have the denial overturned.  On August 11, Judge Phyllis McMillen sided with the Township on the zoning lawsuit.  A suit against Commerce Township for financial damages is pending.
To find out more, check out the article at www.westendmonthly.com/Articles-municipal-c-2015-08-14-221225.112113-Court-favors-Commerce-in-pool-lawsuit.html.

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