WHITEHALL — The City of Whitehall's Construction Board of Appeals met for the first time ever last week and denied an appeal from the new owner of the old Dollar Castle/Family Video plaza on Colby Street regarding city requirements for the building, City Manager Dan Tavernier reported during Tuesday's city council meeting.
One of the issues under dispute, Tavernier said, was that the new owner, Ray Issa, wanted to split the building for two different uses, one for mercantile and one for business, but disagreed with a city requirement to install a bathroom in each side of the building as well as a fire-resistant wall between the two. His construction permit had previously been approved with the wall's installation being one of the conditions. The city also noticed unpermitted construction going on inside the building during a recent walkthrough, leading to an order to stop the construction. Both issues were addressed during the appeal.
Tavernier said the two parties have already been in court because of the dispute and he expects that will happen again after the board of appeals' denial.
Also in Tavernier's report was a recent offer that has been made to purchase 5.63 acres of city-owned land in the Forest Hills neighborhood northeast of the Benston Road and Warner Street intersection for $8,445. The land was originally planned to be used to build a housing subdivision, but the city later learned that due to drainage issues it would be impractical to build housing on it.
The council did not take action on the offer, which Tavernier said came in earlier this summer. The city could negotiate the bid, open a public bid for the land, or offer to sell the parcel to surrounding landowners. Tavernier said the prospective buyer does not want to develop the land, and it's possible the intended use would be as a hunting property. The land's assessed value, according to a broker Tavernier asked, is about $25,000, though Tavernier noted the inability to build on it would likely affect any sale price.
The council appeared receptive to selling the land, with council member Scott Brown noting that the land is doing the city no good right now and generating tax revenue, even if it would not be that much, would be beneficial. Tanya Cabala added that she would be in favor of the sale if the land was not developed. The council will likely address the matter again at its next work session Sept. 8.
The council delivered a 6-0 approval (Bryan Mahan was absent) to Lake Land Getaway's application for a 10-year tax abatement under the city's recently established Commercial Rehabilitation District. Lake Land is the first business to apply under the district, and according to the resolution, the improvements that will be abated cost at least 10% of the current value of the property. Under the abatement, the improvements must be completed by Dec. 15.
The six present council members also unanimously approved a $79,960 purchase of water meter equipment, which was narrowly under the $80,000 budgeted for the expenditure. They also unanimously approved road closure requests from White Lake Community Library, which will host its annual Good Neighbor Day dinner next to The Playhouse at White Lake Thursday, Sept. 24 (Hanson Hill Waterfront Grill will again cater the dinner), and from Howmet, which is hosting a 75th anniversary celebration Saturday, Sept. 12 from 9 a.m. to noon. Howmet's request was for Misco Drive to be blocked off from the intersection with Mears Avenue to just east of the Lakeview Street intersection.
Tavernier reported that the city recently installed three new air conditioners for City Hall, thanks to previously budgeted soffit replacement coming in under budget. The new units are higher efficiency than the units they replaced. He added that he is examining the possibility of playground and grass upgrades at Gee Park, with the council noting that in part due to a day care being run out of a house in the area, there are more young children near there than there had previously been.
