OK, so now we are about to get sued. In their infinite wisdom, Norfolk council voted yesterday to deny a developer’s plan to build a home on a lot in Norview.
Here’s the problem: the guy did everything that his was supposed to do. He made sure that the lot was buildable, he used the city’s design center, and the Planning Commission approved his plan. But that’s not enough. His plan for a 2-story home in an area of mostly 1 story homes just didn’t pass muster.
So the guy has contacted Joe Waldo. Waldo is probably the best known property rights attorney in the state.
“From what Mr. Walker said, that appears to be a taking” of his property rights, Waldo said. “If things are as he described it, then we’re going to go after them.”
Um, he means us. The citizens of Norfolk will end up paying for this, just like we pay for every other boondoogle the council wants to take on. This was a completely avoidable situation. All they had to do was to start out by saying the lot wasn’t a buildable lot. At only 34 feet of frontage, as opposed to the standard 50 feet, they could have denied this from the beginning, before the guy spent $53,000.
It’s going to cost us. And my guess is more than $53,000 😦
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 