Homes in non-conforming districts discussed

By Kevin Boneske

Staff Writer

HOWARD – The possibility of revising the village code to allow homes damaged by more than 50 percent of their current local assessed value to be rebuilt in non-conforming districts is under consideration by the Howard Plan Commission.

Commission members agreed at their March meeting to table the issue for more information after hearing from Howard Community Development Director Dave Wiese.

Wiese noted properties put up for sale are now being scrutinized closer for loans by banks, which are requesting zoning letters in addition to information on assessments and future projects in the area.

Weise said he brought the matter to the commission’s attention because there are several single-family homes currently located in business or industrial-zoned areas of the village.

He said lending institutions do not want to finance the purchase of the structures, making it difficult for the current owners to sell their properties.

Dave Wiese, director of community development, informs the Howard Plan Commission at its March 18 meeting about the difficulty of selling homes in business or industrial districts of the village.

“What happens is the realtor or the bank calls up the village and says, ‘Well, if it burns down, they can rebuild it, right?’” Wiese said. “We say, ‘No, they can’t, by our ordinance, they cannot.’ So then, of course, the financing falls through, they don’t get their bank loan, and the properties stay as they are.”

Because those property owners can find themselves in a Catch 22 under the current village code, Wiese said a change to allow single-family homes to be rebuilt in business districts might be warranted.

Village President Burt McIntyre said someone whose house burns down in a non-conforming district should be allowed to rebuild the exact same type of house, but it would be a different situation if someone else would want to build a house there.

“To me, the only reason you’d do this is to sort of help the original owner,” McIntyre said.

Because single-family homes across the street from the village hall are in a business district, Wiese said they are considered non-conforming uses and under the current village code should be considered businesses.

Wiese said he is aware of an area zoned business and industrial in the village where a long-time resident has two homes there that are now rented out and the sales keep falling through because the homes can’t be rebuilt.

“I’m not saying we’re doing this for these particular property owners,” he said. “This is a common problem. I’m just using this as an example.”

Commission member Natasha Gwidt said she is interested in seeing where the single-family homes are located in business and industrial-zoned areas, because she didn’t want homeowners to have a loss on properties they couldn’t sell.

Though one option could be spot zoning those properties as residential, Wiese questioned whether that would be a good idea for the village in the long term.

“It is kind of an area that has been becoming more and more controversial,” he said.

Upon the commission tabling the matter for more information, Wiese said he would bring back a map showing those areas in the village and also look into what other communities are doing.

“The tough part for the village, in the case of the property owners… they can’t sell them, they keep them, they wanted to sell them… they’re not going to stick money into them and keep fixing them up,” he said.