AI ID 20222, Fence at 5737 Brookbank, 05/11/2005 01:05 PM In 28-1301, Fences, it is stated: "(a) Fences, including walls and plants in the nature of a fence, shall be erected in conformance with the requirements of this section. (b) It shall be unlawful to erect or alter any fence within the Village unless a permit has been issued by the Director. A written petition for such permit shall be filed with the Director and fee paid, in conformance with this Zoning Ordinance. A fence permit issued under this section shall be valid for a term of six (6) months." I would like to know under what authority the fence was erected around the property at 5737 Brookbank Avenue. Was a permit issued? Last time I searched, I found none. This is not yet a construction site. There was a demolition permit, and a house was demolished, but fencing was ***NOT*** erected for that because it was promised to be leveled in one day. If this ***IS*** a construction site, where is the permit and the constuction fence? If this is ***NOT*** a construction fence, and a fence permit has not been issued, I believe the property owner should be cited and the fence should be removed. If the fence is allowed for some valid purpose, then I believe it should be maintained regularly, which it is not. ---------- Date: Thu, 12 May 2005 17:30:32 -0500 From: "Cerulli, Janene" Subject: TrackWise: User Notification: AI# 20222, John Schofield, Fence at 5737 Brookbank To: "'johnschofield@gsb.uchicago.edu'" , "Scheidler, Donald" Mr. Schofield, I am in receipt of this open record today. By way of this notification, Don Scheidler, Chief Building Inspector will get back to you or have another Code Officer respond to this matter. Thank you for your inquiry, Janene Cerulli Community Response Center Coordinator ---------- Date Wed, 18 May 2005 133441 -0500 To "Cerulli, Janene" From John Schofield Subject Re TrackWise User Notification AI# 20222, John Schofield, Fence at 5737 Brookbank This is now one week old (05/11/2005 111 PM CDT), and I have heard nothing back except your initial confirmation. ---------- Date: Wed, 18 May 2005 17:11:57 -0500 From: "Scheidler, Donald" Subject: 5737 Brookbank To: "'johnschofield@gsb.uchicago.edu'" Cc: "Cerulli, Janene" Mr. Schofield, The site on Brookbank is being considered a construction site by the Code Services Department and the silt fence is in place to protect any neighboring properties from soil wash off now and when the area is prepped for construction. I have asked the Code Enforcement officers to drive by the property and make sure the fence is properly maintained. Any other fencing that is required will be installed prior to the start of construction. Thank You Donald Scheidler Chief Building Inspector ---------- Date Fri, 20 May 2005 084412 -0500 To "Scheidler, Donald" From John Schofield Subject 5737 Brookbank -- Construction Site? Dear Mr. Scheidler, Thank you for your reply. I am genuinely confused about how 5737 Brookbank can be considered a construction site before plans have been approved and permits have been issued. Previously a code enforcement employee stated that this was "just" private property and not a construction site. I would appreciate an explanation of the process and criteria for designating a property as a construction site. This is quite a sensitive issue in this neighborhood because the new property owner has already preempted the Village's planning process by destroying all the large old black walnut trees along the north side of Jefferson Avenue, which we had intended to request be configured to save the trees. Thank you. --------- 6/21/2005 John Schofield called Don Rosethal to complain about (1) the developer's sign and (2) the silt fence. --------- Date Tue, 21 Jun 2005 154905 -0500 To "Rosenthal, Don" From John Schofield Subject 5737 Brookbank -- Not A Construction Site -- AI ID's 20057 and 20222 Dear Mr. Rosenthal, At 1014 AM 6/21/2005 -0500, you wrote "I had asked Don Scheidler to respond to your original email and was under the impression that the two of you had talked. Please find Don's email attached. If you need to discuss it further, please email or call me (630) 434-5514." Thank you for the opportunity to discuss the Jefferson Avenue/Nelson Meadow situation with you personally this morning by telephone. I hope you feel, as I do, that it was a constructive conversation. I understand your reasons for deciding the demolition did not require fencing, and I appreciate the department's recent assistance in removing stored construction vehicles from this peaceful residential neighborhood. As you now know, we neighbors continue to believe that 5737 Brookbank is a NOT a construction site YET. Demolition has been completed, and approvals prior to construction are not expected for at least several months. We believe that the fence and sign, neither of which appear to be authorized by lawful permits, are inappropriate and should be cited/removed -- or replaced strictly according to code for this residential neighborhood. Per your suggestion I will call you Thursday morning to follow up. Thank you. --John Schofield --------- 6/23/2005 at 7:00 a.m. Don Rosenthal told John Schofield by telephone that he had talked to Joel Andersen's "helpers" about the issues and would get back to John Schofield later in the day. --------- 6/23/2005 at 4:39 p.m. Don Rosenthal called John Schofield and said he had talked to Joel Andersen and: (1) the sign was covered as a "Temporary Developer Signs" under section 28-1505 of the Downers Grove Municipal Code (since revised), and (2) the fence would remain because Joel Andersen had told him that construction would begin in 2-1/2 weeks. --------- Date Wed, 29 Jun 2005 171620 -0500 To "Scheidler, Donald" From John Schofield Subject 5737 Brookbank -- Silt Fence Don, This afternoon we briefly discussed maintenance of the silt fence around 5737 Brookbank, and you seemed surprised when I said it had not been maintained. Indeed it has not. Attached is a picture I took on May 11th to document the commercial trailer parked there. You can see that the trees had not yet filled out. I can show you other pictures with other breaches. In the meantime we know that Village inspectors have been here, in part to chase the trailer and a truck away. But the fence remains unmaintained. What's a resident to think! --John Schofield --------- Date Fri, 15 Jul 2005 081351 -0500 To drosenthal@downers.us From John Schofield Subject 5737 Brookbank -- Not A Construction Site -- AI ID's 20057 and 20222 Dear Director Rosenthal, On Thursday afternoon, June 23rd, you called me back to say that the fence would remain, in part because you had been told that construction would begin in 2-1/2 weeks. May I please request an update an update on this? Is there a construction permit pending? Issued? When will construction begin? Thank you. --John Schofield ---------- From: Rosenthal, Don Sent: Monday, July 18, 2005 8:41 AM To: Scheidler, Donald Subject: FW: 5737 Brookbank -- Not A Construction Site -- AI ID's 20057 and 20222 July 18, 2005 Don, Please perform an update on the Joel Anderson project in John's area and report back directly to John Schofield. Thanks. Don Rosenthal ----------