4 INCHES DEFINE HOMEOWNERS' DECADE-OLD FIGHT --

July 29, 2007
By EUGENE TONG
Staff Writer

LA CRESCENTA -- For Paul and Lisa Dutton, 4inches is the difference between home, sweet home and a Kafkaesque decade-old homeowners' nightmare.

An addition to the Duttons' three-bedroom home on Burritt Way built in 1967 had overstepped his neighbor's property line by 4inches.
But the city only caught the problem in 1997, nine years after the Duttons moved in. And the problem now has the Duttons in a legal battle against a neighbor and City Hall.

``We moved into this house for nine years, and wham, they whack us with this,'' Paul Dutton said in a recent interview. ``We have been doing our due diligence by working with the city ... and all the way to the City Council, they're saying, `You're at fault.' We're tired of that.''

$106,000 in fees

In the years since the problem was caught, there has been litigation, countless meetings with city officials and more than $106,000 in lawyers' fees as the Duttons attempt to make the extension legal.

Their last stop now is the City Council, which has to decide whether to grant the family a zoning variance to allow the room to stand or reject it and potentially open the case to still more litigation.

The council first considered the issue earlier this month, but it deadlocked 2-2 with Councilman Dave Weaver on vacation. The full panel will consider the issue again Aug.7.

Asked about the impending decision Friday, Weaver declined to comment, saying he still has to review the case.

It might appear a case of rigid bureaucracy unwilling to give the Duttons a break. But for the city, it's a matter of enforcement and proper application of a variance.

``We are a city of law,'' Mayor Ara Najarian said during the July10 hearing as he urged the Duttons to start over and rebuild. ``Variances should only be granted in the most extreme of circumstances.''

City Planning Director Hassan Haghani said variances only grant exceptions if a property is hampered by unique physical constraints.

``Because of the unique circumstances, the strict application of the code on the property would put it at a disadvantage to other properties,'' he said.

``In this case, the fact that at some point somebody built a structure, in and of itself, does not constitute a hardship.

``It doesn't mean we don't empathize with people and what they are experiencing as individual constituents. But we are responsible for enforcement.''

The disputed 330-square-foot extension was built in 1967 as a ``cabana,'' according to city permits. But even then, the room encroached into the neighbor's lot, which the Duttons claimed the city had cited but did not follow up.

The Duttons bought the home in 1989 -- the home's third owner -- and later improved the room by adding electrical wiring, wall insulation and new windows.

But nine years later, Paul Dutton came home to find a citation -- his extension violated city codes because it didn't have the minimum 4-foot setback from the property line.

``And then it all started,'' he said.

In fact, a surveyor then found the room overstepped the neighbor's property by 4inches.

Dutton said he worked with the city for about five years to try to get a variance, arguing he didn't know about the problems when he bought the home -- the violation never came up in the usual background checks.

To make the room legal, the Duttons also first had to win ownership over the 4inches -- which led to a legal battle with neighbor Sylvia Boyer in Los Angeles Superior Court.

They won their case in a decision upheld on appeal. But attorney Peter Wright, who represents Boyer, still disputed the legality of the addition and argued against granting the variance at the recent public hearing.

Should have known

He said the Duttons should have known about the room's problems when the family remodeled it.

Najarian agreed and voted against the variance along with Councilman Bob Yousefian, who said he felt the Duttons hadn't completed their due diligence.

Councilmen Frank Quintero and John Drayman sided with the Duttons.

``I certainly will not choose to enforce a building violation that is 40 years old by penalizing the third homeowner that resides in the house,'' Drayman said.

Meanwhile, the Duttons just hope that one day they will be able to enjoy their entire house.

``Just sitting in that room, you look at it and it's a nice room,'' Lisa Dutton said.

``But you have no peace,'' Paul Dutton said.