BYRNES MILL: Condo rental clause stirs controversy
Developer, residents at odds over renters in complex
The issue was discussed again at the June 4 Byrnes Mill Board of Aldermen meeting.
Valley View condo project developer Whitby Enterprises has approval from the city to proceed with the development but no construction work has begun.One of the developers, Larry Schulz of Byrnes Mill, said one reason for the delay is the slumping housing market, but he also indicated that investors in the development are concerned about a clause banning condo owners from ever renting their units, a clause that city officials have asked be placed in any sales agreements for the condos.
Schulz appeared before the board to discuss the rental ban clause. The topic also drew a small crowd of neighbors of the proposed condo complex who repeated earlier complaints that the road leading to the development cannot handle any more traffic and that if renters were allowed in the complex it could lead to what the neighbors consider to be the "wrong element" moving into their community.
Mayor Terry Oberer said city officials to this point remain adamant they want the developers to include the rental restriction clause, but included the phrase "if it's legal."
"(Schulz) originally indicated, if it's legal, he would put it into covenants that they could not be subleased," Oberer said. "That's the whole thing. We don't know what would eventually happen (if someone would want to fight a legal battle over such a clause).
"People who live in that area do not want it to become rental properties."
Whether such a clause could withstand a legal battle remains a subject for debate.
Several meetings back, Schulz had reported to the Board of Aldermen that it was his lawyer's opinion that any rental restriction clause placed in a condo purchase agreement could be easily defeated in court. Board members responded that they wanted their own legal opinion, which they said at the June 4 meeting was a more ambiguous reading of state statutes. The city attorney said Byrnes Mill as a city could not require the clause, but the developer could voluntarily put it into his bylaws.
Schulz asked for the board to table the matter until he could have his lawyer look at what the city's attorney had said about the issue. The board members obliged.
Schulz said he is pushing the city to drop the rental ban clause because, in the current housing market, his company wants to avoid any real or perceived negative that might jump into a potential buyer's head.
Alderman Jerry Klipsch of Ward 2 said he leans to siding with Whitby Enterprises because, no matter what would happen in the future in the courts, it would be difficult to enforce a no rental ban on any condo owners.
"I don't know how you'd find out if someone were renting to somebody else," Klipsch said.
A plan by Whitby Enterprises to build no more than 70 condo units on eight acres between Vogt Road and Valley Drive gained the board's approval, with numerous conditions, at a June 20, 2007, meeting. The approval came after the company had made two previous attempts to have the property rezoned from residential to commercial.
Among the conditions placed on Whitby Enterprises is a requirement to pave a portion of Vogt Road and Valley Drive.
The company can start building at any time, Klipsch said.
"He's got the green light to go ahead," he said. "That means he's got to improve Vogt Road all the way to the development.
"It's all approved. The city is requesting him to (include the rental ban clause). We can't make him do it. It's always been a request."
