Wallace City Council backs P&Z decision on 3 Bank St. house
Photo by JOSH MCDONALD The Mallon House at 3 Bank St. has been granted appropriation for demolition after the Wallace City Council affirmed the decision of the Wallace Planning and Zonning Commision from earlier this year during an emergency meeting on Tuesday night.
Courtesy photos The inside of 3 Bank Street in Wallace was unsalvagable and rotting from the inside out.
WALLACE — The saga of the tiny Mallon House looks to finally be over after an emergency Wallace City Council meeting last Tuesday ruled in favor of the owners who wish to demolish the dilapidated structure.
The council unanimously voted to uphold the decision of the Wallace Planning and Zoning Commission from Feb. 7, where they granted appropriation of demolition of the house at 3 Bank St. in Wallace to owners Rick and Indy Behrendt.
Appellants and fellow Wallace residents Jim See and Sally Utley were given one last chance during the meeting to sway the decision, but their efforts were futile.
See spoke of his various works around Wallace, and how property owners should always consider what is best for the historical uniqueness of the city itself.
Most of See’s case for appealing the decision boiled down to procedural errors he believed were made by the WPZC in granting the Behrendts authorization for demolition.
Citing issues with how the WPZC handled their business, See’s biggest issue seemed to be the commission’s waiver of the, normally mandatory 180-day waiting and comment period.
“Let’s establish that this second application to demolish 3 Bank St. is a new application, not a continuation of the first application,” See said. “After much public outcry and opposition, the applicants withdrew their first application.”
Initially the Behrendts submitted their application in mid-2016 and had waited not only the mandatory 180 days, but then another 30 days to allow any sort of compromise to be made to prevent the demolition of the home.
It was after this 210-day period that they withdrew their application, they then submitted a second application and the WPZC chose to waive that same waiting period.
This was See’s biggest sticking point.
“Code section 12-8-9 of the Wallace Preservation of Historic Sites Ordinance governs the procedures when a change in use is proposed for an historic property and requires a 180-day waiting period when that demolition is sought,” See said. “Nothing in that section implies that the 180-day waiting period is discretionary as the respondent's counsel would have you believe. Because this was a new application, the clock was restarted when the respondents submitted their second application and the 180-day waiting period was required.”
Following See’s comments, Utley spoke on behalf of stewardship and preservation of Wallace before the floor was given to the respondent’s counsel.
Mike Branstetter, representing the Behrendt, spoke to validity of the WPZC’s decision and how they are guided by Wallace code in making their decisions.
He also mentioned how the burden of proof lies on the appellants to prove that the commission made a mistake, not for the City Council to have to find the mistake themselves.
“The commission was created by the city, its obligation is to perform the functions set forth in the code and to hold hearings and consider matters just like they did in this case. That’s their job,” Branstetter said. “Their decision stands unless error is shown, as defined by the code, and that has to be clearly shown and established. The burden is on the appellants to show error. You are not required to search the record, nor should you search the record for error. Therefore, you must ask yourself, have the appellants shown that the commission acted illegally or wrongfully?”
After both sides took a final chance to rebut one another, the Council voted in favor of the WPZC’s decision and in favor of the Behrendts.
Councilman Dave DeRoos was eloquent in his reasoning for affirming the decision and the rest of the council echoed his sentiments as they cast their votes.
“We have people on planning and zoning that are appointed to it, but it’s a job most people probably wouldn’t want,” DeRoos said. “I would not like it if I was on planning and zoning and five out of six people voted to affirm the appropriateness and for me just to have this packet (of case information) to look at. I can’t see a reason to reverse what they had done and I can’t see a reason to send it back to them. So I affirm what planning and zoning did what’s appropriate.”
The 3 Bank St. house has been owned by Rick and Indy Behrendt since they acquired the property from former Wallace mayor and now deceased neighbor, Archie Hulsizer.
The Behrendts made waves in the small town after they submitted an application to WPZC in mid-2016 to demolish the home.
Citing the decrepit status of the more than 100-year-old structure and an inability to refurbish it, the couple plans to knock it down and replace it with grass and plants.
The degree of difficulty in getting the certificate of appropriation is usually not difficult in most residential areas, but Wallace’s complete designation on the historic registry is what made for such a contentious battle.
No date is currently known for when the Behrendts plan on demolishing the structure.