06-01-2000 Regular Meeing and Public Hearing

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Dear Sir or Madam: On February 18, 2000, we had a storage container delivered to our property to be used as a storage building. (See Bill of Lading) On February 22, 2000, we were paid. a visit by a City representative who informed us that they were there acting on a complaint. Lisa, of the City of La Porte stated -that we needed to apply to the City for a building permit On February 24, 2000, we applied to the City of La Porte for a building permit allowing for a storage building to be placed on our property. We soon learned that this was not a permit to allow this structure, but rather a permit to build. Understanding.that a permit. would be needed for the work to convert this aluminum storage container into a utility storage building, we moved forward with the permit process. (See: what appears to be a building permit application.) We received a letter from the City .of. La Porte, dated March 9, 2000, informing us that our permit application had been denied. This denial based on the City's Zoning Regulations, Section # 106-741(h) "prohibiting the placement of a shipping container in a residential zone".. Section 106-742(h), states; "It shall be unlawful for any person to leave, stand, or park a commercial motor vehicle, pole trailer, semi: trailer, shipping container, trailer, truck (other than a light truck as defined herein), or a truck tractor on any property zoned for residential use. Boats or recreational vehicles parked or stored in a rear yard are not subject to the restrictions imposed by this section". We feel that this ruling is wrong. 'In the first place, this container is nothing more than that. The term "shipping container" as it is' referred to in the context of this ordinance is a vehicletcontainer used to transport goods. Once the container is removed from the method of transport, i.e. truck, trailer, ship, barge, etc. it is nothing more than a container. It is clear that this document is referencing readily portable pieces of equipment. To deny a building permit on this basis is simply wrong. Many of what could be classified as portable or container like components are approved and used in construction every day. Some of these components begin portable or modular because it is a convenient way to build. For instance, should a house built of modular transportable components be denied? Or should a pile of lumber on a vacant lot not be viewed as building components but as dead trees for the purpose of denying a permit. Perhaps a mobile home once removed from its system of transport and made permanent should never be allowed to be reclassified as a home, even if it met all the building codes. Back yard sheds, portable by truck, should also need to be forbidden. Even the Denny's Restaurant built as a modular unit containing building components for the purpose should- never have been allowed. If this broad of interpretation of the. ordinance is allowed to stand it then becomes a matter -preference by the individuals within this department.