Archive for the 'Historic Preservation Board' Tag

AND THE WALL COMES TUMBLING DOWN

April 10th, 2010, 10:57 pm by Bill Vogrin

Well not quite tumbling.

Actually, workers are painstakingly lowering the wall, brick by brick.

It is the wall built by Colorado Springs residents Holger and Sally Christiansen. He’s an architect. She’s in real estate. They live in the Historic Old North End Neighborhood.

They erected the elaborate structure around their compound on North Cascade Avenue, just north of Uintah Street and Colorado College.

They started in July 2007 using brick they shipped from Virginia. Only problem . . . they didn’t get the necessary permits and permissions needed to build in the city, much less in the hyper-restrictive North End Historic District.

Not only does the neighborhood have a homeowners association, all work done on the outside of houses there must be approved by the Historic Preservation Board.

Despite being rejected by neighbors and the preservation board, the couple pushed ahead with their wall construction. The city finally got them to stop work on the wall, but not before they had encroached nearly two feet into the city alley and nearly completed the structure.

It stands well higher than the 6 feet maximum allowed without a variance and its decorative pineapple-shaped finials soar nearly 11 feet high. See them in photos I posted in a January blog entry.

Efforts to negotiate a settlement failed and ultimately the city sued to force compliance with city codes. In February, after a three-day trial, a judge found in the city’s favor and ordered the wall into compliance within 90 days.

Here’s a blog I wrote about the trial with links to previous blogs and stories.

Below is a photo of the next-door neighbor’s fence, and its decorative finials, with the Christiansens’ shrinking wall in the background.

The couple’s decision to comply and shrink the wall does not necessarily end the saga.

They’ve asked permission to keep their finials. The request is pending city approval.

While they wait, work is progressing.

Besides deconstruction, the Christiansens have had to deal with other problems related to their wall. The prolonged dispute caused a lot of hard feelings and some have stooped to obscene graffiti to voice their opinion.

WARNING!

Some might find the next photo objectionable. It was taken by Gazette staffer Mike Eiler about two weeks ago.

It is a good example of the emotions stirred by the case.

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Posted in: Uncategorized • Colorado College • Colorado Springs • Historic Old North End Neighborhood • Historic Preservation Board • Holger and Sally Christiansen • North Cascade Avenue • Uintah Street | 2 Comments »

JUDICIAL BULLDOZER AIMED AT CASCADE WALL

February 3rd, 2010, 5:36 pm by Bill Vogrin

Fourth Judicial District Judge Timothy Simmons, below, wasn’t buying what Holger and Sally Christiansen were selling.

Simmons presided over a three-day bench trial last month in the case of Colorado Springs vs. the Christiansens and their coutersuit over their construction of a massive red brick wall around the compound of their Old North End Neighborhood mansion on North Cascade Avenue.

The city accused the Christiansens — he’s an architect and she’s a real estate agent — of building their wall without proper permits, without necessary Historic Preservation approval, and in violation of codes governing height, public easements and setbacks.

They started construction in June 2007 and continued work even after the city issued a “stop work order” and warned them it was not in compliance.

In other words, it was too tall, sat too close to property lines and encroached on city property by straying about two feet into an alleyway. Here’s a look at the wall in a photo I took in May 2008 when I first wrote about it. I’ve also blogged about it several times. Here’s my most recent postings.

Simmons rejected their arguments in an 11-page verdict which ended by giving the Christiansens 90 days to lower the wall to 72 inches. Here’s a link to the verdict so you can read it for yourself: simmons-verdict

It’s a “very big victory” for the city, said Will Bain, senior city attorney, because it affirmed his argument that city codes, permitting procedures and appeals processes must be followed and not short-circuited by a trip to court.

“We argued to the judge that this is not something the court can determine,” Bain said. “The city’s process has to be honored.”

In his closing arguments, Bain actually argued that the Christiansens were asking for special treatment.

“The case comes down to whether the city is a city of laws or a city of men,” Bain told Simmons. The Gazette’s John Ensslin reported on the trial at his excellent Sidebar blog on Gazette.com.

The couple had maintained they were singled out for selective enforcement, denied due process and had their constitutional rights violated. They claimed they could not get a fair hearing before the Historic Preservation Board.

The Christiansens have 45 days to file an appeal and 90 days to lower the wall.

I called Holger at his architect office to see what he planned to do.

He hung up on me.

Fire up another bowl of popcorn. This could be a double feature!

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Posted in: Uncategorized • appeal • bench trial • codes • Colorado Springs • Fourth Judicial District Judge Timothy Simmons • Historic Preservation Board • Holger and Sally Christiansen • John Ensslin • Old North End Neighborhood • permits • Sidebar blog • variances and encroachments • violation • wall • Will Bain | 2 Comments »

THE BERLIN WALL CAME DOWN, will Holger’s?

January 17th, 2010, 12:00 pm by Bill Vogrin

Holger and Sally Christiansen started building this wall around their home at 1221 N. Cascade Ave. in 2007. It sits unfinished while they battle the city over zoning codes, permits, variances and encroachments.

Eventually, the city sued the Christiansens to force compliance with codes. The couple countersued and the whole mess comes to trial Tuesday.

There’s more at stake than just the $200,000-plus wall, built of red brick they had shipped from Virginia and which towers over Cascade just north of Unitah Street.

The trial, before Fourth Judicial District Judge Timothy Simmons, left, will be a test of Colorado Springs’ zoning codes and the Historic Preservation Board and its rules for construction in the Old North End Historic District.

The city says the Christiansens built the wall without necessary permits. The wall ranges from nearly 7 feet to 11 feet tall at the top of its decorative finials, shown below.

In fact, it far exceeds the 6 feet maximum for fences and walls built without permits or variances. It’s so large the city classifies it as an “accessory structure” meaning it must sit back 25 feet from property lines.

Worse, the city says, it encroaches into a city alley by 2 feet, flush against a city utility pole, as you can see below.

I wrote this column in September 2008. This is the blog that accompanied the story.

A few months earlier, in May, I wrote about it for the first time.

It’s a beautiful wall, as you can see. But the city said the process the Christiansens’ followed violates the integrity of the zoning codes and planning process, as well as defies the Historic Preservation Board, which rejected the wall as inappropriate in the district.

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Posted in: Uncategorized • Cascade Avenue • Colorado Springs • Fourth Judicial District Judge Timothy Simmons • Historic Preservation Board • Holger and Sally Christiansen • Old North End Historic District. • permits • Unitah Street. • variances and encroachments • zoning codes | 2 Comments »