I think West University Place zoning laws are ridiculously permissive for existing commercial buildings. They are basically a blank check for the developer. We need to look at modernizing the zoning codes to provide more protections for nearby homeowners. Here is a story in the Chronicle that does a pretty good job of illustrating the problem.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nb/bellaire/news/6859094.html

A proposed North Dakota ballot measure would require lawmakers to swear they’ve read and understood any bill before they’re allowed to vote to approve it. The initiative would require North Dakota legislators to sign a sworn statement before they could vote on any bill. The statement would say they hadn’t been influenced by bribes or vote trading. The proposal says the text of a bill would have to be posted on the Internet for four days before the Legislature could vote on it…

http://www.kxnet.com/getArticle.asp?ArticleId=519006

The ten problematic homes in West University Place are huge and beautiful — luxurious — ranging in value from $945,000 right up to $2.8 million. Without knowing about a major paperwork oversight, families have lived in the homes for four, five, sometimes up to nine years…

http://instantnewswestu.com/2010/02/10/7892/

Here is my feeling about the situation:

John Brown, the current West U Chief Building Official has been with the West U for a little over a year. He is doing a great job. However I believe West U has had six different CBOs since 2000, so Brown had an unsettled sea to wade though. He discovered that Covington Builders had not obtained the required Certificates of Occupancy for an assortment of the homes they had built in West U going back many years. Brown brought this issue forward to the West University Place Building and Standards Commission with a recommendation for total compliance, and if that could not be achieved a six month suspension of the contractors license would be warranted. At the last meeting of the BSC, they recommended one last attempt to achieve total compliance before suspending Covington’s license. The BSC instructed him to meet with Brown to arrange for compliance with the code requirements. The BSC is an appointed group of West U residents that are appointed to two year terms by the City Council. However their actions and decisions ARE NOT subject to the review of the City Council. And for whatever reason, the BSC decided not to follow the recommendation of John Brown and the city staff to revoke Covington’s license unless he immediately complied with all laws and instead decided to give him another month to comply. As a city councilmember, I want to send a very strong message that we are enforcing our building codes strictly and respond instantly and aggressively against those who ignore them. In my view, that is exactly what John Brown and the city staff did in this instance

There is a zoning change request for the property where Shipley’s Donuts is currently. Here is a media report on the zoning change request:

http://instantnewswestu.com/2010/02/04/7845/

My 11 year –old twins insist on a Shipley’s fix at least once each weekend. But this zoning application has nothing to do with Shipley’s Donuts. Shipley’s has already notified the property owner they will vacate the rental space when the lease term expires.

This zoning case is about getting a code compliant building that meets fire, safety and zoning codes.  Today, that structure is far from code compliant. It does not meet current fire and safety ordinances. It also falls short in compliance with many provisions of the International Building Code, International Electrical Code and the International Plumbing Code, all of which have been adopted as part of the West University Place Code of Ordinances. However the current building is “grandfathered” in perpetuity - there is no requirement that it EVER become code compliant.

These “grandfather” rights let the property owner remodel the existing structure in basically any way they want as long as the building “footprint” doesn’t change. The “grandfather” rights also allow uses like a restaurant, a bingo parlor, a paint store, a bank, or a liquor store. This is all without a zoning change.

But the proposed zoning change would require any new structure to meet all current fire and safety laws along with a requirement the new structure been in full compliance with our zoning laws, the International Building Code, the International Electrical Code and the International Plumbing Code.

In my view, our permissive commercial property “grandfather” rules discourage compliance with our fire and safety laws and allow commercial property owners to basically ignore our zoning laws. At some point we need to modernize these “grandfather” laws to encourage code compliance. But, in the short term, his zoning change would at least get us a little closer to that goal.