This happened in my neighborhood. It could happen in yours.

A few months ago my neighbor told me he would like to “add to his garage.”

As it developed he bought the empty lot next door. Then he “re-platted” it to make one lot. Re-platting requires prior notification of neighbors. Not done!

Architectural plans must be approved by the Architectural Committee of the Neighborhood Property Owners Association following its guidelines. The NPOA reason for being is to maintain and enhance neighborhoods. A specific clause says boxlike buildings will not be allowed. And certainly not a 60-foot by 40-foot rectangular building that stands 22 feet high on one side. It is a monstrosity, a plain ugly warehouse-like building that belongs in a commercial area.

Building permits are issued by the town after its approval. Inspections are made for code compliance. Even though the building does not comply (the roof is seven feet too high), inspections were passed and building was allowed to continue.

When a complaint was made to the town it was brushed aside by the building department, which admitted they made a mistake and looked for an out, rather than correct it. To cover up their error, the town told him he could connect the new construction to the house with a breezeway. It makes this neighborhood abomination even worse. The breezeway will block the remaining 30 feet or so of view and make a frontage expanse of about 150 feet. This happens in Fountain Hills! In what was a proud neighborhood!

You might drive by 10444 Nicklaus Drive to see what bothers my neighbors and me.

How did our town allow this degrading of a neighborhood? How did the NPOA and its committee allow this to move forward? And how did the building department disregard its regulations?

The Town Council needs to find out.