Spiegel loses battle with APA over house

Local News

Related Photos

The unfinished two-story home owned by Art Spiegel is visible among the trees at Fawn Ridge Development just off Route 86 in Lake Placid.

Discussion

PLEASE NOTE: There is a 150 word maximum for comments. All comments greater than 150 words in length will be deleted in their entirety.

ALSO NOTE: Derisive name-calling of an individual or group will result in the entire comment being deleted. This includes the terms "stupid" and "idiot" and similar references.

Welcome to our new online comments feature. Before you can join the discussion, you must first register with Disqus and verify your email address.

Once you do, your comments will post after they have been reviewed by a moderator.

We welcome your thoughts and your opinions, including unpopular ones. We ask only that you keep the conversation civil and clean.

Not all comments are deemed printable. Some are disqualified, at the newspaper’s discretion, for a number of reasons. Here are some typical practices to avoid in trying to get your comment printed:

There is a 150 word maximum for comments. All comments greater than 150 words in length will be deleted in their entirety.

Don’t state as a fact something that is unsubstantiated or that our editors wouldn't know to be true.

Don’t presume someone’s guilt in a case when it hasn't been established by a court.

Don’t assail or impugn an identifiable individual or group. If you have that kind of criticism, sign your name and submit it as a Letter to the Editor. (There is some leeway on this in connection with public officials, but it is not unconditional.)

Don’t use profanity. This includes the term “tea bagger.”

Don’t be incendiary or tasteless. Those qualities are subjective, of course, and our editors will be the arbiters.

Do not identify yourself in the main content area of the article content form. Only by enforcing this rule can the moderators prevent unscrupulous commenters from falsely identifying themselves as someone they are not.

Don't type in all caps. It is considered the Internet equivalent of shouting.

In sports articles, do not criticize officiating.

Remember, moderators are not allowed to edit any article comments. If an article comment fails any of the above criteria, the entire comment will be deleted.

We monitor comments Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Approval of comments outside these times may be delayed.

comments powered by Disqus

August 14, 2010

Home must be brought into compliance with permit

By KIM SMITH DEDAM Staff Writer The Press Republican Sat Aug 14, 2010, 07:46 AM EDT

LAKE PLACID — The Adirondack Park Agency has won a legal decision affirming enforcement orders against North Country businessman Arthur Spiegel.

State Supreme Court Justice Robert J. Muller upheld the permit regulation pertaining to Spiegel's unfinished house on Fawn Ridge in Lake Placid.

The case reached state court in February after nearly five years of motions stalled by a federal civil-rights challenge, which Spiegel lost last year.

Spiegel must now bring the residence into compliance with a permit that had been breached over the required 30-foot height restriction, protection of surrounding natural tree growth and 20-foot setback from the steep slope of the property's front yard.

STARTED IN 2004

Spiegel started to build the home in late 2004 on Lot 39 of Fawn Ridge, a former ski hill turned into an upscale housing development.

The hillside has a commanding view of Whiteface Mountain and is surrounded by gleaming waterways. Spiegel obtained town and development review approval for the house, and the foundation was being dug when a neighbor complained in September 2004.

APA opened and closed the early case a day later.

WORKED STOPPED

But enforcement review was reopened in February 2005 after the neighbor hired an attorney.

APA regulators issued a cease-and-desist order in March 2005, and Spiegel's construction crew stopped working.

The split-level, two-story dwelling has sat unfinished for five years since, covered in black tar paper and tin, with its window holes open to the elements.

COMPROMISE OFFERED

Spiegel and his attorneys, Jacob Lamme and John J. Privitera of the law firm McNamee, Lochner, Titus & Williams, based in Albany, offered the court an amelioration proposition.

The permit compromise sought to reduce the building's height by nine feet and screen the dwelling from view to avoid having to tear down what is already built.

Their plan was backed with photographic simulations showing how the lowered structure would appear from several points around the village.

TOO CLOSE TO SLOPE

But Muller ruled that the alterations would not bring the house into slope setback requirements.

"The home would still be located too close to the abrupt change in slope and thus (remain) readily visible from vantage points in the Village of Lake Placid and on the lake itself."

To comply with the permit, Spiegel would have to move the house's foundation back.

EXEMPTED BY FINE

Because of this, Muller said Spiegel does not have to pay the $273,450 in civil penalties presented in court documents by APA as a fraction of the total $2,734,500 the Park Agency metered at a rate of $500 per day, per violation.

"Notwithstanding, the court hereby declines to impose any civil penalty on the Spiegels," Muller wrote.

"In so doing, the court is mindful of the reasons underlying a civil penalty. Indeed, it is certainly punishment enough that the Spiegels must now demolish a home they began constructing almost six years ago and design and construct an entirely new home on their property.

"Furthermore, others who learn the Spiegels have to take these steps will undoubtedly be deterred from building a home themselves that fails to comply with an (APA) permit."

OTHER VIOLATORS

Addressing affidavit claims, Muller said: "It also bears mentioning that several other homes in the Fawn Ridge Subdivision exceed the 30-foot height limitation .... Although these homes do not violate other permit conditions, like the Spiegels' home, the court finds that this further underscores the fact that a civil penalty of any kind would be disproportionate to the offense."

Speaking through his attorney, Spiegel said: "We appreciate that the court did the right thing in determining that we owed no penalties to the APA.

"We are deeply disappointed that the court did not perceive the fairness of lowering the house to the point it cannot be seen, particularly in light of the court's finding that other houses on Fawn Ridge are higher than 30 feet."

It is unclear, at this point, whether Spiegel will appeal the decision.

COURT POWER

The court shed some light on the extent of APA legal jurisdiction.

Muller rejected APA's contention that no court could usurp its administrative authority by creating an equitable solution, as Spiegel and Lamme attempted to do with the amelioration plan.

"The court finds that it is vested with the power to fashion an equitable remedy if, in fact, (APA) enforcement of its requirements was arbitrary and capricious.

"Here, however, (APA) actions in requiring the Spiegels to comply with Permit 87-28 were not arbitrary and capricious. There is, therefore, no need to fashion an equitable remedy in this regard."

APA spokesman Keith McKeever said the agency is satisfied with the court decision.

"It is consistent with our long-held goal in this case for permit compliance."

E-mail Kim Smith Dedam at: kdedam@pressrepublican.com