things done before winter here as well. I move the recommendation of the Legislative
Hearing Officer.
Referred to November 8, 2022 Legislative Hearing
5 -
0
Yea:
Councilmember Brendmoen, Councilmember Tolbert, Councilmember
Noecker, Councilmember Jalali and Councilmember Balenger
Nay:
2 - Councilmember Prince and Councilmember Yang
Absent:
Appeal of Matthew and Jamie Wright to a Correction Order at 1155
SEMINARY AVENUE.
29
Library box, post, and materials in the ground are to be removed by December 1.
Also in attendance: Matthew Wright, appellant
Marcia Moermond, Legislative Hearing Officer: This for removal of a free library post
and box on the boulevard between the sidewalk and the street, along with materials
holding it in the ground, which is violation of city code related to obstructions of public
land. There are other code enforcement issues which were not in the original correction
order: tall grass and weeds and the growth height in the planter beds. These were in a
separate order, as the inspector was likely new. They should have all been together in
the original correction order. The second correction order came in between our
legislative hearing and today, and we agreed that the appeal fee would be waived if
there was a second appeal, since they should have been combined. My
recommendation is to grant to December 1 to come into compliance. I understand that
a nonprofit was working with the property owners to put these libraries up and may not
have been aware of the requirement to be on the owner's property. The Little Free
Library organization is very aware of these requirements, but this was actually
organized by a separate organization wanting to improve their community. It is a
sympathetic situation, but there are right-of-way concerns.
Councilmember Jalali: What exactly are we asking the property owner to do? Are we
asking them to take a post out of the ground or is there also cement in the ground that
would need to be removed?
Moermond: I am not sure. There may be cement supports or greater depth because of
the weight of the box.
Council President Brendmoen: It would be a bigger task relatively but it's still just
taking it out and digging a new hole.
Wright: This library was given to us as part of an art project, Love Letters to the
Midway, which was about building community during the pandemic and the aftermath of
the murder of George Floyd, which had a strong effect on our community. We placed
the library where it is for ease of access. The previous owners had the garden boxes,
and so when we bought the house we assumed they were okay. There also seems to
have been an incorrect citation in the correction order, and we were not aware of the
planter box concern until it was brought up in the legislative hearing. Also, the code
citation from Moermond earlier regarding obstructions of public land doesn't actually
mention boulevards specifically. There is a part of the city code dealing with
boulevards, but this was never mentioned in any citation to us. The confusing process,
the prevalence of these types of boxes in boulevards, and the public benefit of these
should allow these items to stay. It would be nice regularize this through a modification
of city code. People use boulevards all the time. The city actually has a program to