Letter regarding occupancy permits

July 18, 2009
Lake Saint Louis, MO

Following is an opinion letter and does not necessarily represent the views of St. Charles County W.O.R.L.D.S. Publications:

Dear LSL Friends-

I would like to make you all aware of the proposed bill for LSL occupancy permits. The board will VOTE on Monday, July 20th at City Hall at 7:00 pm. I've attached the bill so people can read it for themselves.

If a resident wants to sell their (occupied) home, the city will conduct a safety inspection for a mandatory $150 fee/tax. Any violations will have to be repaired before they will issue a new occupancy permit. That means that even if your buyer says you don't have to fix the violations, the city will mandate that it be fixed.

For example: Our stairs that lead to our dock were in terrible shape when we bought our house. I'd go as far as to say, "unsafe", but still useable. We knew that when we chose to buy our home. It was a price negotiating tool for us. It took us about 2.5 years after moving in to get around to this project, but we used those stairs nearly everyday during the boating season! It took my husband a few months to complete the project working weekends. If this bill were in place, the work would have had to be hired out for about $6,000-7,000 before we could move in!! That means that the sellers might not have been able to sell their home due to this finding because there was a capital outlay of $7,000 that none of us were expecting! According to the proposed bill we could buy our home, but not move in until the work was completed, and in our case that would have been two years later.

This bill takes away our right as home owners to negotiate with sellers what we will and will not fix. You may think your home is perfectly safe, but if the city says it's not safe...it's not! This bill takes away our freedom to live in manner of our choosing within the confines of our four walls. In a free market economy, if I don't like the manner in which you kept your home I can offer you a lower price or I can buy someone else's home. For well over 30 years, the citizens of LSL have bought and sold their homes just fine without this occupancy permit.

We dealt w/ this bureaucracy in Ballwin when we sold our home before moving here. (Ballwin has a similar inspection/tax.) We were nickled & dimed with about 36 "violations" that had nothing to do w/ safety! I had four young children in my home at the time-- the safety of my family was and is paramount! But according to the city of Ballwin, my home was brewing disasters. Here's what I remember:

*    Plastic door guides that keep closet doors on track were broken & had to be replaced. (How is that a safety violation?)
*    Window screens had small tears and the screens had to be replaced. (Was the city trying to keep me safe from mosquitoes?)
*    Driveway needed to be sealed. (Wasn't a decision for the new homeowner to make?)
*    Sliding glass door lock needed to be replaced. (For 12 years we put a stick in the door-LOCKED!)
*    Rail had to be installed for the two steps that led to the exterior kitchen door. (we didn't have a rail for 4 years-it was a recent home addition)
*    GFI outlet needed to be installed in the bathroom. (A valid finding, but the buyer's home inspector would have discovered that.)

There were so many silly, nit-picky & time consuming things to fix! We had NO CHOICE but to fix them! It cost us a few hundred dollars to do repairs the buyer never requested!! In addition to the repairs the buyer wanted!

This proposed bill is a slippery slope of allowing the city government to come into our home & tell us how we are to live! Once you let them into your home, you will not be able to get them out!

Some more points to consider:
    *    What about foreclosed properties? Banks WILL NOT make ANY improvements. The city is betting that home buyers will be willing to pay for ALL repairs prior to moving in! This puts the city at risk to have more unsellable properties. This will bring our property values DOWN!
    *    What about estate situations?   Adult children live out of state and the parent(s) pass away. The kids would have to take time off of work, bear the expense of travel, and incur the costs in both time and money to do the repairs on the list. Or, they could simply be burdened to have the capital outlay to hire contractors to make repairs.
    *    What about our elderly citizens who have a fixed income? How will this burden their resources?
    *    Real Estate is a mutual agreement between buyers & sellers. Let those two parties decide what needs to be fixed and when it gets fixed.
     *    City Government growth. So now we need to hire more inspectors, staff, vehicles, new letterhead, etc. Now our taxes go up to pay for this new branch of government!!

The board will meet on Monday, July 20th at City Hall at 7:00 pm.

This link will take you to the LSL city website. Click on ELECTED OFFICIALS at the bottom there is a ward boundary map. Find your ward, then can click on your alderperson's name & find their contact information. Call and/or email your alderperson & ask how they plan to vote. They are supposed to represent the citizens of this community. Do they represent your point of view?
http://www.lakesaintlouis.com/

Ward 1
RALPH SIDEBOTTOM           636-332-9434            rsidebottom@lakesaintlouis.com
HARRY SLYMAN                                                    NO contact info available
Ward 2
CHARLOTTE NORTON        636-561-3785             cwnlsl@centurytel.net
KATHY SCHWEIKERT         636-561-4366             kathyschweikert@yahoo.com

Ward 3
JOHN PELLERITO jpellerito@lakesaintlouis.com
GEORGE RICH grich@lakesaintlouis.com

View the proposed bill here.

Information is power!

Tracy Mongoven
Lake St Louis Resident
Since 2006
Coldwell Banker Gundaker
636-399-6088

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