Residents fight building codes

KXAN (AUSTIN) - Lupe Anguiano and her husband John built their home in the South Austin Fairview neighborhood in 1971. They converted their garage to a living area thirty-eight years ago.

“We enclosed this room to make more room for the children,” said Lupe Anguiano.

The Anguianos raised six children during that time and now enjoy when their grandchildren come to their home and play in the living area.

Last October, the city sent them a letter claiming the converted garage was in violation of city code, because the correct permits were never finalized. Seventy-five other homes in this neighborhood got the same letter mostly for garage conversions and added carports. The letters went out after city building code inspectors went to the neighborhood to check out complaints to the city's code compliance department from an anonymous caller.

"I feel that's unfair,” said Anguiano. “If I could see there was some danger, I'd be the first to ... I would not put my family in any kind of dangerous situations."

Lupe has done the leg work and paid for every kind of permit the city says she needs. She has paid $169 so far to the city.

Anguiano’s case gets more complicated, because her home is one of twenty-five homes in the neighborhood that were cited that also sit in the Williamson Creek flood plain. The federal government must be included in flood plain code compliance issues, so those cases will likely take more time to close.

While she is waiting, Lupe is worried about the language in the letters she has received from the city. The letter states if the violations are not brought into compliance, homeowners could be fined up to $2,000 per day and utility service to the home may be disconnected. A city code compliance spokesperson told us that would not happen as long as a homeowner is working toward a fix.

"The only way someone would be fined is if they don't do anything at all," said Code Compliance Spokesperson Jennifer Herber.

Fairview Neighbors have organized what they call a grassroots movement to take the place of a neighborhood association. Residents are considering hiring legal representation saying they feel like the city targeted them.

"I don't think they would have done that in West Lake Hills, Windsor or Enfield,” said former homeowner Dale Flatt. “They wouldn't have done that with a neighborhood that had a neighborhood association -- somebody with big bucks." 

Click here to go to the city's code compliance website.  Code complaints can also be filed online on the city's website .