Is the pool party over for family who developed yard near protected area?

By Kara Hansen

The West Linn Tidings, Jul 22, 2010 (14 Reader comments)

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Troy and Gina Bundy have filed an appeal to the West Linn City Council to let them keep the swimming pool and patio they installed without permits in 2009 behind their house on Ninth Street.

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Troy and Gina Bundy’s neighbors think the couple should be able to keep their swimming pool and patio, even though they were built without permits and near a protected wetland.

The West Linn City Council, however, isn’t convinced.

A handful of neighbors who live near the Bundys on Ninth Street in West Linn testified in favor of the pool at a public hearing Monday, when council members began considering an appeal from the family. Their application to build the pool and other landscaping projects was denied by the city planning director.

Although the pool, a patio, footbridges and tiki torches already exist — the family said they thought they had the go-ahead after former mayor Patti Galle allegedly told them so — council members must ignore that fact in reviewing the application.

Instead, they’re considering the yard features’ encroachment into a permanent conservation easement intended to protect some of the property as open space. They’re also re-weighing whether the proposed project meets city code, which prohibits building in or around wetlands but allows for a reduction in standards when achieving them “would deprive an owner of all economically viable use of the land.”

The Bundy house is sandwiched between two wetland areas. Associated transition zones — mapped after the house was built — now cover pretty much the entire property.

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