Superior Court judge orders house additions razed

WHITMAN -- In a case a local official called precedent-setting, a Brockton Superior Court judge has ordered a Whitman man to tear down a three-story garage, a deck, and an addition to his Temple Street house that were built without the necessary town permits and inspections.

David Field was also ordered to reimburse the town for $37,000 spent on legal fees. Whitman building inspector Robert Curran called the case outcome precedent-setting, in that it demonstrates the lengths the town will go to enforce its zoning and building requirements.

Curran, who has been building inspector since 1998, said only once before has he asked that a building be torn down. ''That was a situation where a building had been put up and modified without a permit and it had to be removed. That happened six years ago."

Field, meanwhile, says Whitman's building inspector is ''out of control" and its officials simply have a grudge against him. He has already filed an appeal of the judge's order.

Field's beef with the town started five years ago, when he obtained a building permit to add a 27-by-27-foot, single-story, attached garage and make basic improvements to his two-family dwelling at 249 Temple St.

According to Curran, Field instead built a three-story garage and extended the rear foundation of his house to accommodate a third kitchen. He then added a second-story deck to the front of the house.

During construction, Curran said, the town made several attempts to get Field to comply with building ordinances. A ''Stop Work" order issued in October 2001 was ignored, as was the revocation a month later of the original building permit for the garage. And wiring and plumbing were installed and walled in before the required safety inspections could be done.

In March 2002, the town obtained a court injunction that stopped work and barred anyone from living in the building because of unsafe conditions. According to court documents, the second-story deck had been built within an arm's reach of an electrical power line. Field made some adjustments and was allowed to return.

The town then filed a request in Brockton Superior Court that Field be ordered to tear down the improvements he made without permits, inspections, or adherence to the setback requirements in the town's bylaw. For that case, Curran was asked to document all the attempts made by the town to work with Field as well as all of Field's alleged violations.

''The court determined the town did everything the right way," Curran said. ''The fact is, David Field did the wrong thing even when the town made an effort to work with him."

Judge Charles Hely ruled Aug. 15 that Curran and town officials had used ''reasonable efforts" to get Field to comply with the building permit and state inspectional codes. In his order, Hely said Field must reimburse the town for the $37,000 in legal expenses by Sept. 15. That deadline passed without the debt being paid; instead, Curran received a call from the town's attorney saying Field had appealed Hely's ruling.

Field said he expects the appeal, filed in Boston, will result in getting the ruling overturned. ''I believe in the legal system," he said.

He said the town was simply carrying on a vendetta against him. ''This is just an out-of-control building inspector and a modern-day witch hunt," he said. ''I was targeted probably because I had once taken out [nomination] papers for selectman."

Curran said he is confident the appeals court will uphold the original decision in favor of the town. The Brockton judge's order requires Field to remove the addition he made to the home's foundation and to shift the rear wall back to its original location. Field must either completely tear down the garage or remove its second and third stories and shift the remaining portion forward 3 feet to line up with the rear wall of the house. He must also take down the second-story deck. All work must be completed by Feb. 15, 2006. If Field fails to comply, Curran said the town will take over.

Christine Wallgren can be reached at CLWallgren@aol.com.