Menlo Park: Neighbors sue over planned second story Menlo Park: Neighbors sue over planned second story (March 16, 2005)

By Rebecca Wallace

Almanac Staff Writer

As threatened, two couples are suing their neighbors and the city of Menlo Park over a planned two-story addition.

Larry and Judi Morrill and George and Jane Jaynes say the addition planned by La Loma Drive residents Robert Carlson and Stacy Starcher will loom over their yards, harming their privacy and cutting into their enjoyment of their homes.

The lawsuit, filed March 9 in San Mateo County Superior Court, seeks to have the court invalidate the Menlo Park City Council's February 8 approval of a variance needed for the project. The Planning Commission had previously denied the variance, but the applicants appealed to the council.

The plaintiffs claim that the variance -- which allowed the addition to encroach into a required setback -- should not have been granted because Mr. Carlson and Ms. Starcher could have chosen to build in a less intrusive location on their lot.

Ms. Starcher has declined to speak with the Almanac about the long neighborhood dispute, but she and Mr. Carlson have told the council that they're very limited on where they can build because their lot is triangle-shaped.

The lawsuit also asks for a court order preventing construction from beginning on the project, and the plaintiffs are seeking reimbursement of their legal fees, the extent of which has not yet been determined.

City Attorney Bill McClure said he could not comment directly on the lawsuit because he had not yet read it.

Regarding land-use law in general, he said there is nothing in local or state codes explicitly stating that neighbors' privacy and enjoyment of their property must be considered when granting a variance. He added, though, that Menlo Park's City Council and Planning Commission generally consider those factors in variance hearings.

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