A view to disappointment

Associated Press

SUNNYSLOPE — When Mike and Ginny Kerstetter built their dream home for $400,000, they considered the stunning view of the Wenatchee Valley to be part of the price.

But when the Kerstetters soak in the hot tub built into their cedar deck, and when they look out the windows of their bedroom and their dining nook, they see what they call their living nightmare.

It’s the house next door.

Built just 7 feet from their property line, the new home blocks all the vistas they had for a year after building their hillside home.

What’s happened to the Kerstetters is not unique, said Clark Cook of Boa Construction, the company that built the house next door.

"When people are building a house, they need to use foresight," Cook said. "How is it going to look not only in nine months, when we’re done with it, but in nine years, when the neighborhood is built up?"

The Kerstetters thought their view would be protected, either by covenants for the new subdivision or by county building regulations.

What they discovered, after consulting with county planners, local officials, state lawmakers, real estate agents and lawyers, is that pricey views aren’t protected in most of the state.

While a few cities and counties address the protection of "view corridors" in their regulations, none is for the sole purpose of protecting the views from private homes.

"It’s a hazy issue as to whether a city or county can impose an ordinance just to protect a view," said Connie Elliot, a research associate for the Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington. The nonprofit organization offers research help to government agencies.

Two state laws address view issues, but only loosely.

The state Environmental Policy Act includes as one of its purposes that Washington residents should have "aesthetically and culturally pleasing surroundings."

The state Shoreline Management Act expressly prohibits cities and counties from issuing building permits for structures taller than 35 feet that obstruct the views along certain waterfronts.

But to be legally secure, aesthetic regulations should include other public benefits, such as health and safety, said attorney Bob Meinig, who works as a legal consultant for the research center.

Developers can include view protections in convenants, or rules that govern property within a development, Elliott said.

"Courts have ordered that homes be torn down because they violated height restrictions in covenants for developments," she said.

Mike Kerstetter said he was advised by an attorney that covenants for his subdivision probably were not specific enough to win a judgment in court.

So the couple has bitterly accepted that there is nothing they can do to make the house next door go away.

When they built their 3,157-square-foot home, they located it to take advantage of the view of the pasture just below the subdivision.

"The field, the city, the lights, the river, the hills, that was our amazing view," Ginny Kerstetter said. "We set up our whole house for the view."

The owner of the neighboring lot offered to sell it to the couple for $70,000. But they thought that was too high and declined.

They assumed any house built there would face the street, and would not interfere with their views of the river and hills.

When construction workers began staking the ground for the foundation of the house that would be built next door, the Kerstetters were shocked.

It looked like the house would be built along the entire length of their home, essentially becoming their view.

That started a rift between the Kerstetters and the builder, Cook, that continues today.

Cook says he had no choice but to situate the house the way he did because of the narrowness of the lot and the location of its septic field. He said that if the Kerstetters had built their home differently on their half-acre lot, they would still have a nice view.

The Kerstetters say their home’s value is ruined. They don’t want to live there anymore, but they can’t sell it because of the blocked views.

For now, the Kerstetters plan to remodel their house, which they estimate will cost as much as $50,000.

"There’s nothing we can do now but spend more money," Mike Kerstetter said. "We’ll have to redo the windows, the doors and the deck to make the house livable again, so we won’t have to stare at a big, huge home next door all the time."

Associated Press

Copyright ©2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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