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GRAFTON, Mass. – Grafton Building Inspector Robert Berger has been given the go-ahead to take 20 property owners to court for long-time building and zoning violations.
The backlog dates back to 2008, when the town was considering a bylaw that would have allowed Berger to issue fines for such infractions. With another attempt at a non-criminal disposition bylaw not expected until fall 2013, Berger recently asked the Board of Selectmen for approval to move to a legal solution.
"I've told them there's an infraction, I've written cease and desist letters," Berger said. "I've been frustrated that we've had no resolution on these cases."
The infractions range from roosters kept without a permit in violation of the town's backyard chicken ordinance to decks and above ground pools that straddle property lines and were built without a permit. In one instance, a towing business is allegedly being operated out of a residential garage.
Berger said he doesn't go out searching for these infractions. Most often, they are reported by frustrated neighbors or discovered while the building department is inspecting a nearby property. To document the case, Berger frequently turns to Google Earth for satellite images.
Taking the cases to court isn't cheap. It costs the town $1,000 just to file, Berger said.
"That's $20,000 right off the bat," Berger said of the total cost to bring the 20 cases to court. "We've already won our first case, but it's getting appealed. It's going to take some time to work through these."
Berger said he would prefer to simply work with the property owners outside of the courtroom to clear the backlog.
"If you've gotten a letter from the building department that says you built a deck without a permit or you've got a rooster in violation of our backyard chicken bylaws, you have to comply," Berger said. "It's not going to go away."
Comments (27)
"To document the case, Berger frequently turns to Google Earth for satellite images."
REALLY? How is this in any way a means to accurately document any issue? I ask, because if I put in my own personal address, for the house I have lived in for 2 years, I see the car and camper owned by the former owners and residents of the house clearly parked in the driveway.
Google Earth is not a real time application to know what is going on, and if Mr. Berger is using this as some means to go after people, then this approach is flawed.
I have spoken with him once, and while he was not rude on the phone to me, more matter of fact, I have spoken with many individuals in town who have dealt with him to back up the claims that he is not easy to work with, to obtain information from. I have tried to navigate the site and the fee schedule, and have found this to be excessively confusing. For example, if you want to put a deck on the house, you go to the fee schedule to see how much, and find out that a deck fee is not listed. that is stated "under B.O.C.A. fee schedule". But where is this schedule? It is not on the town website, and despite my best efforts on Google, nothing came up. Go to the downloadable form section of the website if you want even more confusion.
I am not sure what is gained by making the process difficult, and while I have not first hand experienced him being as described, enough people I know have to back up what I am reading. By making it difficult, it would appear that Mr. Berger has put the town in the position of having to take people to court, costing the town $20K, most likely more beyond that once these individual cases get to court. Certainly there has to be a lawyer or lawyers involved, and their cost is not part of the money now being spent. Why is it that fees and processes for common projects cannot be clearly laid out by the building inspector? Why is it that a survey is required, if the project clearly is not anywhere near impeding on a property line (maybe have a process where someone can come out and make that determination prior to the start of any project)? Further, why if there are so many issues with this individual, is he still around to cause issues? Clearly he has to work for someone, or some group within the town, and clearly the large public outcry against this guy has to be heard by someone or some group that this guy reports to. He can't be king of the castle without consequences - someone ultimately has to sign his paycheck.
Again in this comment we are mixing two different subjects. Most of the comments in this thread are issues around building permits and inspections and frustration with personal style.
On the other hand the article with the lawyers and the $20,000 and the Selectmen's several year moratorium on enforcement, and their decision now to lift the moritorium and proceed with enforcement are about Zoning issues. Although it is not always easy for the average person to recognize the distinction the two are very different subjects, with very different issues.
Having both building code and zoning enforcement roles come under the same person is a matter of economics and custom. The Building Inspector role is distinct from the Zoning Enforcement Officer role. Most communities like Grafton do combine them for efficiency, but the roles and the rules and processes are very different.
Building permits and inspections fall under state codes. The state requires the Town to have a Building Inspector, requires him to enforce the state code, largely tells him how to do it, and enforcement flows from him to the state with little local control involved.
On the other hand zoning issues fall under the Town's Zoning Bylaw which we here in Grafton adopt at Town Meeting. For zoning issues a complaint is made to the Zoning Enforcement officer by someone who is impacted by a violation. The Zoning Officer investigates, and issues an enforcement order if a violation is found. If the order is not complied with then under the law the next step is to go to court.
The Selectmen had maintained a policy of not authorizing that step of going to court for some years and so a backlog of unresolved cases built up. That was a good thing for the people who were violating the law, but not so good for the people who were adversely impacted by violations since they have to depend on the Town to enforce the law.
The article is about the Selectmen deciding to lift the moratorium and return to normal enforcement of the Town's bylaw.
This guy wonders why people are so upset with him and he does not get it. When people go to him he is suppose to work for us, he is suppose to help us with the process. I have had to deal with this guy on several occasions and all I have had were bad experiences. I had to pay for surveys on my property for a simple job that cost me $800 and the materials for the job were $200. He is rude with a know it all attitude but the problem is he won't tell you how to correct the issue. He thinks he is the commander who says no that's wrong fix it, ok what do I have to do? You figure it out then get in touch with me. I have never been treated as rudely as I have been by him. Another feather in the cap of the town by hiring this guy. He is the reason people will do work and not get permits because they refuse to deal with him.
I could never understand the need for a $700-800 complete survey (initial and as-built) when adding a few feet to your deck and the original plot plan shows the house and the lot lines 100 feet from the house. Shouldn't common sense prevail?
What if the BI came to the selectmen and asked for permission to permanently dismiss these 20 cases and any other ones that were going nowhere? There would have been way more comments here and he would have been roasted for being a wimp.
You have obviously never tried to pull a permit and complete a project!
Great reply from BobH. Thank you for explaining the situation.
Regardless of how you feel about the Zoning Enforcement Officer, citizens of Grafton should be more concerned about unenforced bylaws. I applaud the decision to allow these cases to go to court.
The situation with the Building Code is different from this. It can be enforced directly through the State without the Town going to court or trying to pick and choose. The cases this is about are zoning violations where someone complained to the Zoning Officer. He did not go out looking for them. For each person who is unhappy about having the Zoning Bylaw enforced against them there is someone else who has filed a formal complaint and has a right to enforcement and appeals.
The Zoning Officer has to act on the zoning complaints he receives. The last few years the Selectmen had been unwilling to support the zoning enforcement process with the next step. That exposed the Town and negated the laws Town Meeting has enacted. The Selectmen's policy of not enforcing the Zoning Bylaw was getting around and people were getting to know they could ignore the law.
Holy cow, Yoda, I feel a disturbance in the Force.
Why? Because I may actually say something counter to the rest of my fellow Graftonites (including the roosters).
What? Mr. Berger and his department actually HELPED me with a contractor. The contractor wanted to move a renovation project along by skipping some of those pesky regulations. The BI department stopped him. And then they found legitimate violations that were fixed at contractor expense.
Yikes...I will now go into hiding...cloaking device on!
Mr. Berger, I think you should take the plank out of your eye before looking for the splinters in someone else. Our brand new home has so many building code violations it is a wonder it passed any kind of inspection by you or your office. And yet the building inspector issued a Certificate of Occupancy in spite of blatant code violations and a property line that was not in accordance with town specifications. You skimped on your duties sir when it came to our home, and now you want to go after others?
The point of a building inspector is to protect the consumer not to hassle the consumer and delay projects! That's what Bob Berger does, hassle and delay. He seems to get some sort of perverse joy from making things difficult for the people of Grafton. If he would use professional discretion in doing his job people wouldn't avoid his office and permitting but knowing the history of this man makes anyone in their right mind stay clear of Berger's office! Our Town Administrator and Select People enjoy the fact that Berger places fees on anything and everything he can because those fees go into the general fund. People of this town who own a house don't realize how bad this guy is until they finally have to deal with him! I once thought that people were avoiding him because they were trying to get away with something and I found out they were avoiding him because he has a Napoleon complex, he starts out nice then puts the screws to you anyway he can.
Actually, the point of a Building Inspector is to protect the community. And that is what Mr. Berger is trying to do. The problem with letting people keep chickens without a permit isn't that there's chickens. It's that they didn't follow the rules, which ARE there to protect the consumer, by the way.
So what?
So, a lot. Liability, for one thing. The town knows these situations are non-compliant and isn't doing anything. I'm thinking that could cost a lot more than $20,000 in the long run.
Fairness, for another. What about the people who do things right--apply for permits, hire engineers, get a lawyer, etc.? Don't they become the idiots in this scenario? Why should anyone follow the rules if there's no consequences for failing to do so?
The truth is the Selectmen (and by extension their professional staff) have utterly failed the town on this issue to this point and created this situation through procrastination, delay and a lack of leadership. They have been weak in the face of loudly voiced but mainly reactionary criticisms to the idea of non-criminal disposition (and/or too lazy to learn what it means enough to see the benefits) and created an unsafe and unsustainable situation for the town. Hopefully that can change.
To northboundtrain...the blame isn't the on the selectmen the blame is on Berger, only because he is very unapproachable. If someone wants to know something related to building they are apprehensive to contact the building department. This is because Mr. Berger's reputation precedes him, ask people in town...ask builders and contractors...ask people from out of town...he is mean, he is overbearing, he is condecending, he is loud, he is disrespectful, he points at you while telling you how it is, he is a bully...and I could go on. I am sure he has a few bad points about him too. What only HE could do is change up his approach, for him to remember he is a provider of information and valuable safety standards and codes to the residents of this town. Only HE can rectify his very poor reputation and his deplorable behavior. You know the Chief of Police has a lot more juice than the building inspector and the Chief doesn't treat anyone in the way that Mr. Berger does. Like I said earlier in a past post I have interacted with Bob a couple of times in a non-official capacity and he does have a sense of humor and can certainly be likable and official with out being a jerk. Maybe he should reattempt a resolution with the 20 cases, and see if he was to try a different approach that maybe he can succeed with out litigation.
So again don't blame the selectmen for his issues. Maybe you should stay on that train.
On further attempts to resolve the cases without litigation: at the meeting where the Selectmen decided to go ahead with enforcement they discussed that aspect pretty thoroughly and they were satisfied everything that could be done along that line was being done. The process they agreed to even includes Town Council offering another opportunity to resolve the matter in the notice she sends to the person telling them what will be happening.
By the way it is not surprising people are not aware of all this. The Selectmen did it at a meeting that they did not put on cable so only the people who happened to be there heard the full story.
Please tell me it is April Fools Day. I can understand the complaints of neighbors about decks built on property lines, clearly this cannot be allowed.
Roosters can be loud, so okay, maybe, but it is a stretch...those would have to be some really raucous roosters.
However, to take someone to court because of a permit violation, at the cost of the town---- a town without the money to do so----- is ridiculous. We do not have the money for frivolous power trip lawsuits. Pick your battles carefully when using taxpayer money to fight them.
You know Berger brought this upon himself. If he stepped off of his high horse and treated people a little (actually a lot) more like people he would have a much better result. I have dealt with him in his office where he is the 'Bully of the Building' and out of the office where he is not so bad. If he acted and treated people as fellow humans and not as peasants in "HIS TOWN" he would be received better and probably get positive results. Most of the violations he will be bringing to court are the direct result of a town official such as Berger being completley unapproachable. Nobody wants to deal with him because of the reputation he created as a condesending, loud bully. On the other hand this Town has too many by-laws and rules, fees, committees and commissions, and of course the passing of the "this is how we always did it" passing from secretaries to clerks etc... for things you can and can't do on your own property.
The people in this town elect the real officials here. I don't know if they get paid or not and it doesn't matter, I know the inspector gets paid. He as the other officials work for US. None of them should ever be less than cordial when dealing with a member of the Grafton community. (I am not talking about police, fire etc..) I mean the people who volunteer for commitees, or commissions the elected people who appoint other people who look at you over their glasses and talk down to you.
Mr. Berger can just try to be more of a fellow human and less of a tyrannical overlord to get the results with out going to court and spending crazy money.
Please let me also state as I should have in my earlier post, that there are a good amount of people at the town hall who are everything that I did not mention. The clerks, assessors, collectors and such that really go out of their way to assist and be helpful, and especially patient.
One really has to wonder what the motivation is, to go after people for what they may or may not do on their private property and spy on them via google earth satellite pix .... personally, I side with the chicken coop rebels.
Our building inspector in this town is the biggest ass that anybody's ever encountered ..he has 4 pending federal lawsuits against him ...he should have his building inspecting license pulled..
For Mr. badboy...can you please elaborate on the lawsuits pending against Mr. Berger? What court? Who is the complainant?
Thanks...inquiring minds want to know!
Graftonbadboy,
I beg to differ, Phyllis Diller @ the BOH is our town's biggest ass ever encountered.........just my humble opinion.
Let's just agree to agree, they're both twits!
Well at least our building inspector has solved the mystery to the riddle: What came first, the chicken or the egg?" Now we all know, the rooster came first! :)
Go ahead waste $20,000 in legal fees for chickens.......typical town hall BS.
Building inspector issued building permit a few years ago for siding project 3 months after my contractor applied to the TH for it.
Go back and inspect the shoddy hail repair work the gypsies did in town! Shingles falling off roofs, etc.
I would somewhat agree that we should be a little more selective on what we litigate. The fact that gypsies did your work in a shoddy manner is your own fault!! You went and hired the cheapest out of towners! You got what you deserved and paid for.
The shoddy work wasn't done on my house but the one next to mine by some outfit from Minnesota or Wisconsin. When I contracted my repair work, I had the LOCAL contractor, the one whose signs you still see out there in front of local houses today, to do the work. He was beaming the day another local contractor stopped by to tell him it was nice to see the local guy getting a piece of the pie after the hail storm.
Let's not confuse shoody workmanship with code violations. Shoddy work can still be 100% compliant with the building codes.
If your neighbor's house really had state building code violations, was a complaint filed against the installer?
After the hail storm, Mr. Berger was very helpful to me in getting my inusrance company to pay for what they were supposed to. They were trying to pay to replace only 1/2 my roof and Bob had the relevant state codes copied and ready to distribute to anyone for the asking (clearly, I wasn't the first one getting jerked around by his insurance company after that storm)