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SCHENECTADY
City says ‘retaining wall’ is illegal
Stop-work order imposed on Wylie Street site
BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter

    The family that extended their backyard onto a mudslide-prone hill is now trying to argue that its dangerous construction project is not illegal.
    The owners of 55 Wylie St. were warned that their actions could lead to a ticket for building an improper fence, Corporation Counsel L. John Van Norden said. They responded by describing their stack of garbage and corrugated steel as a “retaining wall,” Van Norden said.
    The argument did not fare well at the city’s codes department Friday. Rather than simply facing a fence citation, the family was slapped with a stop-work order and told to provide a professional land survey and engineering schematics for the wall.
Building Inspector Keith Lamp cited the family after inspecting the wall himself.
He said he’s willing to consider the makeshift design a retaining wall — but that it’s still illegal.
“First of all, a retaining wall requires a permit,” he said.
To get a permit — which the family must now obtain if it wants to keep the wall — an engineer must develop an acceptable design. The project must also include a survey that delineates the precise boundary between the owners’ land and the city’s mudslide-prone hill. Commissioner of General Services Carl Olsen believes the wall may have been built on city land. ...........................>>>>..............................>>>>......................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01101&AppName=1