During its meeting Tuesday night, the Columbia County Board of Commissioners weighed in on part of a dispute between a homeowner and his neighbors in the West Lake neighborhood in Evans, with a unanimous vote to deny a contentious variance request.
Sandip and Ritaben Patel had submitted a request for a variance at their property on the south side of Evans to Locks Rd., zoned Single-family Residential (R-2), where they completed the four-year construction of a home more than 14,000 square feet this past summer.
At the northern, eastern and western perimeters of the property are a block wall with a brick finish, built with columns spaced eight feet apart, along with a gate at the driveway and signage. The heights of the wall and the columns vary, but at their highest points reach up to about nine feet. The signage, which reads “Pramukh Pujan,” a Hindi term of religious significance, is on either side of the driveway, is approximately 13 square feet.
The request seeks variances to allow the height of the wall and size of the signs, as county ordinances would restrict walls at front setbacks to no higher than three feet, at side setbacks no higher than six feet and signage no more than six square feet.
In the narrative accompanying the request application, Sandip Patel says the size of the walls are to ensure the safety of the home and family—citing a rash of break-ins of some 10 homes of residents of Indian descent between 2018 and 2019—as well as to protect a Hindu temple built on the property.
The planning department stated in the staff report that the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office said it could find no record of a break-ins targeting Indian locals during this period.
Martinez attorney David Huguenin spoke to the board on behalf of the Patels, distributing among the commissioners more than a dozen photos of other West Lake homes with walls and gates higher than the permitted six feet. He also noted to the commissioners that the planning department had initially recommended approval of the request before changing it to a recommendation for denial two days before the item was scheduled to go before the Columbia County Planning Commission.
The planning department stated in its second staff report that it had received a letter from attorney Wright McLeod, on behalf of the West Lake Property Owners Association (WLPOA), several days before the Planning Commission’s meeting on Sept. 19, requesting the item be tabled to allow time for the WLPOA to resolve covenant issues with the Patels.
The WLPOA had cited the Patels for the signage and the presence of a place of worship as violations of the subdivision’s covenants.
“It’s not fair when everybody complains and they have the same violation,” said Huguenin to the commissioners. “We’re asking for fairness, especially if we’re considering the fact that the neighbors in many houses in West Lake, and other homes outside the walls of West Lake, have similar gates and walls up and down the street all over in West Lake.”
Chairman Doug Duncan asked Huguenin if Sundip Patel had approached the county about the wall, was he told “no” if he had, and whether he had found another builder. Huguenin acknowledged that Patel had not reached out to the county before building the wall, and that this oversight was why he sought the variances.
“It was not, and that’s why we’re asking,” Huguenin said. “You don’t want to hear the word ‘forgiveness,’ but that’s what we’re asking.”
McLeod went before the commissioners on behalf of the WLPOA, joined by some of the Patels’ neighbors, to oppose the variance request.
“Fairness is following the rules,” said McLeod, noting that Sundip Patel was not in good standing with the WLPOA, as the home built is different from the plan for the home that had been approved. “In essence, he says one thing and then, either intentionally or unintentionally, he does something else.”
Deputy County Manager Matt Schlachter did mention to the board that the county code allowed for eight foot fencing before being changed to the current restrictions in 2017.
After Commissioner Don Skinner motioned to disapprove the request, all the commissioners voted it down. McLeod, who is representing the WLPOA in its dispute with the Patels regarding the covenants, expected the board to vote as it did.
“The petitioner was clearly against code,” commented McLeod after the decision. “The commissioners voted unanimously to uphold the code sections. So it’s a tough situation for Mr. Patel because of the amount of money that he spent, but he literally just didn’t follow the rules.”
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering business for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
