Board upholds zoning decision to demolish

A former Connecticut woman left the Walhalla City Hall in tears.  Brittany Hall re-located to Walhalla in the hope that she and her young family would be allowed to move into a mobile home at 221 N. Laurel Street that her grandfather offered at no charge.  But a permit obtained by the grandfather, Jerry Patterson, to repair the trailer had expired and the city zoning administrator had deemed the structure unfit for human habitation.  And last evening the Walhalla Board of Zoning Appeals voted to uphold zoning administrator James Ashton’s ruling that the trailer is non-conforming and should be demolished.  Hall’s grandfather, Patterson, accepted blame for allowing the permit to expire and not realizing he could have renewed it.  But Patterson said he was forced to stop work on the trailer because he ran out of money.  Hall appealed for time, saying her family was prepared to re-start the repairs and predicted they could be satisfied by the middle of June.  But Betty Hoadley, appeals board member, said Walhalla’s rules covering mobile homes must be applied equally to all mobile home owners.  And, after the board viewed pictures of the trailer, it voted 4 to 0 to deny the appeal.