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Lewiston reduces residents' fines for slip-ups on building permits By
Jennifer Brennan LEWISTON -- Lewiston's planning and zoning committee has lowered the fines for residents who built on property without building permits. Bob and Brenda Crowther just moved from Ireland to Lewiston and built a house, with the approval of the committee, and thought it would be OK to build a barn in addition to building the house, Bob said. "Normally when something gets built or [is] constructed without a permit, there's a fine," Chairman Bruce Karren said. The fine is often doubling the cost of the building permit. If a resident does not agree, he or she has the opportunity to go to a judge, Karren said. However, there were two instances in the meeting in which the penalty did not equal doubling the cost of the building permit. The committee approved a motion that the Crowthers' fine not exceed $115. "We apologize if we are at fault," Karren said. The same $115 fine cap was granted to Rick Thaurer, a Lewiston resident who built a stockyard and then went to Logan for a business license. In the previous Lewiston Planning and Zoning meeting, Karren said it was made clear Thaurer wouldn't have a problem getting a building permit. However, after going to Logan City Council meeting, he was granted a business license but thought it was a building permit, Karren said. "You allowed me to go ahead," Thaurer said to Karren, after Karren introduced the situation to the committee. Karren said in other committees, when things like this happen, the general contractor is penalized. Thaurer said he was the general contractor. "So we'll fine you twice," Karren said in response, jokingly.
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