South Pasadena : Ruling on House Challenged
City officials Monday asked the state Court of Appeal to reconsider a decision to let former Mayor Lee Prentiss expand his historic house.
Prentiss won the latest round in a two-year legal battle against the city when the appeals court ruled two weeks ago that the city in 1990 had wrongfully revoked his permit to expand his 3,500-square-foot Oaklawn Avenue home.
The court, in what South Pasadena officials and preservationists say is a precedent-setting decision, ruled that the listing of the house on the historic registry should not by itself restrict the owner’s use of the property in a major way.
Since the city revoked the permit in 1990 after construction had begun, Prentiss’ 86-year-old Craftsman-style home has been covered in plastic and tar paper.
City officials say they revoked the permit because the proposed construction needed environmental review.
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