Clifford Cunningham calls the building next to his Bethesda home the "Holy Moly Temple" after he heard a cyclist's exclamation upon seeing it. Tax assessors call it "appalling." The architect who built it says his "rare" design is not what it should have been.
Cunningham has fought for several years against his Brookes Lane neighbor, Sang Joo, over a garage and storage shed Joo constructed. Cunningham successfully argued for a 50 percent drop in his property assessment because the building significantly damaged his property value. But he wants laws changed to account for situations like his.
Joo's structure, approved by the county's Department of Permitting Services, includes corrugated metal and a sharply sloping back roof, in a design arrangement that Joo calls "rare." He said he never intended to hurt his neighbors. Financial constraints, he said, have prevented him from turning the structure into what he wanted, which he said may eventually be living quarters for his parents when they visit.
"My intention was to improve my property," said Joo, an architect with Grandesign Studio in Silver Spring who lives in a single-family home on his property.
The building's appearance and effect on Cunningham's property spurred his complaints. He said the corrugated metal wall that faces his house creates glare that made it difficult for him to back out of his driveway. He also said the temperature around his house skyrockets by as much as 20 degrees because of the metal.
Earlier this year, Joo and Cunningham agreed that Joo would paint the corrugated metal to reduce its glare and plant trees along the property line to eventually obscure Cunningham's view.
The county's Property Tax Appeal Board ordered on June 23 that Cunningham's property tax assessment be reduced 50 percent to $452,000. The board changed the assessment "due to the appalling condition of the next door residence and its demonstrated negative effect on the value of neighboring properties."
"They ought to be able to say that you can't build something that negatively affects a neighbor's property," Cunningham said.
"I think the county shouldn't allow these situations to happen," said Dr. Jose Quiros, who lives on Locust Lane near Joo's property. "That's what we pay taxes for."
He said that he is not trying to have Joo's building torn down, and has no plans to sell his home.
Joo received a permit to build the structure in July 2004, according to the Department of Permitting Services. George Muste, a manager with the department for eight years, said one possible solution for such cases could be to require that new structures blend in appropriately with neighboring homes. The designs for these structures could be reviewed by homeowner associations before reaching Permitting Services.
But he said without these provisions, the department cannot give advice or issue permits based on appearances.
"It's a very delicate issue," Muste said. "It's very hard to regulate."
Because of financial hardship, Joo had to re-submit plans to Permitting Service and repeatedly delayed construction. In November 2006, after complaints from neighbors, including Cunningham, about the unfinished building, Joo pleaded guilty in a civil case to failing to maintain the structure in District Court in Silver Spring, and received a $500 suspended fine.
Joo eventually agreed to follow a court-mandated construction schedule, and it was finished in June 2008.
But Joo said the project is about 80 percent of what he had envisioned, which accounts in part for its appearance.
"It had a lot of unintended consequences that are disappointing," said Jim Savage, a Montgomery County attorney who worked on the civil case on behalf of the county.
Joo's property was assessed at $627,000 on July 1, down $58,000 from its January 2008 levels, but is expected to rise back to $685,000 in July 2010 with phase-in assessments, according to tax assessment records. He said he was disappointed that the tax appeal board used the word "appalling" to describe his property and questioned its methods.
"How does tax assessment come out with their figures? I cannot get into that," Joo said.
But Cunningham thinks other homeowners should be spared what he has gone through, and that the idea of how the county protects people's "safety, health and welfare" needs to be revisited.
"I want to see the law change," Cunningham said.
County Councilman Roger Berliner said although Cunningham's concerns were raised when anti-mansionization legislation was discussed, and eventually approved, last year, he said the council felt it could not act on those concerns.
"We ultimately concluded that we could not comfortably legislate taste," said Berliner (D-Dist. 1) of Potomac.
