Acts of God and Other Highly Unusual Activity

Image via Wikipedia

Where do I begin?  After a 3 hour Planning Commission meeting with plenty of over the top hyperbole the evening ended with an 8-0 vote stuffing a Hoy proposal to modify or abandon current City Code to allow Planned Unit Developments (PUDS) in the City.  But I digress.

The first two hours of the meeting were focused on a modification of City Code 405.330, Cessation of Use.  Ostensibly the change of the Code would allow non-conforming (read not to Code) homes that were damaged 55% or more of its reproduction costs.  "The majority of the damage to the structure or building was caused by a fire, act of God, or similar damaging event.  (Frankly, the tornado damage in St Louis looks more like the work of the Devil than a benevolent God, but again, I digress)
(Courts have recognized various events as acts of God—tornadoes, earthquakes, death, extraordinarily high tides, violent winds, and floods. Many insurance policies for property damage exclude from their protection damage caused by acts of God.)

West's Encyclopedia of American Law, edition 2. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

This led to a back in forth discussion with Don Coleman Jr and the City Attorney regarding the definition of an "Act of God", Coleman pressing the question of whether a "City sewer backing up in the basement" was an Act of God.  That ended by Attorney  John advising Mr Coleman to secure an attorney, that City Attorney was representing the City.

Comments from the audience strayed often into the whole concept of non-conforming property and the ability (and right) of the property owners to rebuild on or beyond the current footprint no matter the conditions or situation.  Although the Chair, Mark Horstman, tried to refocus discussion to the specific proposal for 405.330, comments from the audience went well beyond the scope of the proposal.  In the end the question was called and the vote taken, unanimously, to recommend adoption a new Cessation of Use which allows an owner to rebuild a structure which has a majority of damage caused by a fire or act of God, if within 6 months after said damage a building permit is obtained to rebuild on the same footprint and completed within  the time allowed by the building permit.  This recommendation will presumably be considered for adoption by the BOA at the next BOA meeting, May 3rd. 

Tomorrow's Post-Mary Drops the Bomb 

Related articles

• St. Louis Tornado Causes Damage, Injuries At Airport (huffingtonpost.com)
• Rabbi Laura Geller: Acts of God? A Jewish Perspective on Natural Disasters (huffingtonpost.com)