House site in Edina pushes boundaries, buttons

What to do about the new house at 6120 Brookview Av. in Edina?

The two-story, nearly 3,000-square-foot home sits on a quiet street that curves past Pamela Park. Gone is the massive bur oak that once towered over the property. The new house is pushed against the southern edge of the double lot, leaving half of the property empty.

Outraged neighbors say developer Jeff Schoenwetter is a "bully builder" who has violated Edina ordinances and wedged the house into a space too near one of the city's most historic homes. They believe he intends to split the property, a subdivision the city has previously denied.

Schoenwetter, who owns JMS Custom Homes, says he is a hard-working builder and has done nothing wrong.

The dispute has already landed in court and is expected to go before the Edina City Council on Feb. 17. Neighbors want the house moved to the center of the 100-foot-wide parcel so that the property will never have two homes on it.

Schoenwetter says moving the $900,000 house is "an unrealistic expectation."

"We have sited the house properly, we have followed all the rules, and we are not building a monster house," said Schoenwetter, who was 2006 president of the Builders Association of Minnesota. "There is no tale of horrible here. ... I'm a good guy and I'm trying to do the right things."

"He risks his reputation by building oversize homes on undersized lots in total disregard for neighbors," Lawver said. "He is treating us like idiots."

Until last fall, a modest rambler sat on the land. The owner and a developer asked the city for permission to subdivide the double lot. The city said no. That developer backed away.

JMS bought the property, hauling away the old house and garage.

Dick and Jackie Whitbeck live next door in a historic farmhouse known as the Sly House. The Whitbecks have received an award for preserving the house, which was built between 1866 and 1870, and they've been asked by the city to apply for historic status.

The Whitbecks say Schoenwetter visited them last fall and talked about building two homes next door. Later, they said, he showed neighbors plans for one large house and offered to sell 25 feet of the property for $75,000 to $100,000 so the ancient oak could be saved. Shortly afterward, JMS removed the tree.

Neighbors soon saw new stakes on the property that marked the dividing line between the parcel's two 50-foot lots. It appears JMS never formally applied to the city for subdivision of the property. But city records collected by Brookview homeowners indicate that in December, JMS brought plans for a second home on the site to the Planning Department. A box on the application had been checked saying no variance was needed. City staff workers told the firm that the land would have to be subdivided before another house could be built. Though it's platted as two lots, the city considers it suitable for one house. JMS then applied to Hennepin County to separate the parcel of land into two. The county notified the city.

"He was attempting to record a deed that would separate it into two lots," said attorney Tom Scott, who represents the city of Edina.

Schoenwetter said he went to the county "because it is not yet determined whether the buyer of this house wants to buy one lot or two lots." Asked whether he wanted to build one house or two on the parcel, he said, "that will be up to the future homeowner."

Then in January, a neighbor complained that the new house seemed too close to the street. The city discovered the house was 7 feet nearer the street than it should be, and on Jan. 7 issued a stop-work order.

Schoenwetter got the order overturned in Hennepin County District Court, arguing that stopping work in winter could jeopardize the structure as well as his business. He wanted to complete the house in time for the Parade of Homes, which begins this month.

The city says that the JMS surveyor made the setback mistake -- Schoenwetter says, "I'm not prepared to say the surveyor was wrong" -- and that house plans submitted to the city contain the error.

"The city relied on that survey," attorney Scott said. "There was nothing on the face of it that indicated anything was out of line."

He said the house's location to one side of the property does not violate any ordinances: "We cannot control where he puts a house on a lot as long as it meets minimum setbacks.

Schoenwetter is adamant that he has done nothing wrong.

"I'm a good builder working very hard in a tough economy, doing the right things and complying with the letter of the law," he said.

Lawver said if Schoenwetter moved the new house to the center of the parcel, neighbors could "have their privacy back."

The Whitbecks, who have lived in the old house for more than 20 years, said they are not sure they would buy their home again with the new house crowding in next door.

"This house is significant to the city," Jackie Whitbeck said. "For a developer to just dump this on us is terrible."

Mary Jane Smetanka • 612-673-7380