A new home might be on the way for paralyzed veteran Sean Gittens and his family in Evans.
Homes for Our Troops, a national organization that builds specially adapted houses for severely injured veterans, offered to build the Gittenses a new house last year.
Problems with negotiations between the group and the Knob Hill Property Owners Association prevented construction of the house only days before it was set to begin in mid-June.
“This is unfortunate that this even happened,” organization founder John Gonsalves said Friday. “It just wasn’t in the cards.”
The plans were to build on a lot just down the street from the Knob Hill house that the family rents, but the property owners association issued a cease-and-desist order, contending that the organization never got final approval and that there were concerns the home would reduce property values.
Because of the attention the issue received during the summer, Gonsalves said, many people called wanting to help, including a local developer who was interested in donating a lot in a nearby neighborhood.
The details are being worked out on the property transfer.
“We’re dotting all the i’s and crossing all the t’s on it right now,” Gonsalves said.
The Gittens family visited and approved the property that Gonsalves said he believes is still within the Greenbrier school zone, which Gittens’ wife wanted.
“They love the area,” Gonsalves said. “It is a pretty nice piece of property.”
Gonsalves would not reveal any details about the property or a possible timeline for construction, but said he’d like to see the home built as soon as possible.
God knows don't give out the address until the house well under construction this time.
Good for them and good luck to the folks in Knob Hill who put a stop to this home, your property values continue to decline even as this family moves on.
Here we go with the Knob Hill attacks again.... Wow folks. I don't even live there and I'm sick of it.
They did not follow the covenants. No exceptions are made in nicer neighborhoods. End of story.
No, but you'd think that when a man is willing to sacrifice HIS LIFE, so the snobs could have their convenants and live in a FREE country, they'd be willing to make an exception. It's just ashame and I wish the best for this wonderful family, and thank you for your dedication to our country!
Knob Hill is absolutely LOADED with active military, retired military and military contract employees. They were all able to follow the covenants. I'm so sorry for his injury but it's no justification for not following the rules. Would he be allowed to drive 95 mph in a 55 zone? Not likely, he has to follow the rules. Just like all of us.
The real bandit here is the organization building him the home. THEY are the ones who didn't follow the rules and caused all these problems. They should know better.
I'll stick to helping out with Wounded Warrior Homes like I've done in the past. I haven't run into problems helping them. Great organization.
Chillen, it wasn't about changing the rules for them. It was about the rules changing to eliminate them. It 's the same manipulative procedures used by any group to accomplish their own agenda whether it is business, politics, personal relationships or church.
Folks this is a dead issue. Let it lie. I'm glad the family found something else that works for them. That's all folks..
So willow bailey, you are saying that Knob Hill deliberately changed their covenants in order to keep this family out? If so, I'd love to see the proof of that.
Or were they simply enforcing the minimum square foot covenants that they had in place for their estate section (where these folks wanted to build)?
Chillen, I am saying that when people have their own agenda, they manipulate the rules to get their own way. That shouldn't come as a shock to anyone. The Gittens property met the minimum requirements as to square footage. Because others had chosen to build larger homes on that particular street, doesn’t legally change the rules for others. The minimum requirements then became subject to the unwritten and illegal desires of those in control.
I am certainly not going to waste my time beating this dead horse again, but I am going to state that I think a fair summary is this: The original Architectural Control Committee is no longer run by the original professional developer and real estate company. It has been turned over to the homeowner’s association who are at best, inexperienced, with the exception of their own purchasing experiences.
In the process, it appears that Gonsalves believed he had approval to begin construction. Once they broke ground and the word got out about the project, the homeowners became fearful and brought pressure upon the Board. The board panicked and began putting up obstacles for them, that others had not been faced with. And, to be fair, it sounds as if Gonsalves' organization would have benefited greatly from local professional services in the pre-construction planning stages, beginning particularly with the lot purchase for which they grossly overpaid.
The approval certainly could have and should have been worked out.
In any case, the Gitten family's needs will be better met in another neighborhood
No point in me rehashing either, I'm just happy they've found a location that meets the requirements of both parties. Maybe the will have a ribbon cutting or something when it is done so folks can help them celebrate.
raul, you are so right. I thought this was going to be a story about how a new home was progressing, not a rehashed bashing of the old news.
Most folks in KH and contiguous parts of CC adjacent to the Few Parkway south of Washington Road are decent people. Decent folk'll welcome the Gittens into their new neighborhood with little fanfare in the hope that this unseemly saga might be put behind us.
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