DELANO, Calif. (KERO) — What started as a project to give a little girl a safe place to play has turned into a dispute with the city of McFarland. Homeowners are questioning a stop work notice they received, claiming no one notified them prior, and are at risk of losing $15,000.
“We made this area specifically for our daughter to play in, she has her scooter, her chalk, her bike,” said homeowner Rafael Martinez.
For Martinez and his wife, this project was about more than concrete. It was about creating a safe space for their three-year-old.
But now, that same space has put him at odds with the city.
Martinez says a city inspector visited on September 18, when the work began, but didn’t mention any violations even after explaining the project's details.
Days later, ring camera footage captures the moment the inspector returned with a stop-work notice.
The inspector can be heard saying, “I’m giving you guys a red tag, you cant have a third car garage in the city.”
But Martinez says the extra concrete wasn’t poured for parking, and says he made that clear to the inspector from the start.
The notice says the project violates Mcfarland’s 60-40 ordinance, requiring 60 percent of a front yard to remain landscaped and limiting concrete to 40 percent.
Martinez says he had never heard of the rule, and questions why it wasn’t brought up when the inspector first visited.
Martinez asking over the ring camera why no one informed him. the inspector can be heard responding, “They had already poured most of it, every bit of it was almost poured.”
But Martinez says this simply isn’t true as photos taken that same day show the project still in its early stages.
“I just thought it was completely unfair how the guy and he waited until it was dry for him to send me this notice,” said Martinez.
23ABC reached out to the city for comment. After initially indicating a response would be provided, the city declined to comment. That was on October 5, reaching out again on the 14, the city did provide a comment that reads in part, “Out of respect for the resident's privacy and the confidentiality considerations associated with individual cases, the City will not be providing an interview or public comment regarding the specific circumstances.”
Now, the couple says they’re left with several options: remove part of the concrete, shorten the concrete, or seek an exception through the zoning commission, potentially adding to the $15,000 they say they’ve already spent.
“Its been a really big impact I mean $15,000 whether for me or the next person is a lot of money and for it to just be torn out from under you, that's where it hurts,” said Martinez.
The homeowners say they’re consulting with an attorney and hope to resolve the dispute without losing the space they created for their daughter.
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