TWO SCOTT CITY EMPLOYEES GIVEN 30 DAYS TO COMPLY WITH ORDINANCE

SCOTT CITY -- The Scott City Council is giving two city employees 30 days to come into compliance with a special-use ordinance or face the possibility of legal action.

A Planning and Zoning Committee member told the council late last month that Public Works director John Rogers lived in a commercially zoned area on Second Street East for three years without applying for a special-use permit. His sister Carolyn Tinsley, a secretary at city hall, is accused of recently moving into a commercially zoned building on the same street.

At the council's meeting Monday night, council members authorized city attorney Frank Siebert to mail letters to Rogers and Tinsley telling them they need to come into compliance.

Siebert would not discuss the contents of the letter, saying it was a confidential communication.

Siebert said the city does not allow people to live in commercially zoned buildings unless a special-use permit has been approved by the council. He said the application requires notification of surrounding businesses, a site plan and a $200 application fee. The permit request must be brought before the Planning and Zoning Committee, which will present its recommendations to the council.

Councilman Bill Barnett said the council probably will allow Tinsley and Rogers to live in their buildings as the application process progresses. He said Rogers plans to move out of the building within a few months and into a new home. Barnett said Rogers probably will be made to pay the application fee regardless of when he moves out.

"I've told the council that we need to make a ruling and stick with it," Barnett said. "We have to do what's right for the majority. Even if it's a friend, and no matter how much you'd like to help them out, you just can't."

Barnett said both Tinsley and Rogers said financial reasons forced them to move into the commercially zoned buildings. "Regardless, they're going to have to come into compliance," he said.

Council member Cindy Uhrhan said she is sure there will be no reason to bring legal action against either Rogers or Tinsley.

Uhrhan said because Monday's council meeting ran late she was unable to talk to either person. "I'm sure they will comply," she said.