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Stop work order reversed on controversial Springfield mansion
Despite the wishes of his community, Hermilio Machicao will soon have a place to call home.
On Tuesday, the Fairfax County Board of Zoning Appeals voted unanimously to reverse a stop-work order on Machicao's Springfield mansion that the county enacted in May.
Because Fairfax County staff issued the order more than 60 days after approving the necessary permits for construction, the BZA upheld the Code of Virginia, which states that after a 60-day period elapses, it is unlawful for a governing body to apply such an order.
Many Springfield residents are familiar with Machicao's property. It's the seven-bedroom mansion that rests unfinished fewer than 14 feet from the curb in central Springfield. The house is bordered by three roadways: Backlick Road, Amherst Avenue and Highland Street.
When construction began in January, concerned Springfield residents began calling Lee District Supervisor Jeff McKay's (D) office, leading to repeated inspections of the property by county zoning staff and repeated approvals stating that the home was in compliance.
The county's Zoning Permit Review Branch "erroneously identified" one of the faces of the home to be within the required front-yard setback, a staff report to the BZA indicated. It was later determined that one end of the house, 13.9 feet away from the curb, did not in fact meet the 30-foot setback requirement.
McKay has said publicly that he hopes the home will be torn down as a lesson to those who would construct "this sort of house again."
However, the determination that the building violates county code was made May 5, more than 90 days after the issuance of permits.
"If this mistake had been caught or acted upon in 60 days, there would be a different argument," said BZA vice chair Paul W. Hammack Jr., adding, "This code provision was passed to allow people to rely on the issuance of permits."
"It's obvious what this house was built for," said Springfield Civic Association President Tawny Hammond, who is among neighbors who believe it was intended to be used as a boarding house. "The community needs to have confidence in the county's zoning department so that potential boarding houses that aren't in compliance are no longer built, and are not further degrading neighborhoods in central Springfield."
Machicao said it is out of his hands if the home is turned into a boarding house.
A professional developer for four years, Machicao, 24, bought the house a year and a half ago for $500,000, and has put $400,000 into its construction, he said. He hopes to sell it for $1.3 million.
For now, however, since the housing market is so poor and the buyer with whom he was negotiating is no longer interested after waiting two months for work to resume, Machicao said, "Until things settle down, I'm going to move into the house with my family and hopefully down the road I can sell it."
Construction will conclude within two months, after which Machicao and his wife, his brother and his wife, and his sister and her husband will move in, at least until the market evens out.
"Or, we can rent it," Machicao said.
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