After a year and a half of growth, property owners again cleared trees and brush from the corner of Waldon Road and Main Street, and were again stopped by the city.
Workers were excavating and grading the property to sow grass when the city engineer issued a cease-and-desist order, said Ed Adler, one of the property owners.
“It’s absolutely ridiculous,” Adler said.
The city and property owners reached a consent agreement last June to remove a stop-work order issued by the city in April 2015.
The agreement requires the property owners to grade the property, clean rubbish, debris, branches, wood chips, garbage, and vegetation, and plant, mow, and maintain grass, as well as plant trees.
The property owners received a letter from the city in 2014 requiring the lot be cleaned up. The owners responded by clearing all trees and shrubs from the corner, which was zoned residential.
In April 2015, the city said the clearing of the trees should have gone through the Historic District Commission to maintain the appearance of downtown.
Under the agreement, neither admitted liability or fault.