The city of Valparaiso has ordered the owners of Zao Island to tear down an event space that officials say violates the city's ordinances and puts residents' flood insurance at risk. Back in 2017, the Wright Group apparently got permission to build an open-air pavilion on the property, raised a few feet off the ground to avoid the Salt Creek floodplain. But city officials say what's currently there is a fully-enclosed, ground-level "Greenhouse" — complete with plumbing, heating and cooling.
Bill Laird, the floodplain administrator and a deputy engineer for the city, says that jeopardizes Valparaiso's inclusion in the National Flood Insurance Program. "The flood insurance policies would be voided. No residents or commercial businesses would be able to get flood insurance, and if we had a flood event that raised to a natural disaster level, the city of Valpo would not be permitted to get federal disaster relief from the federal government," Laird told the city's board of works last week.
An attorney representing the Wright Group argued that the facility could be brought back into compliance without completely demolishing it. The company didn't want to spend money on detailed plans before meeting with city officials, but city officials didn't want to schedule a meeting until the Wright Group had engineering plans.
"It's not the city's job to go and do that for them, alright? We didn't make the property non-complying. Sure, money's at issue, but it wasn't when they enclosed it. It wasn't when they added the HVAC," said attorney Alfredo Estrada, who's representing the city.
The Valparaiso Board of Works ultimately agreed to allow more discussion to take place and continue the unsafe building hearing on June 10.
