Property owners told to tear out would-be house

This property at 1348 Wildwood Ave. will be restored and not be built on in the future. Photo/LTN

South Lake Tahoe property owners are going to have rip out the foundation and walls they had put in for a house because it has been ruled they did so illegally.

Thang Vu and his now ex-wife Jennifer Khuu bought the Wildwood Avenue property in 2002, were issued a building permit in 2007, had that revoked in 2008 when the easement blocking the building surfaced, and sued the city in 2009. Khuu now owns the property, but Vu based on court records, was the plaintiff.

The permit was revoked because the lot is unbuildable. A 1981 agreement made it so this parcel would always be open space. The plaintiffs knew this, but chose to build any way. Then they sued the city when they were told construction must stop.

The City Council earlier this year opted to not settle the case, but instead take it to court.

The case has been settled with the city winning and all charges against it and individual employees being dropped.

The property owner must remove all evidence of construction and restore the site per Tahoe Regional Planning Agency regulations by July 2014. Because dirt cannot be disturbed in the basin again until May, that is why they have so much time to rectify the problem.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report