BUSINESSMAN Adrian Lee can now re-open his cafe business, more than a year after former officials of the Office of the Building Official (OBO) in Cebu City revoked his building permit.
The Cebu City Zoning Board ruled to abide by the resolution of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to reinstate the building and fencing permits it issued to Lee.
The zoning board also said that Lee agreed to demolish or renovate the building should the City pushes through with its road widening project on Don Jose Avila St., Cebu City.
With this development, Lee said he will withdraw his petition for mandamus and prohibition with application for issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) against former OBO chief lawyer Jose Marie Poblete and other city officials.
But Lee said the criminal and administrative charges he filed against Poblete and former mayor Michael Rama before the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas will continue.
In April, OBO Cebu City reinstated the fencing and building permits it issued to Lee, barely nine months after these were revoked in July 2015 for allegedly violating the five-meter setback requirement.
Lee’s permits were restored pursuant to the DPWH order to reinstate the building and fencing permits it issued to him.
It took two months for OBO Cebu City to reinstate Lee’s permits in spite of the order of Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson to restore the permits.
In July 2015, Poblete revoked Lee’s building and fencing permits based on the recommendation of the Cebu City Zoning Board.
Lee bought a parcel of lot on Don Jose Avila St., Barangay Capitol Site, where his Camia Street Cafe and Restaurant was built.
But two years after the completion of the building, Poblete issued a notice revoking the building permit he issued to Lee.
The building permit was revoked after another lot owner, Antonio Lozada, sent a letter inquiring from Poblete whether or not Lee’s building violates the five-meter yard regulation requirement.
Last Jan. 27, 2016, the DPWH ordered OBO to reinstate the building and fencing permits it issued to Lee.
Singson denied for lack of merit the motion filed by the City Legal Office, which sought to reverse the public work’s decision that upheld the validity of Lee’s permit.
Poblete did not conduct an inspection and a hearing and merely relied on the resolution of the zoning board.
In a resolution dated Aug. 19, Engr. Josefa Ylanan, OBO Cebu City officer-in-charge, reaffirmed the reinstatement of Lee’s building and fencing permits.
Ylanan pointed out that Lee expressed his willingness to voluntarily demolish their establishment should the City decides to pursue its road widening project on Don Jose Avila St.
Thus, the zoning board decided to follow the DPWH’s resolution and to adopt the City Legal Office’s order reinstating Lee’s locational clearance.
