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Mark Tashic urges Rowlett council not to reopen approved shed permit amid neighbor dispute
Summary
At the Rowlett City Council work session, resident Mark Tashic asked council to uphold an existing shed permit and not reopen an ordinance review, saying the city inspected and approved the structure and alleging repeated harassment by a neighbor; council later discussed a related ordinance in executive session and took no action.
Mark Tashic told the Rowlett City Council on April 20 that the city previously inspected and approved a permit for his backyard shed and urged elected officials not to reopen the matter.
“There are no issues with this shed. It is fully compliant,” Tashic said during the meeting’s citizen comment period, adding that the shed sits “about 4 inches onto my side of the property line” and that the city’s inspections validated its placement. He said the dispute stems from years of complaints and what he described as a neighbor’s grudge, and that social media posts have damaged his reputation.
Tashic asked the city attorney to advise council consistent with prior public statements from the mayor that the city’s involvement in the dispute had ended. He also warned that reversing the prior permit approval would send “shock waves” to residents and local builders who rely on the permitting process.
The matter is referenced on the council’s agenda as item 4a, which staff later read into the record as an executive-session topic concerning an amendment to the code (ordinance 10-25, chapter 77-908 on illegal nonconformity and an exception for certain accessory structures). Council convened for the closed session later in the meeting and announced afterward that it had concluded items 4a–4c with no action taken in open session.
Under Texas law the council may discuss legal matters in closed session, and the mayor read the relevant Government Code citations before the recess. The citizen comment does not create a formal appeal record; Tashic’s remarks were recorded as public comment and the council’s subsequent executive-session review did not result in an announced action.
Next steps: item 4a remains on the agenda for the council’s regular meeting process; the council did not announce a decision on the ordinance during the work session.
