Main Line homeowners respond to questions on unauthorized work on their historic mansion

Members of  a Lower Merion committee scolded the owners of a historic mansion Wednesday night for making renovations to their home without seeking  the necessary township permits and approvals.

But the Building and Planning Committee members acknowledged, as they considered requiring Susie and Jay H. Shah to remove some of the work done without township approval, that the township cannot punish the Shahs by continuing to block construction of an in-law suite and garage addition.

"I speak for everyone on the board when I say we were distressed to learn that the project moved forward without the appropriate permits," Commissioner Philip S. Rosenzweig said. "We are six steps past that right now and we cannot, respectfully, conflate issues."

"We should have known better, so I apologize," Susie Shah told the committee.

"As originally conceived it was a small and not very ambitious project and we should have gotten permits," she said. "The scope of the improvements got bigger than we anticipated."

The meeting  marked one of the last steps in the township's response to the Shahs' unapproved renovations to their century-old home on Gypsy Lane in Wynnewood. The issue is scheduled to go before the full Board of Commissioners next week.

Late Wednesday night the board ruled that the Shahs can proceed with their in-law suite, but they have to remove some of the work already done.

Township officials have been negotiating with the Shahs' lawyers for months over the renovations. The Shahs have paid $13,000 in fines for the unauthorized work, township officials said Wednesday, and will likely spend more than $100,000 in fines, legal fees, and construction costs for removing and changing some of the unapproved work.

Township officials ordered work to stop on a major addition to the home last year when they learned the Shahs had started building an in-law suite and garage expansion without seeking approval.

Scrutiny of the property grew as the township learned that the garage addition was not the first unauthorized project. Work on the brick home, built in 1906 by the Philadelphia architect Frank Miles Day, requires approval from the township's historical commission in addition to building permits, due to its historical status.

Neighbors have criticized Jay Shah, CEO of Hersha Hospitality Trust, saying he should have known better than to make unapproved renovations because he is a developer with a background as a real estate and construction lawyer. Hersha's dozens of hotels include the upscale Rittenhouse Hotel in Center City.

Commissioner Cheryl B. Gelber, a member of the building and planning committee, said she was disturbed that there was little the township could do to help the Shahs' neighbors, who have to deal with construction and additions inching closer to their property line.

"I know that the Shahs were sorry and have apologized to everybody, and that's appreciated, and hopefully you will be a lesson for others who have made the same mistakes," she said. "But I'm struggling here with how we take care of the neighbors."

Jay and Susie Shah purchased the home in 2005 for $1.95 million, according to property records.

After the renovations went before the historical commission retroactively, its members voted last month to recommend that the Shahs remove some alterations to their home — including a patio and brickwork on their dormers — and reconstruct others, such as a pergola over a patio and roof parapets.

The garage expansion and in-law suite were recommended for approval by the historical commission, with changes made to the original design that was reviewed by the commission.