Macon planners drop window case against 95-year-old after finding their own approval from 2002

Macon-Bibb County planning officials have dropped a case against a 95-year-old woman they had threatened with fines or jail time over windows in her historic home — after discovering the windows had been approved more than two decades ago.

Paula East learned this week that the complaint against her had been closed. Her granddaughter, Flora Chakmakis, received the news after a meeting with planning and zoning commission officials. Chakmakis, who lives in Miami, had traveled to Macon on several occasions to help her grandmother fight the case.

The matter has taken a toll on East, a dancer whose contributions to Macon span several decades, Chakmakis said. She said her grandmother was embarrassed by the commission’s ruling and the media attention that followed.

The commission’s executive director, Jeff Ruggieri, confirmed Friday that the matter was resolved.

“In our initial research we overlooked a 2002 [Certificate of Appropriateness] that was issued specifically for vinyl windows,” Ruggieri wrote in an email to The Macon Melody. “The matter is closed. The property is in compliance, and we have issued a refund.”

The commission voted May 11 to reject a Macon-Bibb County Design Review Board recommendation that would have allowed East to keep the vinyl windows she installed in her 1860 slate row house at 931 Walnut St. Commissioners gave her 60 days to bring the windows into compliance with historic district guidelines or face legal action.

The design review board had sided with East, noting the replacement occurred more than two decades ago and that removal “at this time is not reasonable.” The commission overruled that recommendation, according to reporting from The Macon Newsroom.

Planning and Zoning Commission Vice Chair Tim Jones said at the May 11 meeting that East’s age would not factor into his vote. Chair Jeane Easom said East “knew what she was doing” when she installed the windows and had “defied” planning and zoning at the time.

East’s friends had urged the commission to show mercy, warning that construction work inside the home “could potentially aggravate respiratory insufficiencies and pose unnecessary health risks” for someone her age.

The complaint that prompted the case came from East’s neighbor, Edwin Atkins, who argued the windows undermined the authenticity and property values of the historic row homes on Walnut Street. The certificate planners said they overlooked was issued in 2002.