Plans for moving a modular home into a Hermitage neighborhood have been put on hold since Friday, when a neighbor filed an appeal of the building permit.

Dennis L. Proctor, with the support of almost 30 neighbors in the Greenwood Drive/Trace Street area, filed the appeal after complaining publicly to city commissioners in October about the pending construction.

"We're not concerned about the people moving in or the type of house they have. We're just concerned about the lot that it's being put in, that it will cheapen the house and cheapen the lot. It will look like the dickens," said Proctor, of 105 Greenwood Drive. "I'm not saying the house isn't good or doesn't look good, it's just the placement."

Proctor previously said a modular home is the same as a mobile home and he was worried that building it would lower the values of neighborhood homes. He also expressed concern with modular homes not meeting already-set standards in the neighborhood.

In his appeal, Proctor claims he and his neighbors are also concerned about water runoff from the lot and that the planned placement for the home won't fit the continuity of the neighborhood.

The property is 50 feet wide and about 145 feet long. Plans call for the four-bedroom home to be centered lengthwise on the lot and 8 feet away from its closest neighbor's yard in the back.

Proctor said neighbors want a clearer definition of a rear yard.

"Will the placement of said home create a fire threat and a liability ... to the city, by allowing the house to be built within 8 feet of an existing garage?" the appeal asks. Proctor cited gasoline and other accelerants as items commonly stored in garages. "Is 8 feet a safe margin? What if a child's bedroom is the area which catches on fire? What price do we place on that child's death for our complacency?"

City Manager Gary Hinkson said a special camera will be lowered into the storm-water system in the Trace Street area to find out what the problem is with water runoff. "Depending on the results of that investigation, we will take whatever appropriate actions are needed to be done to make improvements," he said.

Proctor said he and the neighbors are not concerned about the people moving in or the type of house they have.

"We're just trying to keep the uniformity. A Cape Cod could fit the dimensions, but not a long home," Proctor said.

Brad and Cheryl Cardinal of West Market Street, Mercer, who applied for the building permit had no comment Wednesday evening.

The hearing is set for Dec. 9