The Glenns purchased this property containing the remnants of a TEP transfer station north of Craycroft Road and Sunrise Drive. The county revoked their building permit after neighbors' concerns arose.

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The county-approved building plans for Tom and Leigh Glenn's $350,000 Catalina Foothills home are clear.

They show two small bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom and a 6,000-square-foot "hobby room."

No one questioned the size of the hobby room when the Glenns submitted their building plans. But eight months and $100,000 into building the house, Pima County's chief zoning inspector decided that was too much hobby for one house.

Indeed, she questioned whether it really was a house at all.

"It is my determination that the primary use of the property is clearly for 'hobby' and not for 'single-family residence' " Chief Zoning Inspector Pat Thomas wrote in a letter revoking the Glenns' building permit in November 2006 and ordering them to stop.

The Glenns lost an appeal to the Board of Adjustment and now are suing the county, seeking the restoration of their building permit and attorney's fees.

"We believe the law says that if you follow all the rules and spend all the money associated with following the process of getting a building permit, your right to that building permit becomes vested," said Patrick Lopez, the Glenns' attorney. "They can't take it away."

County Development Services Director Carmine DeBonis said the county took a second look at the plans when neighbors started asking questions and decided the structure wasn't appropriate after all.

"There are occasions when we issue permits in error, and a permit issued in error is not a valid permit," he said.

What the Glenns want to build on North Valley View Road, near North Craycroft Road and East Sunrise Drive, is hardly a run-of-the-mill home.

Three years ago they bought a former Tucson Electric Power substation that borders their existing home. They said they planned to use the 8-foot-high brick walls surrounding the substation as the base for a steel structure that would be a home for their two teenage sons when they entered college, and provide storage for all manner of vehicles, from dune buggies to quads to motor homes.

Tom Glenn says he likes to tinker "as much as any man" and wants a place to store his vehicles away from the elements and the pack rats. His sons could have their independence without being too far away, and perhaps when he and his wife are older and no longer want to maintain a large home, they could move into the 1,200-square-foot living quarters.

Glenn decided to construct a steel building because he works in the steel building industry. It may not be to everyone's taste, but it is an allowed building material in Pima County.

He submitted his plans in March 2005. He completed engineering studies and native-plant studies and erosion setback analysis and received a building permit — which cost an additional $12,000 in fees — in March 2006.

"We haven't hidden anything," Glenn said. "We're building exactly what we show on the plans."

When the Glenns started construction — pouring a 2-foot-thick slab, bringing in electrical lines and plumbing — neighbors became increasingly concerned by what looked to them like an industrial building. They pulled the plans and became more concerned.

Thomas, who responds to complaints but generally doesn't review plans before permits are issued, took a look at the plans, and what she saw didn't look like a single-family residence to her.

In a memo defending her decision, Thomas wrote that when the nonresidential use of the building is so out of proportion with the residential use it raises questions about which actually is the primary use.

The zoning code doesn't say anything about how large one room in a house can be compared with other rooms, much less what zone hobbies are allowed in.

"It's a sad state of affairs when the government can tell you what size your rooms can be," Glenn said. "If you collect thimbles and I collect totem poles, I'm going to need a bigger room.

"If you have a 3,000-square-foot living area and you have another 10,000 square feet of basketball court or indoor swimming pool, that doesn't convert the home into an athletic club," Lopez told the Board of Adjustment. "It's still a single-family residence with an area designated for a purpose you enjoy."

In letters to the county, neighbors said they believe the Glenns really plan to run a commercial recreational-vehicle repair shop out of the building, but they also raise concerns about the appearance of the building, essentially a large metal rectangle.

The county has not accused the Glenns of planning to run a business out of their property, nor does Thomas object to the building material. But the Glenns believe the real issue is the appearance of the property.

The surrounding neighborhoods all are controlled by homeowner association covenants. Those restrictions don't apply to the Glenns because their land used to belong to TEP and was outside the HOAs.

"The bottom line is they don't like the way it looks," said Leigh Glenn.

"So the county is coming up with any excuse they can," Tom Glenn added.

Deputy County Attorney Lesley Lukash said Thomas, as the zoning inspector, has the authority to make interpretations beyond the letter of the zoning code.

"It goes to the chief zoning inspector's ability to interpret the code," she said of the lawsuit. "The matter was called to her attention after the fact. She looked at the plans and made the determination that what she saw was not a single-family residence."

Lukash said she could not comment on the fairness of revoking the Glenns' permit after they had gone through the permit process and spent money on construction.

DeBonis said other property owners shouldn't worry about their building permits.

"There's a reasonable basis for people to be highly confident in their building permits," he said. "This is a very unusual occurrence in a particular case."