In approximately Fall of 2010 construction activities ceased on the property. It was communicated to the city that the reason construction had halted was due to a failure in securing the needed funds for its completion. There have been a lot of parties with various legal interests and legal positions on this project and therefore it has become a very complicated situation which is the subject of a multi-party lawsuit. And the courts will ultimately have to decide responsibility. In the meantime, the owner continued to hold an active building permit and was hopeful that all of the financial issues would be resolved. In Spring of 2011, Washington City requested that the owner provide bracing to the existing and unfinished walls, assuming that construction would begin within a reasonable amount of time. In August 2011, the owner informed the city council and staff that it would not be renewing its building permit and that the owner did not anticipate the building getting completed in the near future. Washington City then inspected the facility and believed that the wall supports/bracing, although appropriate during a construction period, would be inadequate on a permanent basis. The building was declared "unsafe" by the City. The owner appealed this decision to the local Board of Adjustments, which heard its appeal in November 2011. The Board of Adjustments ruled in favor of the city, declaring the building "unsafe" in its current state. Among other things, the owner was ordered to either complete the building, bring the walls down to six feet, or to provide sufficient support/bracing to ensure safety and permanence. The owner was also required to fence the property and provide other on-site safety measures. The owner has turned in a set of plans showing enhanced building supports/bracing and those plans are currently under review.
The primary role of the city is to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of its citizens. We feel that this building, in its current state, presents a potential danger to our community. We will continue to work with the owner and others to ensure that all safety measures are employed and dangers mitigated. We continue to hope for an acceptable resolution for all parties.
City Manager
Possibly the city should consider requiring the builders of any projects like this to provide a completion bond prior to issuing a building permit. Most other cities do, for this very reason.
ReplyDeleteMark, Thank you for your comment and interest in this topic. We have looked at this in times past but the business community has seen this as an additional burden to bringing their business to Washington City. We are sensitive to this, since we don't want to burden the numerous good businesses with a requirement that is a rare an unusual circumstance. I am interested in how other communities may address this and would appreciate any information on what cities have successfully implement your suggestion. We are not aware of any other community in Washington County that requires this bonding. Thanks again for your concern for our community.
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