“We take code enforcement very seriously, but there is a balance that we see between the strictest level of enforcement, and an enforcement level where you go to work with people and try to accommodate on some level of flexibility with builders,” City Manager George Lahanas said. “And I think that fairly stated in this project and with these developers … perhaps we strike that balance too far to one end — and it has been too far in the area of working with the builder. And perhaps
there is an opportunity for us to give a strong second look at that practice and how we handle that.”

Director of Code Enforcement & Neighborhood Conservation Howard Asch and Community Development and Planning Director Tim Dempsey were on hand to answer council’s questions regarding the construction, which ranged from the topics of communication breakdowns to the structural integrity of the building.

Asch said the plans submitted to his department by the developer did include a future fifth floor, but construction was not approved for it because it was thought the floor would be built further down the line.

“Essentially, we are able to issue a permit for each phase of construction,” he said. “In this case we issued it for the foundation only, and then for the rest of the building — excluding the fifth floor.”

When construction on the fifth floor was noticed, Asch said he chose not to issue a stop-work letter — something he said should have been done in hindsight. He said confusion in the department may have caused employees to believe that the fifth floor was certain to have been approved, and when he found that not to be the case, then discussions about issuing a stop-work process were initiated.

“When I became aware that there was that floor of construction going on, I went to the site, spoke with the superintendent and they agreed to stop all work except what was necessary to keep the weather out,” Asch said.

Asch said a stop-work order had been issued Tuesday afternoon, at which point the developer had 24 hours to respond with why a stop-work order cannot be complied with. Following that, construction on the structure would have to be suspended.

In wake of a recent collapse on the fourth floor of the project, councilmember Vic Loomis said his focus has shifted from ensuring the process was correct to that the building was being constructed safely.

“My concern, candidly, is the structural integrity of the building,” he said. “I’d like to see some of these engineered drawings or opinions. I think council needs to see that.”

After the discussion, council agreed to return to the issue at a later meeting, when further information was presented.