Code violation letters rain down on South Austin neighborhood

By Ricardo Gándara (rgandara@statesman.com), Austin American-Statesman, 3/09/2010
http://www.statesman.com/news/statesmanwatch/code-violation-letters-rain-down-on-south-austin-336916.html

In October, the city's 311 nonemergency number started getting a flood of calls complaining about homes in South Austin's Fairview neighborhood. Over several days, the anonymous caller or callers gave the city 35 different tips about houses with possible code violations. After city inspectors followed up, they issued violation notices to 76 homeowners in the neighborhood, telling them they must apply for permits for improvements such as garage conversions and carports.

Those who fail to correct the problem could be criminally charged and fined up to $2,000 per day or have their utilities disconnected, according to recent letters sent to homeowners that gave them a March 26 deadline to comply.

The homeowners say they're upset by the violation letters and want more time to figure out how to negotiate the city bureaucracy to get into compliance.

"I'm worried about the fines," said John Anguiano, 77, who lives on Heartwood Drive, and got a violation notice for a garage conversion he did about 1975. "I'm old, retired and sick, and it's a pain to deal with this."

Anguiano said he's tried to get a permit, but it's been on hold since October; he's being told he must get a variance from the Austin City Council because he lives in the flood plain. Williamson Creek is nearby, and many of the 76 homeowners can't resolve their permit issues until they get a variance to do home improvements in a flood plain.

Dale Flatt, a 24-year city firefighter on medical leave, is one of the organizers trying to help his neighbors straighten out the mess.

"To code inspectors, all these people are just associated with an address," he said. "But they have lived there up to 40 years, and now it's turned into a nightmare."

Flatt said he and his wife, Kathy, received a notice that the city didn't have a permit on file for a garage conversion at their home - a modification Flatt says was done before his deceased mother-in-law bought the house in 1968.

He said they paid $123 to get a building permit so the conversion would comply with city code.

The Flatts were closing on the sale of their home recently when they got a second letter in February for another code violation: The city said their carport was too close to the street.

"Now the new homeowner is going to have to deal with that issue," he said.

Because code enforcement is complaint-driven, inspectors can be sent to any neighborhood based on tips.

The violations found in Fairview are "a relatively unique situation due to the number complaints we received," said Greg Guernsey, director of the city's Planning and Development Review Department.

"It'd spook anyone to get a letter from the city because it's a serious matter if it indicates violation of a city code."

He said staffers will work with residents to guide them through the process of filing permit applications that will carry fees ranging from $23 to $700.

Guernsey said the city has made efforts to help the residents: The Code Compliance Department held two separate meetings in November and February to educate homeowners about the violations and how to comply, and homeowners are being offered more time to do the necessary paperwork beyond the March 26 deadline.

Guernsey said residents must decide whether they want to bring their homes into compliance with city codes by applying for permits or do nothing and fight the violation in Municipal Court - but he encouraged people to comply.

Margarita Raupe, who lives on Creekline Drive, said people are confused because they don't understand the language in city codes. [HOT: That's why contractors, not residents, should be the ones held accountable. Contractors supposedly understand construction and building codes; homeowners generally don't. That's why they hire contractors instead of doing the work themselves. Margaria makes a good point.]

"A lot of people don't know what's going on. Our (violation) letter is about the conversion of our garage into a living room, but that was all done before we bought our home 23 years ago. So now they're asking us to file for a permit?" (Raupe and her husband, Mike, own Chumikal's, an Austin restaurant that also serves food at the Austin American-Statesman under a contract.)

Raupe's daughter Carla Dearinger said she drove from San Antonio last week to try to resolve her parents' problem but was unsuccessful.

City staffers who handle such permit problems are available to the public for only a few hours a day.

"By the time I got to the city's Planning and Development Review Department, I was able to get the paperwork for a permit but was told I couldn't file it because the person handling it only works from 8 to 11 a.m.," Dearinger said. "This is the kind of red tape you run into. Because so many people are affected, the city should at least have someone there later than 11. The whole thing rubbed me the wrong way," she said.

After Fairview homeowners met with several aides to City Council member to air their concerns about the violations, Council Member Bill Spelman said the wording of the city notices - threatening big fines and possible criminal charges - struck him as harsh.

"If our priority is that we're trying to help people, you don't beat them upside the head," Spelman said. Code compliance inspectors "could have softened their rhetoric."

John McDonald, a supervisor in the city's residential review office on the second floor at One Texas Center on Barton Springs Road, said Fairview residents may call him directly at 974-2728. He said people who get to the office before 11 a.m. will not be turned away.

"Our biggest concern is that these people need more time to deal with the process," Flatt said.

READER COMMENTS:

You can link to the original article to read the hundreds of reader comments. Here's ours:

HOT: What’s the likely agenda of this “anonymous caller” who complained about code compliance? I really don’t think it’s someone harassing his/her neighbors for revenge and propose another option instead – contractors wanting to win in the court of public opinion by stirring up controversy and anger against building codes and city inspections. The likely motive is to pressure officials to relax regulatory oversight of their work. Remember the retaining wall in San Antonio’s Hills of Rivermist subdivision that collapsed because it was not designed and built correctly, was never inspected, and had no permit. (See http://homeownersoftexas.org/Rivermist.html.) Dozens of other retaining walls were built without permits or city inspections too, and now the City wants ALL builders to prove that their work was permitted.

Rather than harass homeowners in established neighborhoods where homes have been sold and resold for decades, our building inspectors should focus on the REAL problem – new construction projects not built to code. After all, the purpose of building codes is to protect the health and safety of occupants, not to harass or apply political pressure. And arguably some of these older homes are built better than many new ones.

Code violation notices flood S. Austin neighborhood

By: Jenna Hiller, News8 Austin, 3/09/10, http://www.news8austin.com/shared/print/default.asp?ArID=268886

Watch the TV broadcast (requires plug-in)

Garage conversions are common in the Fairview neighborhood in South Austin. Many have used their garage as living space for the last 20 to 30 years.

However, in October 2009, some homeowners received letters saying their garage conversions violated city code.

Chad Hartman lives in Fairview in a home his parents own. He said the letter he received was the first he'd heard about a code problem with his living room.

"I wondered why this was going on. Why this was occurring, since this room had been converted 30 years before?" Hartman asked.

According to him, his neighborhood is being unfairly targeted by the City of Austin.
 
His parents' house is just one of 76 homes in the neighborhood that received violation notices.

“It's a threatening letter. It's very intimidating when you see that. No one wants to have their services shut off. You can't sell your home. You're not even supposed to have renters in it," he said.

The letter said failure to comply could result in a fine up to $2000 a day, but the city said their goal is voluntary compliance.

“What they're seeing is the worst-case scenario,” Austin’s Code Compliance spokesperson Jennifer Herber said.

She said the goal is health and safety.

“This is a lot of complicated information. We know a lot of them have lived there for long periods of time and this is the first time, so we're trying to work with them and just bring everything up to code," Herber said.

Tom Blomquist has received one of the notices even though he said he did everything right.

His kitchen used to be his garage. He said he took out a loan to pay for his renovation in 1981 and pulled proper permits, but after almost 30 years, Blomquist said he doesn't have the proof that he played by the rules.

“Even IRS doesn't make you keep receipts for 30 years,” he said.

Blomquist said he thinks the code crackdown in his neighborhood is a waste of city time.

“It's really kind of pathetic with the economy the way it is. The city is on a tight budget and they're spending all this time and manpower on our neighborhood on something that's really unnecessary. I don't quite understand it,” he said.

While Blomquist knows exactly when his garage was converted to living space, many said the change to their home came several owners ago.
 
City officials said if you notice an addition or renovation, you should check to make sure permits were pulled before purchasing the home.

According to officials, residents must start the process of compliance by March 26.

In the early 1980s, 25 of the homes received notices that they were put in the flood plain, so their compliance won't be as simple as pulling proper permits and getting inspected. They’ll have to request a flood plain variance from city council.