Code enforcement releases building and development activity report for 2010

[January 21, 2011]  John Lebegue, building and safety officer for Lincoln, presented an annual report to the city. The following material is from that report.

(Copy from file received)

Demolition of Vacant Gas Station and Parking Lot at 602 Woodlawn Road

On December 6, 2010 a demolition permit was obtained to demolish the vacant gas station and parking lot at 602 Woodlawn. As I had informed you in an earlier activity report, Valero recently acquired PrimeCore, which previously held the lease on the property at 602 Woodlawn.

In July of 2010 M.T.C., a contractor for Valero, obtained a building permit to make interior and exterior repairs to the vacant gas station to make the property more attractive for redevelopment.

Despite performing a portion of the planned improvements, Valero determined that it was more cost effective to demolish the property rather than making repairs to an obsolete building. While a vacant lot is not always the most desirable outcome, the appearance of the property has definitely been enhanced with the removal of the deteriorating building and canopy.

The Building and Safety Department has not been informed of any potential future users for the property, but given the property's prime location at a lighted intersection, coupled with the high volume of traffic that exists on Woodlawn Road, makes the property an attractive development site.

Given the fact that the vacant property at 61 0 Woodlawn, the former Kentucky Fried Chicken, and 602 Woodlawn are both owned by lllico, the properties could easily be consolidated to form a large enough parcel for a retail use complimentary to the nearby CVS and Walgreen’s stores or a drive-thru fast food use such as a Sonic or Panda Express.

Demolition of Abandoned, Vacant Gas Station at 1600 5th Street

On October 18, 2010 a demolition permit was obtained to demolish the vacant, abandoned gas station at the northwest comer of the intersection of 5th Street and Lincoln Parkway.

The gas station had been vacant for at least five years, and was last used as a repair shop.

Lynette Bruce, the owner of the property, stated that the building was demolished due to its dilapidated condition and now that the site has been cleared would welcome redevelopment of the property.

New Dining Room Open at Rio Grande Restaurant at 3901 Woodlawn Road

At the end of December the expansion of the Rio Grande restaurant was completed and the new dining room was open for business. The new dining room and interior renovations are very attractive and with the increased seating capacity, it is hoped that the restaurant will be an even greater success.

Emesto Leon, the owner of the Rio Grande Restaurant was a pleasure to work with throughout the project and the City is fortunate to have such a cooperative, hardworking businessman.

Progress on the Clean-up and Repair of the Property at 509 S. Kickapoo St

I recently had the opportunity to personally meet with Todd Givan, the owner of the industrially zoned property at 509 S. Kickapoo, to discuss the cleanup and repair of the dilapidated building and removal of debris and brush from the property.

The property at 509 S. Kickapoo has been a source of blight and in violation of City maintenance requirements for a number of years.

Mr. Givan explained that he is still in the process of removing materials left by Mark Gates, the previous tenant, and will also be repairing the damage done to the building to restore it to a safe, usable condition.

The Building and Safety Department has been proactive in regard to bringing this property into compliance with City Code requirements and recently sent Mr. Givan an order to bring the property into compliance, which prompted several return phone calls, as well as the personal visit by Mr. Givan.

The Building and Safety Department will stay focused on this situation and will work with Mr. Givan to assure that the property is finally brought into compliance.

The cleanup and repair of 509 S. Kickapoo St. is part of a focused effort by the Building and Safety Department over the next few months to improve the appearance of the S. Kickapoo area, and I will be working with all affected property owners to discuss any violations that exist and to establish compliance timelines.

Construction of a New Building at 102 W. Kickapoo

Robert Gaston Jr. is in the final stages in the construction of a new building at 102 W. Kickapoo. The new building will provide Mr. Gaston a much larger storage building and exterior storage lot for his RBC Towing business, which was previously located at 921 S. Kickapoo.

The new building and exterior improvements made by Mr. Gaston represent a significant improvement to what was an unimproved, underutilized property and is a welcome improvement to the South Kickapoo industrial area.

In addition to the construction of the new building and yard improvements, given the scale of the improvements, Mr. Gaston has made significant storm water management improvements, which are intended to address storm water issues that previously existed on the property.

The storm water improvements made to the property at 102 W. Kickapoo will benefit the subject property as well as neighboring properties and the City sewer system.

CODE ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITY

Following is a comparison of the number of ordinance violation letters generated in 2009 and 2010:

January
2009 – 13   2010 – 34

February
2009 – 32   2010 -- 36

March
2009 – 45   2010 – 46

April
2009 – 46   2010 – 84

May
2009 – 78   2010 – 74

June
2009 – 80   2010 – 121

July
2009 – 72   2010 – 167

August
2009 – 51   2010 – 127

September
2009 – 60   2010 – 102

October
2009 – 31   2010 – 120

November
2009 – 31   2010 – 70

December
2009 – 25   2010 – 77

Totals for the calendar year
2009 – 564   2010 – 1058

Upon review of the above comparison of the number of ordinance violation generated during 2009 and 2010 the following can be determined:

During 2010 the number of ordinance violations generated by the Building and Safety office increased by 494 violation letters, representing an increase of 46.7 % from 2009.

Given the relatively high number of violation letters generated throughout the year provides evidence that the Building and Safety Department has continued to remain vigilant in identifying and bringing nonconforming properties into compliance. While the number of grass and weed related ordinance violations were no longer a focus of the Building and Safety Department after October, a greater attention was given to properties with accumulation of trash and debris, inoperable vehicles and dilapidated accessory structures.

BUILDING ACTIVITY

Total Building Permits issued in the calendar year
2009 –535 2010 – 472

Construction Value attached to permits
2009 -- $26,497,240.67 2010 -- $5,991,717.91

Fees Received 2009 -- $18,568.08 2010 -- $19,201.28

The 472 building permits issued in the year 2010 represents a decrease of 63 building permits from the 535 building permits issued in 2009, or a decrease of 12%.

Construction values decrease by $20,505,522.76 in 2010

This dramatic decrease in construction value was primarily a result of the inordinately high construction value of the hospital and Castle Manor projects that were issued building permits in 2009. The decrease in construction value is also a result of the economy, as very few large value residential and especially commercial and industrial projects have been undertaken due to the economic downturn.

Building permit revenue increased by $633.20 in 2010

Despite the decrease in the number of building permits issued and a significant decrease in construction value, building permit revenue increased by $633.20 from $18,568.08 in 2009 to $19,201.28 in 2010.

The increase in building permit fee revenue despite a decrease in the number of permits issued and a significant decrease in construction value occurred as a result of;

a.) The amendment to the Enterprise Zone requirements, allowing the City to collect 50% of the building permit fees for construction work on properties in the Enterprise Zone, whereas prior to the amendment all building permit fees were waived;

b.) Adjustments to the building permit fee structure, which had not been adjusted since 1987;

c.) Broadening the scope of work that requires a building permit, especially requiring building permits for HV AC, plumbing, electrical, and fences.

The positive financial impacts of adjustments to the building permit fee structure

Review of Building Reports for October 2010 and November 2010 compared to October 2009 and November 2009 revealed the positive financial impact of the recent adjustments to the building permit fee structure and the inclusion of building permits for HV AC, plumbing, electrical and fence work.

The City received $3,143.13 of building fees for the month of October 2010, which represented an increase of $1,396.83 from October 2009.

For the month of November 2010 the City received building fees in the amount of $3,496.57, which represented an increase of $2,737.67 from November 2009.

The dramatic increase in building permit fee revenue for the month of November 2010 can largely be attributed to $866.00 of fee revenue generated from HVAC, plumbing, electrical and fence work that now require building permits.

While the marked increase in building permit fees received for the months of October 2010 and November 2010 may not occur every month hereafter, the increase in permit fee revenue does provide clear evidence of the positive fiscal impact the adjustments have made and will continue to make on General Fund revenue.

Increased focus on verifying that contractors are obtaining building permits for all work that requires a building permit

The increase in building permit revenue is also the result of the Building and Safety Department's staff increased focus on verifying that contractors are obtaining building permits for all work that requires a building permit.

The most significant work found being conducted without a required building permit was a $92,100 roof replacement project at 2201 Woodlawn, which amounted to $440.00 of building permit fees, which would not have been collected had the work not been discovered.

The Building and Safety Department will continue to remain vigilant in its oversight of all construction activities being conducted within the City to verify that building permits are obtained where required.

To better educate contractors on building permit and building code requirements and specific Building and Safety Department policies, the Building and Safety Official will be conducting an informational meeting in the coming months with local contractors in an attempt to fully inform contractors to prevent violation of City requirements and the loss of building permit fee revenue.

[Taken from an annual report to the city by John Lebegue, building and safety officer]