City practices selective preservation

At this evening’s meeting of the St Augustine City Commission, a report will be provided from Buddy Schauland, City Building Official, in response to numerous inquiries and concerns related to the recent demolition of the 136-year-old historic residence located at 11 Bridge Street.  Historic City News has been following sources who have tracked many public complaints raised about the ostensibly “emergency” needs to allow the destruction of such a venerable and prominent house.

Lee Geanuleas, who facilitates a local Facebook group of city residents, recently obtained and organized a collection of internal and external e-mail communications and other public records documenting the available information related to the demolition of the property.

“Based on a public record request, we now have a little insight into what went on inside City Hall in the 65 days between April 4, 2024, when building official Richard “Buddy” Schauland Jr informed Historic Preservation Officer Julie Courtney that he intended to send Pat Dobosz and her lawyer “approval for an emergency demolition permit” and June 8, 2024, when the building was demolished,” Geanuleas said.

The following timeline leading up to April 4th is provided:

• May 27, 2016: Property sold by Joe Boles to Pat & Kataryna Dobosz for $210,000
• February 2, 2020: Kataryna Dobosz quits claim to Pat Dobosz for $10
• February 2, 2022: Dobosz hires Swanson Structural Inc for a report, not submitted to the City
• February 7, 2023: Rezoning request from HP-1 to PUD denied 7-0
• June 8, 2023: Property listed for sale “as is” for $950,000
• February 11, 2024: Property under contract for sale
• March 29, 2024: Swanson Structural Inc completes second report for David J. Heekin, lawyer

65-days Inside City Hall

• April 4: Swanson Structural reports are submitted to Buddy Schauland. He later approves the emergency demolition permit, citing high risk of collapse.
• · April 5: Buddy Schauland sends a letter to David J. Heekin, Esq., informing him that he received a structural analysis of the structure at 11 Bridge Street. The owner is requesting a demolition permit prior to seeking a Certificate of Demolition from the HARB. The application for demolition will be APPROVED when submitted. Schauland says, “In the interest of public safety and to prevent an unexpected collapse, I am approving the Demolition Permit for 11 Bridge Street.”
• · April 8:
  • 9:28 AM Schauland sends an approval letter for the emergency demolition of 11 Bridge to James Whitehouse (Dobosz’s’ attorney).
  • 10:20 AM Whitehouse responds, telling Schauland that “we will file the building permit for demo, asap.”
• · April 18: At a HARB meeting, Chair Gaere MacDonald questions Schauland about the emergency demolition letter for 11 Bridge ST that was included in the HARB’s meeting package. Schauland explains that he received a report from a structural analysis noting an unsafe condition and tells the HARB that he’s obligated to approve the request in such cases. MacDonald says he believes the building is salvageable. Julie Courtney advises the HARB that the building is under contract for sale “as is.”
• · April 21:
  • 12:26 PM: HARB Chairman Gaere MacDonald sends an email to Schauland and Courtney (cc: citycommissioners@citystaug.com, David Birchim, Reuben Franklin, Isabelle Lopez) with an attached letter explaining his dissatisfaction with the entire process leading to the presumptive demolition of 11 Bridge.
  • 2:00 PM: City Attorney Isabelle Lopez emails David Birchim (cc: Shanna Lee) to “remind folks that Florida Statutes 468.604 does place the ultimate responsibility of emergency demolitions in the hands of the Building Official’ without interference from any person.’ If the Building Official needs to confer with an engineer to make sure the structure is so structurally unsound it is an imminent danger, he can do so. We have multiple engineering firms on contract. I would also point out that we can prosecute, via code enforcement violations, lack of maintenance under the property maintenance code, Sec. 8-301. I’ll leave this in your hands to follow up.”
• · May 10:
  • 12:11 PM: Shelley Clayton (Permits Coordinator) emails James Whitehouse and Kevin Hensley (cc’s: Andrea White (City Archeologist), Schauland, Cortney, and Amy Skinner) to inform them that “the demo permit submitted for 11 Bridge St is located within an Archaeological zone 1B meaning that 1.50% of the project cost is due for this review.”
  • 3:32 PM:Whitehouse responds to the group (and adds Dobosz), notifying them that the application is complete and will be paid for “presently.” He continues: “Please keep us informed as to the expedited review. As you know, since receiving the troubling, updated expert structural engineer’s report that this property has been determined to be a danger to surrounding properties and people and is in imminent need of removal, they have been pushing forward in haste.”
• · May 16:
  • 8:57 AM:Schauland emails Andrea White, Julie Courtney, and Candice Seymour (cc’s: AmySkinner, Shelley Clayton) to inform them that he “will be sending an email to the contractor today about this permit” (Note: presumably the 11 Bridge demolition permit). He explains that he has “approved an emergency demolition permit,” which “authorizes the issuance of the permit without any reviews, or if there is any review, it is expedited,” He further informs them that “the structural engineer is the subject matter expert with years of experience, we are not. Whether we think that it will fall or not, it is not our place to second guess the engineer.” He concludes that if the city were to delay “the issuance of the permit, if anything happens, it could possibly expose the city to liability.”
  • 12:59 PM:Schauland emails a “Mr. Hensley” (“kltconstruction@att.net) and attorney James Whitehouse (cc’s: Skinner, Shelley Clayton, Julie Courtney, Candice Seymour, Andrea White, Mandy Reese, Jonathan Foster, Barry Fox). He informs them that while “it is not our intent to slow down the issuance of the permit,” the city has “had a couple of staff members leave recently,” and as a result, “our permitting process has slowed down a bit.” He continues, explaining that he believes the only remaining requirement prior to demolition is the archaeological component, and that “Dr. White is supposed to be on location today.” Buddy explains that while, “because of the staff shortages, the permit cannot be issued this week,” he is “authorizing [you] to demolish the house prior to the permit being issued” because “Mr. Swanson determined that the structure is in imminent danger of collapse.” He provides five conditions that must be met. A formal letter is not attached to this email.
  • 4:15 PM:Permits Technician Mandy Reese emails Buddy, kltconstruction@att.net, and James Whitehouse (cc’s: Skinner, Clayton, Courtney, Candice, White, Foster, and Fox), informing them that a “Right-of-Way Permit (ROW2024-00116) has been issued for the 11 Bridge Street Demolition.” This satisfies one of the five conditions stipulated in Schauland’s earlier email.
• · May 22: A permit (BP2024-0804) is issued, allowing the demolition of a structure at 11 Bridge Street. It records the owner as Patricia Dobosz and the contractor as KLT Construction Inc.
• · June 4: The sale of 11 Bridge ST closes for $695,000.
• · June 8: A Saturday. The main house at 11 Bridge Street is demolished. The garage and garage apartment are left intact.
• After demolition, there are several internal city emails discussing what could be done to prevent future “demolitions by neglect.”
• · June 10:
  • 4:45 PM: Julie Courtney forwards an email dating from April 22 to City Attorney Isabelle Lopez (see April 21): “From my understanding, 11 Bridge Street was demolished this past Saturday after receiving the proper permits. Amy and I had multiple conversations about this with Buddy. Buddy is open to me asking for a discussion on this with you, as I think it would be helpful to understand how getting another engineer on the property to inspect the building could be done if the property owner does not provide permission to access the property.”
  • 5:37 PM:Isabelle Lopez emails Courtney, Shanna, Amy Skinner, and Schauland. In the email, she cites Florida Building Code Article 104.6 Right of Entry: “Whenever necessary to make an inspection to enforce any of the provisions of this code, or whenever the building official has reasonable cause to believe that there exists in any building … any condition or code violation which makes such building (etc.) unsafe, dangerous or hazardous, the building official may enter such building, structure or premises at all reasonable times to inspect the same … If such building, structure or premises are unoccupied, he shall first make a reasonable effort to locate the owner or other persons having charge or control of such and request entry. If entry is refused, the building official shall have the recourse to every remedy provided by law to secure entry. 104.6.1 When the building official shall have first obtained a proper inspection warrant or other remedy provided by law to secure entry, no owner or occupant or any other persons … shall fail or neglect … to promptly permit entry therein by the building official for the purpose of inspection and examination pursuant to this code.”

Tonight’s Agenda Item

MEMORANDUM
TO: David Birchim, AICP
City Manager
June 13, 2024

Information Regarding the Issuance of Emergency Demolition
Permits – General Public Presentations, Items of Great Public
Importance, and Other Items Requiring Public Hearings – General
Public Presentation

I have been asked to outline the procedures and approvals for emergency demolition permits for structures that would normally have to appear before the Historic Architectural Review Board (HARB).

Approvals for an emergency demolition permit are rare, over the 8-1/2 years that I have been the Building Official, I have only approved five (5) emergency demolition permits. Each one was a unique and individual circumstance. The approvals range from the closing down of Aviles Street during the Fourth of July in 2018 to fire damage at 23 Bay View Drive after air tanks exploded. Four out of the five had a report from a licensed structural engineer that accompanied the request, 23 Bay View Drive was the only one that did not.

There is no formal or advertised procedure for this process. By its nature “it is not a normal permitting procedure because it is considered an emergency. Yet, the steps that I take in the process are similar each time. After receiving a structural report from a state licensed structural engineer, I evaluate the report. The report must convince me that the structure is in imminent danger of collapse and that the· collapse has the possibility of endangering life or property. I will arrange for a site visit with the report to see for myself the condition of the building and verify the conditions described in the report related to the structure.

There have been instances where I have denied the issuance of an emergency demolition permit. In these cases, the structure may have been in danger of collapse, but the collapse would not endanger life or property. In those situations, I have advised the requester to secure the building to the best of their ability and to monitor the condition of the structure while they wait for their application to appear before HARB.

They are told to contact me if there are any changes to the structure so that I can reassess the situation and condition.

Under Florida statutes it is the responsibility of the building official to administrate, supervise, direct, enforce, or perform the permitting of the demolition of structures, among other things, within the boundaries of their governmental jurisdiction. The building official shall faithfully perform this responsibility without interference from any person.

In the case of 11 Bridge Street, the most recent example of an approval, a set of structural reports were submitted. The first report was completed in February of 2022 but was never submitted to the city. The second report was completed in March 2024 which included updated information.

Both reports were submitted to the city in April 2024. Sec attached documents. Based on the reports submitted and the conclusion that the “current state of the structure is at a high risk of collapse”, it was my determination to approve the emergency demolition permit.

At times there will be emergencies that require immediate action on the part of the building official. The building official must use their years of experience within the construction industry to make these decisions, no matter other opinion.

The city has adopted the International Property Maintenance Code to try to ensure that properties and structures are maintained in a safe condition. This code authorizes the building official to order an owner to demolish a structure if that structure is “dangerous, unsafe, unsanitary or otherwise unfit for human habitation or occupancy.”

The approval of an emergency demolition permit has been issued sparingly and after careful consideration. A permit of this nature is only approved if I believe that the collapse of the structure would endanger life or property.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. If you have any questions, please call me at (904) 209-4327 or email at rschauland@citystaug.com