City investigation exposes shortcuts before historic home collapses

David Birchim, AICP, Director of Planning and Building for the City of St Augustine, reported to Assistant City Manager Tim Burchfield yesterday afternoon the timeline associated with the construction work being done by former mayor Len Weeks at the 200-year-old Don Pedro Farnell House at 62-A Spanish Street.

During Birchim’s investigation, Historic City News has learned that there are irregularities and non-compliance by Weeks, as general contractor, leading up to the Thursday, September 25, 2014 collapse of the historic building.

Friday, September 19, 2014:

Len Weeks Construction applied for a building permit to “pour footing around the Farnell House at 62-A Spanish St. and coquina wall” Plans for the new foundation were submitted at that time and were produced by Dixon Design Group, Inc. and signed-sealed by Gerald Dixon.

Tuesday, September 23, 2014:

In response to a comment concerning the foundation plans, Gerald Dixon writes a letter which is forwarded to the Building Official with an e-mail from Len Weeks.

Tuesday, September 23, 2014:

The coquina wall on Hypolita Street is removed without approval of the Historic Architectural Review Board.  Plans for the reconstruction of the wall were not submitted to determine if this is a “remove and replace to match the existing” building permit, that can be administratively approved, or if HARB approval is required for the demolition and reconstruction. The city staff observes the coquina wall has been removed and the trenches for the new footers around 62 Spanish Street have begun to be dug out on the east and north sides, prior to the permit being issued, a verbal warning is given to the contractor to obtain the building permit.

Wednesday, September 24, 2014:

The City Archaeologist, Carl Halbirt, goes to the job site and observes the trenches have been dug for the new footers, no archaeology permit was obtained.

Thursday, September 25, 2014:

• At approximately 9:40am, an “after the fact” building permit with double permit fees for the new footings is issued.

• At approximately 10:00 a.m., the city Building Inspector does a building inspection on the footings and it does not pass inspection.

• At approximately 11:30 a.m, Len Weeks contacts the building official and informs him that the building is collapsing.

• At approximately 12:00 p.m., Bircham, the Building Official and Building Inspector arrived on the site and observed the building collapsing.

• Birchim notified the Fire Department, Police Department, Public Works Department, City Manager and City Attorney of the situation. The job site is secured.

• The Building Official and city Fire Marshall declare the building to be an unsafe structure and immediate safety hazard.

At approximately 11:30 p.m., the building is taken down with a controlled demolition.