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City of Hopkins - Master of Incomplete Building Projects Matter of Incomplete Building Projects Prepared by Rick Davidson November 8,2002 . THE PROBLEM An age old problem throughout many cities including Hopkins is that of building projects that never seem to come to an end or that take much longer to be completed than they should given the size and scope of the project. While the problem is not a frequent occurrence, involving perhaps less than 1 % of permits issued, the ones that do occur tend to occupy a disproportionate amount of city council and staff time. Some of the projects involve contractors but most of the time, incomplete construction projects involve a homeowner who acts as his own contractor. This problem irritates neighbors and business owners because it causes disruption in their neighborhoods and devalues properties. Neighbors complain. THE CAUSE How and why does this occur? While it can occur with commercial projects, it is mostly a problem that occurs with residential projects such as a garage, dwelling . addition, or repair. The reasons why it occur are many but probably include: . Lack of money to complete the job. . Waning enthusiasm to finish the job due to the amount of work (underestimated) necessary to complete the project. . Lack of time to complete the work (evenings and weekends only available time). . Other personal or family problems. . Contractor problems. . Some owners like to finish projects as they purchase the materials to avoid going into debt. These projects take longer than those where a contractor works start to finish or where a homeowner has sufficient funds. AN EXAMPLE You may be aware of a dwelling on the 300 block of 19th Avenue North that is an example of this problem. In this situation, repair of a fire damaged home was first delayed by the insurance company investigation. A contractor was then hired but disputes resulted in the contractor being fired or quitting. All of the insurance money was gone, taken by the original contractor, and the owner had no money to . complete the project. Negotiations have been undeIWay for several months to resolve the matter and the owner was to have siding put on the building in the past Matter of Incomplete Building Projects Prepared by Rick Davidson November 8, 2002 . few weeks but the father of the contractor who was to complete the project became ill and passed away and the project is delayed again. WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT THE PROBLEM What can we do to insure that these projects are brought to completion? First, here is what we can't do. We can't use the building code as a tool. The building code places no limits on the time it takes for a project to be completed. A building permit expires if work is abandoned for 180 days but permits can be renewed by paying additional fees. Even if a renewal were refused, this still doesn't bring the project to closure. We do have rules in the property maintenance and fire codes requiring adequate weather protection and prohibiting buildings from being a fire hazard but again enforcement of these rules may move a project forward for a while or to a certain point but not to completion. . We can set time limits by city ordinance. This might compel some folks but not all. Placing time limits on projects would be a complicated effort since the time it takes to complete any given project can vary given it's size and scope. No two projects are the same. We would need to develop an extensive list to try to cover all building types of projects and the time periods allotted may need to be generous to cover unusual situations or weather conditions. We can modify our nuisance ordinance so we can declare the property a nuisance. But it will be a challenge to develop language that addresses the problem we have without also interfering with legitimate projects. Nuisances usually need to offend "a considerable number of persons". Incomplete building projects typically impact only one or two adjoining neighbors. In both of the previously suggestions, we will ultimately be faced with what to do if a homeowner pushes the ordinance to the limit and fails to complete a project in compliance with the ordinance. The ordinance will have penalties that are I intended to punish the offender but that still will not get the project completed. Under our current ordinances, we can continue to issue citations but eventually we will reach a point where there will be nothing left to cite and the work will still be . incomplete. . Matter of Incomplete Building Projects Prepared by Rick Davidson November 8, 2002 . And, neighbors almost always complain that they want a job finished. They don't want to look into a dwelling addition and see bare studs or the manufacturers labels on windows or lumber in the yard, neatly stacked or not. They want the job done! I have contacted the League of Cities for assistance. They were not able to provide any examples of ordinances to address this issue. Keeping in mind that the ultimate goal is to bring the project to completion, one suggestion would be to require a performance bond that would provide the money to complete the project if for some reason it can't be completed. This will add cost to projects, is likely to delay the issuance of some permits, and will result in additional staff time to administer this type of rule. It may not be very popular with homeowners. It would also result in the need to develop some guidelines or ordinance language to determine when to apply this tool. Another option is to use the tools available to force projects to the extent that they can be and expect the public to accept that portions of some projects may take a . long time to complete. This is a difficult problem to address from a staff perspective. Any direction or suggestions would be helpful. .