No End in Sight
Construction projects
that stall can become a nuisance for the whole neighborhood.
L.A. Times,
Sunday, January 6, 2002
Worse than living
next-door to a construction project is living next-door to
one that grinds to a halt.
Residents on one
Redondo Beach street look forward to the day when construction
crews start making noise again. For more than a year, neighbors
have been comparing notes about the half-finished remodel,
wondering when--and if--it will ever be done.
The residents on
either side of the home moved away a year ago, so now new
neighbors listen to the flapping plastic covering and try
to make sure teenagers don't try to use the site as a party
zone.
In early September the city issued a notice to clear debris
on public nuisance grounds and the property was tidied, but
months later, construction has yet to resume. The chicken
wire awaiting stucco covering continues to rust from exposure
to the elements.
"We'd like
to have it done," said next-door neighbor Seth Berger,
whose wife, Colleen, recently had a baby, and who worries
about the value to their property the longer the work remains
unfinished.
No one is more
dismayed than the owners of the home. Donald and Katherine
Madden ended up in court suing their now-bankrupt contractor.
They have little chance of collecting a fraction of the judgment
they won or of living in their partially completed house any
time soon. The whole process even broke up their 17-year marriage.
The Maddens' predicament
is extreme even by the standards of typical stalled construction
projects, which tend to revolve around money constraints or
disputes between contractors and homeowners. Under the state's
Uniform Building Code, a project isn't considered abandoned
until six months pass without work.
Smaller cities
might see only a handful of stalled projects each year. "It's
not that common," said Redondo Beach code enforcement
officer Larry Baker.
But as chief building
inspector for the sprawling city of Los Angeles, Bob Steinbach
encounters many stalled or abandoned projects. While the department
doesn't track these cases, Steinbach has heard many explanations
for the delays.
"It may be
the homeowner got into a dispute with the contractor, they
want to change the plans, or it may be money," Steinbach
said. "Just sitting here, I can think of a dozen reasons."
He said he thinks
the primary cause of delays is disputes between contractors
and homeowners. Contractors working on spec usually want to
turn the project around as quickly as possible so they can
sell the home and repay the loan.
Under the state
Building Code, building permits last for a two-year period,
which may seem like an eternity to neighbors coping with the
disruptions construction invariably brings. Contractors may
request a six-month extension or take out another two-year
permit for the portion of the project not completed if the
original expires.
However, if the
latter occurs, they may have to resubmit their plans if the
code has changed. The state tends to pass a new code after
every major earthquake.
Redondo Beach chief
building officer Steve Huang said projects usually finish
before the first year is up, rarely exceeding the two years
allotted in the permit.
Building officials
caution neighbors that projects may seem stalled when they're
merely moving at a slower pace than neighbors would like.
"People call
and ask, 'How long am I going to have to deal with this?'"
said Hermosa Beach senior inspector Charlie Schwartz. "What
the law says is: As long as they're making progress, it's
OK."
In Palos Verdes
Estates, home to several multi-year construction projects
in recent years, the city works with contractors to make sure
they paint the house and landscape "where appropriate"
while interior detail work is being completed. Planning director
Allan Rigg said the city does this to reduce the nuisance
from extended projects and contacts contractors at the rate
of once every three months.
"Construction
is always disruptive to any neighborhood--that will always
be the case," Rigg said. "But we really work to
mitigate the impact."
Although municipalities
try to keep their eye out for lagging projects, it's usually
neighbors who call attention to the situation. They're more
likely to notice lack of progress than an inspector occasionally
driving by.
"There are
a couple ways we can tickle the job," Steinbach said.
"I may mark my calendar
and, if I don't see any progress on a job, I'll check back
on it."
He said about 5%
to 10% of inspections are devoted to follow-up visits. Every
week, his department conducts 12,000 inspections of new construction
projects alone. "But usually the first indications come
from neighbors," Steinbach said.
If building departments
suspect a project has stalled, they usually try to contact
the contractor first. Schwartz said Hermosa Beach sends letters
to owners of abandoned projects to try to find out what's
going on.
"If we think
there has been no construction progress in 180 days, we can
expire the permit, but we don't have to," Steinbach said.
"We usually try to find out why no progress is being
made."
The last thing
cities want to do is throw a monkey wrench into a troubled
project and delay it further--that's not good for the community,
Steinbach said. "We do not want to be punitive because
that doesn't do anybody any good."
At the same time,
cities try to make sure the property has not become an eyesore
or a safety hazard attracting kids or drug activity. If they
determine it has, they might notify the owner to clean up
the property.
"If they don't,
we have the authority to clean it up and charge them for it,"
Steinbach said. "We try not to enforce it, but the tools
are there if we need to use them."
According to Steinbach,
in the entire city of Los Angeles, "you could count the
number of filings in the past six months on one hand."
In a worst-case
scenario, an abandoned project might have to be demolished.
But that is considered drastic and highly unusual.
Far better is for
construction to resume, such as the work on two new homes
a few blocks away from the Maddens' in Redondo Beach. An existing
home was demolished, but work stalled in the early stages.
The project sat idle for months and months, to the point where
weeds sprung up around a tractor parked on the site. Construction
eventually resumed and, nearly three years later, two new
homes are for sale.
Meanwhile, the
Maddens are trying to stave off foreclosure and secure financing
to get their house finished. "Here I am, stuck with a
lot of payments and no way to go," Madden said. "It's
an ugly story, but maybe something good will come of it."
* * *
Originally published in the Los Angeles Times
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