HomeMy WebLinkAbout631 ENDICOTT ST - CORRESPONDENCE - 5/8/2003Community Planning and Environmental Services
Building and Zoning Department
City of Fort Collins
May 8, 2003
Ms. Laurie Strand
1808 Flower Street Apt B
Glendale, Calif. 91201
Reference: Storage Shed Permit # BO106650
631 Endicott Street
Fort Collins, Colorado
Ms. Strand,
I am in receipt of your letter dated 5/4/03 expressing your frustrations regarding the
installation and inspection of the above referenced shed. I regret that you were subjected
to repeated inspections and seemingly un-ending requirements. As a department, my staff
does strive to be service motivated. I am constantly stressing that "helpfulness" is a
requirement and I'm not sure why your project seemed to be lacking this. Sometimes the
simplest of projects can become bogged down in requirements. I will certainly look into
the why's of this case.
In the meantime, I see no need to hold this project up anymore. Based on the City's files
it would appear that you have complied with the installation requirements and I am
hereby approving and releasing this project. Enclosed please find the final document
needed for your files. The issuance of this LOC closes this permit and is authorization
from the City for its use.
I would hope that your next experience with the Building Department will be much
smoother. Thank you for bringing this issue to my attention.
With regards,
Michael W. Gebo
Codes & Inspections Administrator
281 North College Avenue - P.O. Box 580 - Fort Collins, CO 80522-0580 - (970) 221-6760 - FAX (970) 224-6134
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��- RECEIVED
May 4, 2003 /
A7-5 cow MAY 0 � 2003
Dear Mr. Gebo,
Re: permit # B0106650
I am writing to you to express my frustration and disappointment in my dealings
with the Department on the requirements and inspection on my storage shed and to
request, in writing, what more I need to do to get this shed to pass and resolve this
problem.
I purchased the shed in July of 2001 from Rocky Mountain Storage Barns and
was told that since it was under 8 feet tall, I did not need a permit. I greatly regret not
having called your office at that time and learning about set -back requirements. After
setting the shed I received a letter notifying me that I had violated the setback and giving
me three options: (1) get rid of the shed, (2) move the shed further into my property or (3)
leave the shed where it is and install fire insulated drywall. Since I have such a small lot I
chose to install the drywall. I do not have a copy of this letter and I don't know if the
anchoring requirement was listed or not. I did write and call the office to get more
information about the drywall and applied for a permit.
After getting the permit in October 2001 (which also does not list any anchoring)
I had a contractor friend install the fire insulated drywall. He cut it to not block the
window. When the shed was inspected June 28, 2002, it failed. I was told at that time that
I had to anchor the shed and cover the window. An additional ground for the failure was
also the lack of drywall on the alley side. When I went in to the office on August 15,
2002 and spoke with John Esterbrook, that requirement was waived and I affirmed with
Mr. Esterbrook that I needed to (1)"rock over the window" and (2) anchor all four
comers of the shed.
I got my friend to come out again and cover the window. I paid Mark from
Storage Barns to come out and anchor the shed. He was able to get the two auger anchors
on the north side of the shed in but told me he hit concrete or something hard on the alley
side and was not able to get them in. He advised me to call your office and get a waiver.
I called in and talked to Kirk Moors. He told me that the requirement would not
be waived and I would have to anchor it into the concrete. I asked him how I could do
this and he said there were several ways, including bolting into the concrete and using a
tie cable. He did not say that I must anchor into concrete with auger anchors, which
seems impossible to me.
Since Storage Dams was unable or unwilling to do the rest of the work, I hired
Handyman Matters to install the last two anchors, the man who did the work was Kevin
Hartley. He told me that he had indeed hit concrete and that it was no problem and would
pass inspection. That inspection was on Feb 5, 2003.
But it didn't pass. This time the comments say it failed because I: (1) covered the
window and (2) did not use auger style anchors according to the plans.
I am really at a loss to figure out how I am supposed to comply when the
Department is either changing the standards or just applying them differently to me.
Assuming the anchoring requirement is to keep the shed from blowing over or moving, I
also fail to see how anchoring the shed into concrete is somehow worse than the auger
anchors that are just drilled into dirt. As far as the window goes, it either needs to be
covered or not. Since it has now failed for both reasons, I really don't know which you
want.
I would like to replace the fence on that side of my property (the fence is horrible)
but I hesitate to do anything since I don't know if the shed will ever pass. If I knew this
was going to be such a headache, I would not have bought the shed in the first place. As
far as I can tell, I have complied with the requirements and the shed should have passed.
This has not only been a waste of my time, but also a waste of yours in needing to read
this and a waste of the inspectors' time and everyone who I talked to in your office to try
to figure out what to do. I would have preferred one written notice with ALL
requirements instead of being told of new requirements after it has failed inspection.
I don't understand what kind of system is in place. The waiver of drywall on the
alley side has never come up again, so apparently it has been accounted for in your
computer system or otherwise, so why not the other requirements? When I called in and
asked about the concrete, why was that not entered in or noted?
I will be in Colorado from May 22-28th and will be moving back into my home
permanently in around one year. My permit expires at the beginning of August. I have
further plans to improve the property, but if each improvement is going to be a hassle like
this then I won't bother.
Please write me back and let me know what will happen next. I would like to take
care of this when I am back in May.
Sincerely,
IA" ; 2,
Laurie L. Strand
1808 Flower St. Apt B
Glendale, CA 91201