Columbus Consolidated Government
Referrals From Mayor and Council-09/12/2006
Subject Demolition Permits
Description Have the staff to look at the language that is currently in the
demolition permits as to the date the permit is to expire and get together with
the City Attorney and if it is determined that the language is unclear, the
issue needs to be resolved in the favor of the person who receives the
demolition notice. (Request of Mayor Poydasheff)
Received From
Assigned To Bill Duck, David Arrington
Please enter a date mm/dd/yy before any comments are added.
Response
The language preprinted at the bottom of all permits states the following:
"Applicant hereby granted permission to proceed with work in compliance with
applicable codes, laws, and ordinances of Columbus, Ga. PERMIT VOID IF WORK
CEASES FOR A PERIOD OF 6 MONTHS. No refunds for unused permits."
Permits do not have an expiration date. The work may be performed over an
extended period of time provided work does not cease for a period of 6
continuous months. However, if work ceases for a period of 6 months the
permit will be void. This is particularly applicable to demolitions where an
individual may obtain a permit as a method of simply delaying further
condemnation proceedings.
Once an owner is cited for condemnation the owner is given 45 days to bring the
building up to code or demolish the property. After 45 days the property is
re-inspected and if the code improvements have not been made or the property
demolished, staff proceeds with obtaining pricing for demolition and the
property is included on the demolition list to go to Council. At any point in
this process, the owner may obtain a demolition permit to have the property
demolished at the owner?s initiative. However, obtaining a permit does not
stop the demolition procedures being conducted by Inspection and Codes. If the
property is demolished or improved by the owner, the City would remove the
property from the demolition list. If not, the City retains the right to
remove the blighted property from the community by demolition.
It is beneficial to the City for the owner to bring the building up to code or
demolish blighted property at their initiative. If an owner obtains a
demolition permit Inspections and Codes makes every effort to allow the owner
to demolish the property in a timely manner. However, once the property has
moved through the demolition process to the point of going to Council, it is
the Department?s position the property should be kept on the demolition list to
have the flexibility to proceed with demolition in the event the owner does not
follow through with the permitted work.
A copy of a demolition permit has been forwarded to the City Attorney's office
for review and comments.
Closed Date
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