When builders get a city permit, they get a card listing all the inspections they must complete. Card courtesy of Karl Caillouet.

The city discovered 39 homes built from 2000 to 2009 that never received certificates of occupancy, and on Feb. 12 sent letters to the responsible builders, who now have until March 12 to clear the problems. Normal building procedures require builders to complete a litany of inspections before asking the city to conduct a building final inspection to earn the important certificate.

The fact that 39 homes never earned certificates has raised questions about the city’s enforcement procedures. Building and Standards Commission Member Karen Johnson was the first to raise concerns about the city’s role at a public hearing on Feb. 4, when the information first became public.

“It’s not good if we didn’t do this. We all know that. No one is saying this is fine, we didn’t do this original paperwork,” Johnson said. “It seems to me we dropped the ball as well.”

Although it is the official legal responsibility of the builder to complete necessary inspections and earn the certificate, the city is responsible for enforcing its own laws. However, whatever happened to allow 39 homes to slip through the cracks, it seems to be a problem of the past caused by building booms, occasional under staffing, and an outdated computer system that doesn’t adequately alert staff when building permits expire. In this story, InstantNewsWestU examines these past problems.

Builders and West U. staffers agree that things are better now, and the city has within the past couple years hired new staff members and instituted new procedures that better ensure that all future homes earn certificates. Tomorrow, InstantNewsWestU will explain the changes the city has made to make sure this doesn’t happen again.

Builders’ Reactions

Some builders reacted with surprise upon learning their names were on the list. David Crow, owner of Stonehenge Custom Homes, said his company has built 30 homes in West U. this decade. He said he was surprised to learn after so long that two homes he built in 2000 never earned certificates.

“I would never let anyone move in a house without a C.O. and I’m totally flabbergasted how they have two houses back in 2000,” Crow said. “It looks obvious to me they had some problems back then.”

Crow added later:

“All I’m concerned about is what do you want me to do?” he said. “I’m just going to resolve the two houses I have and clear my name.”

He said it will be difficult to prove that he did complete the inspections the city shows have not been done, since much of the original paperwork is gone now.

This home constructed by Covington Builders didn't earn a certificate of occupancy because it has outstanding inspections for drainage, topographical survey, and the building final inspection.

Robert Covington, owner of Covington Builders, voiced similar concerns at the Feb. 4 public hearing. He said his company switched offices three years ago, and purged old documents. Covington said he thought he followed the city’s rules through the years, and any time he became aware of a problem, he tried to fix it.

“I work hard. This is my bread and butter. I love this place and I work very hard to please people. I’m not defiant, I’m not resistant,” Covington said on Feb. 4. “I believe I did, and do, what’s right with the city.”

West U. Chief Building Official John Brown said that three building companies on the list have already contacted the city to try to work through the problems and earn certificates for their homes.

Public Works Director Chris Peifer said the department wants to work with any builders who visit the office trying to clear up the issues.

“They’re probably very, very benign. That they forgot to send in a piece of paper, or they fixed it and forgot to call for the reinspect,” Peifer said. “But nevertheless, it doesn’t fix the fact they never got the C.O.”

By The Numbers

Brown began researching building permits from 2000 to 2009 in preparation for the Feb. 4 hearing. He asked the city’s Building and Standards Commission to meet with Covington after finding in Oct. 2009 that the prominent builder had moved into a home his company was constructing before it underwent many important building inspections.

Covington now faces a suspension of his license to work in West U. because Brown’s research in preparation for the hearing revealed that he had built 10 homes that had outstanding inspections and never earned certificates of occupancy. The commission gave him 30 days to fix the problems, or they will consider revoking his license. During the process, Brown unexpectedly found the homes by other builders that never earned certificates.

Brown’s research revealed that out of a total of 938 homes constructed in West U. from 2000 to 2009, 39 homes failed to earn certificates. However, five of those homes were constructed in 2008 and it appears that no one has purchased them, according to Harris County Appraisal District records. Those homes do not legally need certificates of occupancy yet.

Of the 34 homes that should legally have certificates, 14 homes — 41 percent — were constructed in 2000. Twenty-seven homes, or 79 percent, were constructed before 2005, when the city says the building department began professionalizing operations with the addition of key staff members.

Past Staffing Issues

“I’m not out to bury today’s personnel,” Crow said. “But over the years, some of the guys in the past seemed to be a major problem.”

Crow said he noticed the city’s building department seemed understaffed and overburdened with work during building booms in the decade. The office sometimes moved at a snail’s pace, making it difficult for his company to meet important project timelines.

“You submitted a set of plans, and you just waited. You could wait three months for a permit. It was so frustrating,” Crow said. “It was like ‘Don’t even call here, we’ll call you when we’re done’.”

The building department experienced highly publicized problems starting in 2005 with a property in the 3900 block of Marlowe Street that eventually resulted in a lawsuit against the city and the firing of West U.’s top building official, Dennis Mackey. The city had issued a building permit to property owners Thomas and Paula Peden in December 2004, but when neighbors complained the home under construction was too large, the city revoked the building permit in February 2005. The Pedens sued the city, which eventually resulted in a settlement in which the city purchased the family’s lot and tore down the half-built house.

Brown’s research reveals that in terms of the current issues with certificates of occupancy, the year 2000 was the worst. Fourteen homes failed to earn certificates. During that year, the city had its busiest building boom of the decade.

“It was a high-volume construction year: 139 homes. They were down one inspector,” said Public Works Director Chris Peifer. “And the bar wasn’t as high as it is today.”

The city usually has one building official, two inspectors, and permit technicians who work in the office. But in the past decade, it wasn’t unusual for one or more positions to be vacant during some periods. Even when fully staffed, inspecting new homes in West U. wasn’t exactly business as usual when compared to other cities, Peifer said. Inspecting theater rooms, wine cellars and other luxury amenities makes for busy work.

“Our homes here almost carry the same volume and focus of inspections as do a commercial property,” Peifer said. “It’s a sophisticated type of residential inspection.”

Regardless of whether the department had problems or not, the law clearly places the responsibility on builders to request and complete inspections, and earn certificates of occupancy.

Tomorrow, InstantNewsWestU will detail how staffing changes starting in 2005 helped professionalize the department and clean up some of the past issues that could have contributed to the problems.

Outdated Computer System

Peifer said he thinks an outdated, green-screen computer system that is difficult to learn and utilize may be partly to blame for the city not catching the 39 homes sooner. The citywide system is called SunGard HTE, the first widely used software in the city government community.

It’s hard to train new people to use the software, Peifer said. In the building department, SunGard HTE doesn’t easily show what building permits will soon expire.

“I think it’s a function of the system not being utilized to its maximum,” he said. “If you don’t have it set correctly, or don’t use it correctly, you don’t get the list of what’s outstanding.”

Fortunately, the city is in the process of upgrading its entire computer system. Check back tomorrow for details.

Suspect Procedure

One suspect procedure in the past was the city granted exceptions to builders, allowing them to complete building final inspections while other items were still outstanding. Normally, builders must chronologically check off each inspection — the building final is the very last step.

But in the past 10 years, at least seven homes got final inspections although they still needed to complete tree or drainage inspections, and in some cases, other minor non-safety inspections. Those seven homes never earned certificates of occupancy. Ironically, the city gave five of those exceptions to Covington Builders, the company that the city has come down on the hardest for failing to earn certificates of occupancy.

Upon reviewing the seven homes that were granted exceptions, Peifer said he could understand why the city may have allowed the building final to go forward. The outstanding items did not present safety issues, and dealt with things outside of the homes like trees and outside drainage systems. With busy inspectors and a home that was ready enough, it may have made sense to do the final inspection, Peifer said.

“It’s better customer service, to be able to do as much as you can while you’re there,” he said.

But when Crow reviewed the list of certificate-less homes, he said he was confused to see those seven homes that had gotten building finals while other items were outstanding.

“I didn’t even think you were allowed to call it in. The building final is the last thing,” Crow said.

Caillouet was also shocked upon learning the city granted exceptions to complete the building finals. He said he would fault the city with not following up after granting such exceptions.

This too may be a moot point, however. John Brown told Building and Standards Commissioners at the Feb. 4 hearing that he’s already clamped down on granting exceptions for builders to get the final inspection when they still have other minor things outstanding. Instead, Brown said he tells builders to fix minor issues and he promises he’ll send another inspector quickly when they are done.

Tomorrow: Positive Changes

Tomorrow, InstantNewsWestU will explain several staffing and procedure changes that have already improved the building department’s operations. Check back tomorrow morning, or sign up to receive an automatic email when the story publishes.

In its place, the owner of the property at Kirby Drive and Tangley Street hopes to demolish the old building to construct a new one for Potbelly Sandwich Works, an upscale casual restaurant that serves mainly gourmet sandwiches.

“It’s a little sad because of how many people have been to Shipley’s again and again,” said Reid Wilson, an attorney working with property owner Bob Orkin of Kirby Retail Fund Ltd. “The first thing I want you to know is there is a Shipley’s in Bellaire.”

Architect Jerry Tipps shows members of the Zoning and Planning Commission some preliminary plans for Potbelly Sandwich Works.

The transition from Shipley Donuts to Potbelly sounds like an easy enough proposition, but one dirty word involved in the process promises to make implementation pretty difficult: Rezoning.

“It’s sort of scary rezoning in West U.,” said Wilson, who is also a West U. resident. “As soon as the word rezoning gets out everyone is like, ‘Oh my gosh.’”

Wilson and Orkin approached the West U. Zoning and Planning Commission yesterday to begin the long process of trying to rezone the property. The process will include at least one public hearing, commission recommendations to city council, revising a zoning ordinance and two council votes to finally approve the change.

“We’re just getting started on this,” said ZPC Chair Steve Brown. “It will take some time in the best of circumstances for this to make its way through.”

Townhouse vs. commercial

The reason rezoning is necessary is because the property at 5800 Kirby Dr. is considered a townhouse district even though it’s been used as a commercial property as long as anyone can remember. It used to be considered a commercial zone, but that designation changed when the Zoning and Planning Commission in 1974 looked at the perimeter of West U. and decided that townhouses would be nice.

For some reason this commercial property — and two other adjacent commercial properties — were included in the townhouse district.

“I went back and did a lot of research and pulled ordinances and minutes and things like that,” said City Planner Debbie Scarcella. “I never saw a report to see why they recommended townhouse in that area.”

“There was no rational basis for the city to do what it did in 1974,” Wilson said.

But since the three properties are in the townhouse district, the commercial uses there are considered “pre-existing, non-conforming uses.” As such, the property owners are not allowed to make changes to their buildings or land. They can switch tenants as long as they don’t make substantial changes in the process.

“Shipley is coming to the end of its lease … They are not going to be around after next year,” Wilson said. “New tenants coming in prefer not to shoehorn themselves into that tiny little building. Even if we put lipstick on the pig.”

Potbelly construction plans

Orkin and Wilson want the city to rezone the property back to commercial so Orkin can construct a new building for Potbelly. They say they want the new building to be the same size, have adequate parking, be aesthetically pleasing and match the area’s current look and feel.

“Rather than be forced by circumstances to give a B-minus product we would like to give you an A-plus product,” Wilson said.

Orkin told ZPC commissioners that his 13,500-square-foot property’s most recent appraised value is $506,000 and the improvements are worth $32,000. The construction costs of the new Potbelly building would be $400,000 and the restaurant would spend an additional $575,000 to $600,000 finishing the space and purchasing equipment.

Orkin said Potbelly is a national chain with 240 stores nationwide, 10 of them in Houston.

ZPC Vice Chair Bruce Frankel abstained from voting on Thursday because Orkin is his brother in law and he was involved in scouting out Potbelly for the location. He said that while other sandwich shops like Subway or Quizno’s bring in about $300,000 per year, an average Potbelly restaurant can gross up to $1.5 million.

“So there are substantial taxes that will be coming to us,” Frankel said.

He said he wrote on his application to serve on the ZPC commission that he wanted to help improve commercial areas in the city by bringing in better businesses.

“This is my area of expertise,” Frankel said.

ZPC questions

Members of the Zoning and Planning Commission raised many questions about the proposal during Thursday’s meeting. The major issue was whether the commission should only consider rezoning the Shipley property, or rezone all three commercial properties that are in the townhouse district.

“At this point you may want to consider knocking them all out at once,” said Josh Golden, who sat in for City Attorney Alan Petrov. “Rather than doing this now and the others in the future.”

After about two hours of discussion the commission decided to only consider the Shipley property for now, because they feared that asking to rezone all three properties could cause the Shipley rezoning to fail.

“There’s going to be a public uproar from the people who live behind that block if we ask for the whole thing,” said Commissioner DeDe Stefano.

“Please leave us by ourselves, because we really don’t want to create ay kind of problem,” Wilson said.

The commission voted to ask the city council to schedule a joint public hearing so West U. residents can provide feedback on the proposal. After that, the commission plans to consider all feedback before making a recommendation to the city council.

Voluntary public forum

Wilson and Orkin say they know that rezoning causes concern in West U., and they want the process to be as open and transparent as possible. They plan to host their own public forum on Nov. 17 at 6 p.m. at the West U. Scout House, 6108 Edloe St. The pair has already invited about 50 residents and businesses that are close to the Shipley property.

“We want to have their input in a casual environment, so no one feels concerned,” Wilson said. “We believe this is truly a win-win situation.”

Note: This story was updated on Nov. 16 to correct the date that the Shipley Donuts lease expires. InstantNewsWestU regrets the error.

Texas Citizens Bank just signed the lease yesterday for 4,300 square feet of space in the building, and hopes to open part of the space for business in the first quarter of 2010, said bank chairman and CEO Duncan Stewart.

“I’m ecstatic, I’m very excited,” said Michael Freeman, who owns the JMH building. “They’ve expressed they’re very excited about being in that location and being a part of the community.”

The building has been vacant since Amegy Bank moved out last month, Freeman said. JMH Grocery closed in December 2007.

Stewart, a former 14-year resident of West U., said he chose to locate the new branch in West U. because he has many connections and friends in the area.

“I just really loved that old JMH, and my children go up there and hang out on the weekends,” Stewart said.

The bank’s financial products target small-to-medium size businesses, as well as professionals like lawyers and accountants.

“We’re a community-oriented bank with a high level of customer service,” Stewart said. “We feel that level of customer service will be very well received in West University.”

Texas Citizens Bank has just under $200 million in assets and is headquartered in Pasadena. It has a branch in Clear Lake and also plans to open locations in Rosenberg, Tomball and Baytown.

The bank will now work on finalizing architectural plans, gaining city permits and earning regulatory approval to open the new branch. Then renovations will begin. The 2,500 square feet that housed Amegy Bank may open as soon as February, and Texas Citizens Bank will open the rest once construction is complete.

The outside will be painted, get new stone-lined doors and large windows so passers-by can see inside the bank. Turn-of-the-century bank vault doors will greet visitors who enter.

“I think one is from late 1800s and one is from the early 1900s,” Stewart said. “You know you’re walking in a bank as soon as you walk in … It’s not your commercial bank look.”

The location will include a board room that the company will use for its own meetings, but it will also be open to community groups.

Freeman said he thinks his new tenant will help attract more businesses to fill the remainder of the JHM building. He’s already gotten some interest, he said.

“Over the last couple years with the economy, and factors uncontrollable that have happened to all of us, it’s been a little bit of an up and down,” Freeman said. “I definitely think this is going to spur more than interest, it’s probably going to help accelerate the development of the rest of the property.”

Note: This story was updated Nov. 13 at 10:55 a.m. to correct some inaccuracies. InstantNewsWestU.com regrets the error.