- March 21,2012 VouR COMMUNITV Page 7
Confusion over permits clearing up, city officials say
By Scan C. Morgan
Of The New Era
A difference of opinion among
staff members of the city Commu-
nity Development Department and
its building division led to confu-
sion over the last few years when
an occupancy permit was required,
a problem that has been resolved
by the use of a private contractor,
city officials say.
The department is overhauling
its processes to make the building
division more user-friendly.
Questions about how to apply
the occupancy permit requirement,
a part of state building code, were
resolved last year when the city
began contracting for building of-
ficial services.
Until 2007, the city had never
required occupancy permits, said
Community Development Direc-
tor Carol Lewis. The city began
requiring the permits because they
were part of the building code, but
contention arose over the follow-
ing years over when and how they
should be implemented. The de-
partment kept refining it from that
point forward, trying to make sure
the city was following the code.
Last April, for internal reasons,
the city began using the Building
Department, an LLC based in Eu-
gene, as the city's building official,
Lewis said. She had previously
worked with the company for plan
reviews when she worked in To-
ledo.
• The city has had buiiding of-
ficials in the past, depending on the
certification of it.,, huildin,g in,pet
tors. Lewis said. Currently. Sweet
Home has two half-time build-
ing inspectors. Building officials
administer and enforce building
codes, while building inspectors
complete on-site inspections and
plan reviews.
With the new building official.
the city began resolving the ques-
tions about the occupancy permit
requirement.
"Thi c0ntinucd to bc an issue
that was raised every time we had
Lewis said. Unlike other cities,
Sweet Home's pre-app process is
free.
Most people do not know
when they are changing classifica-
tion, Lewis said. "You" might want
to come in and ask."
One situation that recently
came up was a space to be set up
as a "classroom," Lewis said. The
space had been used for an office.
The business plan was for meeting
with one to three people at a time,
educating them. It was not a class-
room in the sense of a school. The
city determined that it was not a
change in classification and there-
fore did not require an occupancy
permit.
The building process is run-
ning smoothly from the city's per-
spective, Lewis said, and members
of the building division are meet-
ing and working on new ways of
doing things to simplify the build-
ing permit process.
The idea is to reduce the need
for repeat visits and make require-
ments clearer, Lewis said. The ef-
fort to change the process grew out
of a newspaper article that quoted
Economic Development Director
Brian Hoffman on making things
easier to promote economic devel-
opment.
Building Department employ-
ees told city officials that the initial
permit application packet was huge
and suggested changing it, Lewis
sai&
"We're working on that right
now," Lewis said. "People that are department is simplifying forms think we could do it better" and
applying for permits should start and information materials so that make it easier foe customers.
noticing quickly." builders do not find out their ap- The city changed many forms
The changes will make theplications are incomplete and they over the past year, Lewis said. It is
process less intrusive and easier must go out, gather more informa- changing the check lists and mak-
to navigate for those who may be tion and return repeatedly, ing things more consistent.
unfamiliar with the process, Lewis The building inspectors and This is the most comprehen-
said. The city's clientele has a di- offiCials will make instructions sive review of the process that she
verse level of knowledge when it clearer, letting contractors know is aware of, Lewis said. It'll change
comes to building codes and the exactly what they must accomplish again in the future, but these chang-
building permit process, to pass inspections, including the es are good and will help improve
The process can frustrate con- words "provide" or "revise" on the building permit experience.
tractors, and when they get frus- each instruction following an in- For more information about
trated they tell other people about spection, Lewis said. The process permits, call the building division
the experience, Lewis said. The wasn't really wrong before, but "I at (541) 367-7993.
Suspect arrested after gas station hold-up
A Sweet Home man was arrested early Tues-
day morning, March 20, after allegedly robbing
the Shell gas station and convenience store at 1306
Main St. earlier in the evening, Police Chief Bob
Burford said.
Jason Wesly Brown, 39, was arrested after
Sweet Home police officers found evidence con-
nected'to the holdup of the gas station, which oc-
curred at approximately 9:45 p.m. Monday night.
According to Burford, a man wearing a mask
entered the store, confronted the clerks and threat-
ened them with a k~ife while demanding cash. He
then fled the business, running southeast across
Highway 20, carrying an undisclosed amount of
cash.
Police, using witness statements and video
surveillance, were later able to identify a suspect,
Burford said.
A few hours later, police went to the Brown's
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a pre-app with someone," Lewis [k
said. "All this controversy swirled
aroundit." H rr]b
The city had required that ne w a H Fg e r wii:h'{TroronionenChrin s(ries ,
businesses and new owners obtain
home, located a few blocks
from the robbery and learned
that he had driven to Leba-
non.
PIainclothed officers
went to Lebanon and located
Brown at Shaft's Restaurant.
While they were interview-
ing him, he asked to use the
restroom. As soon as he had
left the restroom area an of- Jason Brown
ricer entered and found cash
that had been hidden inside, Burford said.
At approximately 4:40 a.m. a search warrant
was served at Brown's home, 1201 15th Ave. Bur-
ford said officers found and seized evidence related
to the robbery and recovered the weapon used.
Brown was charged with first-degree robbery
and was transported to Linn County Jail.
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