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| Building Without Permits Loveland's Chief Building Inspector accused of capricious enforcement of building codes after friend is reported building without permits and no enforcement action is taken |
Loveland - October 5, 2011
In 1993 a building inspector in Branson, Missouri said he could not sleep all night knowing a partially built hotel was
accepting guests into an unsafe structure. When he pulled the hotel's temporary occupancy permit the next morning all hell
broke loose in city hall as the powerful owners of the hotel and their attorneys attacked the city in a full court press for
hurting local businesses by too strictly enforcing building codes.
It may be difficult to imagine that a building inspector would worry about the political consequences of any decision involving
public safety but sometimes which codes are enforced in a city comes down to who the building owner knows. Too often
prominent citizens or friends of city staff are allowed to ignore certain codes without consequence while others are expected
to comply to the letter of the law or face punitive legal measures by the city.
Ironically, Loveland’s former city manager, Don Williams, who was once the focus of various complaints and even a lawsuit
alleging selective code enforcement by Loveland, has retired to Missouri. Ironic because Missouri itself became the
epicenter of such controversies in the 1990’s surrounding new and unsafe buildings being erected in the resort community of
Branson as the result of cronyism polluting the building code enforcement process.
Even though Williams departed Loveland to return to Missouri much of his hand selected senior enforcement posse who
were also part of that lawsuit, including Loveland Chief Building Inspector Thomas Hawkinson, remain in charge.
New allegations regarding building code violations appeared in a complaint last August alleging construction by a friend of
Hawkinson was allowed to proceed without permits in late 2010 and early 2011. Bill Cahill, Loveland's new City Manager,
received the complaint and promised a full internal inquiry. Nothing regarding the matter appears to have been reported
officially to either Loveland's City Council or the local press and the promised "inquiry" appears forgotten.
The complaint involves illegal construction on an historic building located at 209 E 4th street in downtown Loveland owned
by Roger Kenney. Kenney bought the 1915 commercial masonry building in 2000 for $375,000. According to Larimer
County records the building was last remodeled in 1954 though the complaint surrounds an extensive remodel construction
job begun late last year.
According to the complaint dated August 22 of this year, an extensive remodel of Kenney's building was underway at the
beginning of 2011 without any building permits being issued by the City of Loveland. The extensive remodeling project,
according to the complaint, involved adding additional cubical space, a new conference room and a stairway. "To
accommodate access, the floor was cut out and re-supported to allow a new stairway entrance from the street to
the second floor." According to people who complained to the city, the owner and tenant Roger Kenney never removed
his employees or the public from harms way during construction despite the fact major supports for the second floor were
being replaced. Cities normally don't allow occupancy certificates to remain active while structural supports are being
change in a building.
In Branson, the building inspector couldn’t sleep after he discovered disabled fire alarms (sometimes paint sets them off) a
stair case without railings and even combustible trash left by the contractor in the building. In Loveland, similar construction
hazards were reported to Hawkinson but unlike the case in Branson, Loveland’s chief building inspector apparently decided
against inspecting the construction site operating without a permit while presumably sleeping well at night. At the time of the
original complaint no building permit had even been issued though Hawkinson, reported to be a friend of Kenney, did later
acknowledge he was in contact with the owner in regards to the project. Later that same month the city began issuing
permits but apparently without an inspection and according to Phillipps for work either already completed or well in
progress.
Incredibly, emails released by the City of Loveland under a CORA (Colorado Open Records Act) request reveal that
Hawkinson appeared to be colluding with the alleged code violator by assisting Kenney in trying to identify the complainer.
In one friendly email Kenney describes a car accident he was recently in before giving reasons why railings were not on
stairs open to his employees and the public. Finally, he inquires,
“PS still waiting to find out who our stool pigeon is.”
In another email Kenney again asks if the city has yet identified the “whistle blower” indicating efforts were underway to
research the origin of the complaints instead of the illegal activity reported. The city appears to have searched the
complainer’s name but was unable to find public records that would reveal personal details about the individual who sent the
complaints to the city about Kenney commencing the extensive remodel project without first obtaining a building permit.
Curiously, the city staff even attempted to identify the complainer’s employer by involving the city attorney’s office while
refusing to answer questions until this information was disclosed by the person reporting the code violations. Acting as if the
person making the complaint had done something inappropriate the staff demanded to know his business address and phone
before referring the person to the city attorney. All this can be seen in the actual emails linked to the complaint at the end of
this story.
The original complaint to the city was sent by a “Robert Phillipps” in an email dated February 11, 2011 sent to both Thomas
Hawkinson and Mary Shann, a city code enforcer. Phillipps wrote the following to Hawkinson and Shann;
“I have become aware of extensive remodeling being done at 209 E 4th Street on both the first floor as well as
the second floor, without a permit to do so. After you have looked into this matter please contact me with your
findings/actions.”
Hawkinson later informed Phillipps after several more email exchanges that failed to answer Phillipp’s original questions,
“Mr. Phillipps, if this is the property at 209 E 4th, a permit was submitted on 12/13/2010 for a exit stairway in
the front portion of building from upper floor to the street on the inside of the structure. Working with the
owner of the building and reviewing the work indicated on the construction drawings, a permit was issued
2/22/2011. We have not received any requests for inspections; the building division will be notified to send
building inspectors to inspect the work they have called for.”
Again Phillipps inquired as to whether Hawkinson ever visited the construction site or found work being performed without a
permit. On March 7, a colleague of Hawkinson asked Phillipps in another email for his business name and address.
Phillipps replied he didn’t believe the identity of his employer was relevant to the city investigating illegal construction and
asked,
“Am I now under investigation do I need to fear retaliation?”
While perhaps intended as a rhetorical question, the fact is both Shann and Hawkinson began referring Phillipp's subsequent
emails to Sunita Sharma, Loveland’s Assistant City Attorney, after he refused to reveal his own “business address” per their
request. The “investigation” appeared to be turned on the citizen who reported the building code violations while
Hawkinson kept his friend Kenney, the building owner, fully informed of the city’s inquiry into the complainer’s true identity
and what they knew about the complaints.
LovelandPolitics was informed the original email complaint to Hawkinson was sent by a family member of an employee of
Kenney's architectural firm -- who were allegedly put at risk during the construction. This may explain why “Phillipps”
seemed to have inside knowledge regarding a stairway without a railing and other code violations inside the building. It is
important to note the city never pulled the owner’s occupancy permit for the building (routinely done when a building’s
support structures are being altered) which became a primary focus and concern of the complainer in email exchanges with
city staff. However, the public also had access to the building as Kenney's architectural firm remained open for business
therefore just about anyone could have entered the building to document the ongoing unpermitted construction and
hazardous conditions.
Another local developer and former City of Loveland Construction Advisory Board Member, Ed Klen, was prosecuted by
the City of Loveland under the leadership of Don Williams and his enforcement posse for building without a permit. Klen
claimed he was a victim of arbitrary and capricious enforcement of city codes since issuance of a building permit is
considered a formality for those close to city staff who are often provided a “verbal go ahead" to projects before issuing a
proper building permit. Hawkinson was a defendant in the lawsuit brought by the Klens and testified the city does not
knowingly allow such conduct.
Ed Klen is the party who researched the emails between the city and “Phillipps” along with internal emails before filing the
August complaint with Loveland’s new city manager. You can read his full complaint with supporting documents by clicking
here. Klen reported to LovelandPolitics that he does not know who Robert Phillipps is but became aware of the situation
when Phillipps began leaving anonymous notes at the Klen's place of business the Rocky Mountain Gun Club.
Klen said he finally decided to research the matter and bring the evidence to Loveland's new city manager. Reached shortly
before this story was concluded Klen said Cahill's reaction was to, "put the fox in charge of the hen house" for the
investigation.
In 1993 a building inspector in Branson, Missouri said he could not sleep all night knowing a partially built hotel was
accepting guests into an unsafe structure. When he pulled the hotel's temporary occupancy permit the next morning all hell
broke loose in city hall as the powerful owners of the hotel and their attorneys attacked the city in a full court press for
hurting local businesses by too strictly enforcing building codes.
It may be difficult to imagine that a building inspector would worry about the political consequences of any decision involving
public safety but sometimes which codes are enforced in a city comes down to who the building owner knows. Too often
prominent citizens or friends of city staff are allowed to ignore certain codes without consequence while others are expected
to comply to the letter of the law or face punitive legal measures by the city.
Ironically, Loveland’s former city manager, Don Williams, who was once the focus of various complaints and even a lawsuit
alleging selective code enforcement by Loveland, has retired to Missouri. Ironic because Missouri itself became the
epicenter of such controversies in the 1990’s surrounding new and unsafe buildings being erected in the resort community of
Branson as the result of cronyism polluting the building code enforcement process.
Even though Williams departed Loveland to return to Missouri much of his hand selected senior enforcement posse who
were also part of that lawsuit, including Loveland Chief Building Inspector Thomas Hawkinson, remain in charge.
New allegations regarding building code violations appeared in a complaint last August alleging construction by a friend of
Hawkinson was allowed to proceed without permits in late 2010 and early 2011. Bill Cahill, Loveland's new City Manager,
received the complaint and promised a full internal inquiry. Nothing regarding the matter appears to have been reported
officially to either Loveland's City Council or the local press and the promised "inquiry" appears forgotten.
The complaint involves illegal construction on an historic building located at 209 E 4th street in downtown Loveland owned
by Roger Kenney. Kenney bought the 1915 commercial masonry building in 2000 for $375,000. According to Larimer
County records the building was last remodeled in 1954 though the complaint surrounds an extensive remodel construction
job begun late last year.
According to the complaint dated August 22 of this year, an extensive remodel of Kenney's building was underway at the
beginning of 2011 without any building permits being issued by the City of Loveland. The extensive remodeling project,
according to the complaint, involved adding additional cubical space, a new conference room and a stairway. "To
accommodate access, the floor was cut out and re-supported to allow a new stairway entrance from the street to
the second floor." According to people who complained to the city, the owner and tenant Roger Kenney never removed
his employees or the public from harms way during construction despite the fact major supports for the second floor were
being replaced. Cities normally don't allow occupancy certificates to remain active while structural supports are being
change in a building.
In Branson, the building inspector couldn’t sleep after he discovered disabled fire alarms (sometimes paint sets them off) a
stair case without railings and even combustible trash left by the contractor in the building. In Loveland, similar construction
hazards were reported to Hawkinson but unlike the case in Branson, Loveland’s chief building inspector apparently decided
against inspecting the construction site operating without a permit while presumably sleeping well at night. At the time of the
original complaint no building permit had even been issued though Hawkinson, reported to be a friend of Kenney, did later
acknowledge he was in contact with the owner in regards to the project. Later that same month the city began issuing
permits but apparently without an inspection and according to Phillipps for work either already completed or well in
progress.
Incredibly, emails released by the City of Loveland under a CORA (Colorado Open Records Act) request reveal that
Hawkinson appeared to be colluding with the alleged code violator by assisting Kenney in trying to identify the complainer.
In one friendly email Kenney describes a car accident he was recently in before giving reasons why railings were not on
stairs open to his employees and the public. Finally, he inquires,
“PS still waiting to find out who our stool pigeon is.”
In another email Kenney again asks if the city has yet identified the “whistle blower” indicating efforts were underway to
research the origin of the complaints instead of the illegal activity reported. The city appears to have searched the
complainer’s name but was unable to find public records that would reveal personal details about the individual who sent the
complaints to the city about Kenney commencing the extensive remodel project without first obtaining a building permit.
Curiously, the city staff even attempted to identify the complainer’s employer by involving the city attorney’s office while
refusing to answer questions until this information was disclosed by the person reporting the code violations. Acting as if the
person making the complaint had done something inappropriate the staff demanded to know his business address and phone
before referring the person to the city attorney. All this can be seen in the actual emails linked to the complaint at the end of
this story.
The original complaint to the city was sent by a “Robert Phillipps” in an email dated February 11, 2011 sent to both Thomas
Hawkinson and Mary Shann, a city code enforcer. Phillipps wrote the following to Hawkinson and Shann;
“I have become aware of extensive remodeling being done at 209 E 4th Street on both the first floor as well as
the second floor, without a permit to do so. After you have looked into this matter please contact me with your
findings/actions.”
Hawkinson later informed Phillipps after several more email exchanges that failed to answer Phillipp’s original questions,
“Mr. Phillipps, if this is the property at 209 E 4th, a permit was submitted on 12/13/2010 for a exit stairway in
the front portion of building from upper floor to the street on the inside of the structure. Working with the
owner of the building and reviewing the work indicated on the construction drawings, a permit was issued
2/22/2011. We have not received any requests for inspections; the building division will be notified to send
building inspectors to inspect the work they have called for.”
Again Phillipps inquired as to whether Hawkinson ever visited the construction site or found work being performed without a
permit. On March 7, a colleague of Hawkinson asked Phillipps in another email for his business name and address.
Phillipps replied he didn’t believe the identity of his employer was relevant to the city investigating illegal construction and
asked,
“Am I now under investigation do I need to fear retaliation?”
While perhaps intended as a rhetorical question, the fact is both Shann and Hawkinson began referring Phillipp's subsequent
emails to Sunita Sharma, Loveland’s Assistant City Attorney, after he refused to reveal his own “business address” per their
request. The “investigation” appeared to be turned on the citizen who reported the building code violations while
Hawkinson kept his friend Kenney, the building owner, fully informed of the city’s inquiry into the complainer’s true identity
and what they knew about the complaints.
LovelandPolitics was informed the original email complaint to Hawkinson was sent by a family member of an employee of
Kenney's architectural firm -- who were allegedly put at risk during the construction. This may explain why “Phillipps”
seemed to have inside knowledge regarding a stairway without a railing and other code violations inside the building. It is
important to note the city never pulled the owner’s occupancy permit for the building (routinely done when a building’s
support structures are being altered) which became a primary focus and concern of the complainer in email exchanges with
city staff. However, the public also had access to the building as Kenney's architectural firm remained open for business
therefore just about anyone could have entered the building to document the ongoing unpermitted construction and
hazardous conditions.
Another local developer and former City of Loveland Construction Advisory Board Member, Ed Klen, was prosecuted by
the City of Loveland under the leadership of Don Williams and his enforcement posse for building without a permit. Klen
claimed he was a victim of arbitrary and capricious enforcement of city codes since issuance of a building permit is
considered a formality for those close to city staff who are often provided a “verbal go ahead" to projects before issuing a
proper building permit. Hawkinson was a defendant in the lawsuit brought by the Klens and testified the city does not
knowingly allow such conduct.
Ed Klen is the party who researched the emails between the city and “Phillipps” along with internal emails before filing the
August complaint with Loveland’s new city manager. You can read his full complaint with supporting documents by clicking
here. Klen reported to LovelandPolitics that he does not know who Robert Phillipps is but became aware of the situation
when Phillipps began leaving anonymous notes at the Klen's place of business the Rocky Mountain Gun Club.
Klen said he finally decided to research the matter and bring the evidence to Loveland's new city manager. Reached shortly
before this story was concluded Klen said Cahill's reaction was to, "put the fox in charge of the hen house" for the
investigation.
“PS still waiting to find out who our stool pigeon is.” Email sent 5/13/11 from Roger Kenney (building owner accused of building without a city permit) to his friend Loveland Chief Building Inspector Thomas Hawkinson. Hawkinson involved the city attorney's office after a "Robert Phillipps" refused to provide his work address and phone number to the city after turning Kenney into the city for building without a permit. Roger Kenney is the owner of 209 4th Street in Loveland and also proprietor of the architectural firm Kenney Associates at the same location. "Kenney (Roger) suggested I speak with you how to proceed. I have not inspected the property as yet so don't know if the complaint holds any credence..." Email on 2/11/11 from Mary Shann (city code enforcement officer) to Tom Hawkinson regarding her discovery that Roger Kenney, as reported by Phillipps, did not have a building permit at the time. Incredibly, Loveland's code enforcement officer fails to investigate the complaint in person but instead takes direction from the alleged violator who instructs her to check with her boss (his friend) Tom Hawkinson on how to proceed. |
