City Polices Dangerous Buildings to Protect Neighborhood

Many buildings important to San Angelo’s history are preserved for their historic or economic value; however, residences often have a value of their own. People eat, sleep, and live their lives in their homes, so each house and the neighborhood surrounding it has a quality to it that should be important to those who live there.

However, neglected houses and construction projects do not only make for dangerous living for those who reside in them, but also to the entire neighborhood and city as a whole. Therefore, the city has several departments and programs that manage and police the quality of homes and businesses in San Angelo; these include the Construction Board of Adjustments and Appeals, the Dangerous Buildings Program, and the Planning and Development Services department.

Dangerous Buildings Program

The Dangerous Building Program is run by Fire and Dangerous Buildings Inspector Joanna Jackson. When she receives a complaint about a dangerous building, it is her role to inspect it and determine if the building meets the city’s criteria. If not, Jackson attempts to identify and locate the owners.  

“We attempt to mitigate problems within neighborhoods and keep fires to a minimum as well as try to keep some of the criminal element out of areas where we have families and children,” Jackson said.

Jackson’s main cases include people living in their houses without utilities or noticeably dilapidated buildings.

“It’s a health hazard that if you’ve got someone living somewhere with no water utilities, you have to wonder… how are they maintaining a base level of hygiene and health standard at that location?” Jackson asked.

When Jackson inspects a building, she ranks the quality of it on a scale of 1 to 10. Cases high on the scale, or those that are easily broken into, are quickly addressed, while those that rank low are put on a list and investigated later.

Additionally, easily accessed dilapidated buildings tend to attract criminal activity that Jackson says “make a neighborhood deteriorate;” therefore, the Dangerous Buildings Program helps to stop the spread of crime in these areas.

After Jackson gathers information on dangerous buildings, she attempts to contact the owners and convince them to take necessary safety measures. If they refuse, the case is brought to the Construction Board of Adjustments and Appeals.

Construction Board

According to the City’s website, the purpose of the Construction Board of Adjustments and Appeals “is to hear appeals and variances regarding building construction codes and to make decisions regarding demolition of dangerous buildings."

The board of nine members meet monthly on the first Thursday of every month. According to Al Torres, San Angelo Building Official and Construction Board of Adjustments and Appeals board liaison, said the board usually hears four or five cases every month. If the building is in bad enough condition to be a nuisance to the neighborhood, the City orders the building to be torn down. If the owner refuses, the City’s crews come in, destroy the structure, and bill the owner.

However, the board’s cases are not all demolition based. Most of them are what Torres calls “cleanup secure.” In these cases, the owner is required to clean up the dilapidated area and take necessary measures to prevent vagrants from intruding.

Planning and Development Services Department

According to director of planning and development services Jon James, the purpose of the department is to provide “a big picture view of the future growth and development long-term of the community.” Additionally, the department reviews new development and renovations within the city.

‘We tend to look at day to day decisions, but a part of our job is to take a step back and look at how things the City does affects [the community] 15 or 20 years out in the future,” James said.

Both the City’s Planning department and the Building Permits and Inspections department are divisions of planning and development services; James said that the two divisions work “hand in hand” to review new developments.

When building plans are brought to the City, the planning staff performs actions such as checking to see if the area has enough parking, looking at driveway locations, and finding out if the proposed site is in the proper zoning district.

The City’s website states that the purpose of the Building Permits and Inspections department is to assist the public with “various development related projects.”

 “The primary role of our office, [the] Permits and Inspections Division, is to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of all building construction in San Angelo,” Torres said.

While Planning does its inspections, the people with Building Permits and Inspections primarily focus on the building’s structural elements and architectural features to ensure building code safety.

“[The purpose of Building Permits and Inspections] primarily is to ensure new buildings meet standard building codes so they’re safe and secure,” James said. “They start at the building plan stage where, before anything is built, they review the building plans to ensure compliance. Throughout the construction process, they inspect periodically to ensure that everything being built is in conformance with those building codes.

Torres added that renovations for Chadbourne Tavern on 115 S. Chadbourne area are about to be completed. Furthermore, The Edd B. Keys building is another structure being renovated downtown. The county has already completed phase one, which is the first floor. About a month ago, the construction board issued a permit for phase two, the second floor of the building.

However, these are not the only buildings being remodeled in the San Angelo area. For more information, check out the City’s website for the construction board’s agenda last Thursday, or the Permits and Inspections Department's monthly report from May.