Coverup? St. Augustine Record Reports on LEN WEEKS fine without quoting City's report on his willful, heedless, reckless acts in destroying 210-year old building

Weeks fined thousands in building collapse
Posted: November 12, 2014 - 6:42pm

By SHELDON GARDNER
sheldon.gardner@staugustine.com


St. Augustine’s code enforcement board voted in favor of fining Len Weeks more than $3,000 in connection with the collapse of the property at 62 Spanish St.

A fine for $3,000 was approved for the violation of emergency demolition of a colonial structure without approval of the Historic Architectural Review Board and the St. Augustine City Commission. The majority of board members found that Weeks created a condition that led to the collapse of the building and the ultimate decision to demolish the building.

Weeks’ crew was doing work on the site before building permits had been issued, a city review found.

Crews had dug a trench around the building, which was originally constructed in 1807, before it collapsed in late September. The building was one of 31 colonial structures in St. Augustine at the time.

The board also voted, not unanimously, to fine Weeks $500 for removing a coquina wall from the site without proper approval and $100 for doing work at the site without an archaeology permit to bring the total fine to $3,600. The recommended fine for the coquina wall was up to $5,000 alone.

William Rosenthal made the motion for the $3,000 fine, citing Weeks’ experience as a contractor.

“Mr. Weeks certainly should have been more knowledgeable ... less hasty,” Rosenthal said.

City officials testified at the hearing, including Building Official Will Franke and City Archaeologist Carl Halbirt. Among other things, they said work began before permits were issued.

Franke recalled going to the site after getting a call from Weeks on Sept. 25 after the building began to collapse.

“It was cracking and falling as we were looking at it,” Franke said.

Franke and other experts later decided that the building could not be salvaged and that it needed to be demolished because it was a public safety hazard.

Weeks said the work was intended to strengthen the building.

“It’s heartbreaking to me that it’s gone,” he said.

Weeks said he was working on a strict timeline given to him to fit in with the city’s work on Hypolita Street. City officials began construction in April on the Downtown Improvement District project, a $3.3 million effort to improve Hypolita, Spanish and Treasury streets.

He also said there was no way to be sure the work he did was the cause of the collapse, and there may have been other factors. He also said the building was not that strong at the time of its collapse.

“There just wasn’t much holding it together,” Weeks said.

He said the timing of the permitting probably would not have mattered. The city did a review of the events that led up to the collapse, from a staff perspective, and concluded the same thing.

Weeks did not deny that work began before permitting.

However, he said he believed he already had authorization from the Historic Architectural Review Board to take down the coquina wall at the site. He had submitted plans in late 2012 for the site.

The coquina wall is more than 50 years old, he said.

“I never once considered that I did not have permission to remove that wall,” he said. “In my mind, to remove that wall, wasn’t an issue.”