On Thursday evening, traffic passes the car lot where the sprayfoam prospector and his burro stand on the roof without benefit of a building permit.
Last spring, the iconic Albany sprayfoam figures of a prospector and his burro found a new home over a car lot on Pacific Boulevard. But somebody evidently took exception.
On May 22 I told the story of how these figures ended up at 2935 Pacific Blvd. SW, the address of a used-car business by the name of Niice Auto Group. (Yes, two i’s just to be different.)
The story is not quite over, it seems.
A couple of days ago I spotted this entry on the on-line list of City of Albany building permits:
Record BCC-0005-26
Building Compliance Case
Record Status: Open
The summary report for that item read: “Complaint via phone came in concerning the installation of two spray foam statues that have been attached to the roof of an existing structure without any permits.”
It might be interesting to know who dropped the dime on Niice Auto Group. Who is so concerned about these weird creations that he’s worried whether they comply with the building code? Whether the installation had an official stamp of approval from City Hall.
Let’s face it. These are not exactly at the apex of the art of sculpture. If they fall over one night in a windstorm, who’s going to lament that the Albany skyline has suffered a great loss?
Still, they’ve been part of the scene on Southwest Pacific for a long time. So it was kind of neat to have them preserved.
The building division, which hands out permits, is part of Albany’s Community Development Department. I asked the department’s director, Matthew Ruettgers, about this compliance case.
“There was a complaint made that the figures were installed without the benefit of building permits,” he told me via email. “We will be working with the owners to ensure the appropriate permits are submitted and work toward voluntary compliance.”
Can’t wait to see how that turns out. (hh)
That’s ridiculous.
So if they were sitting on the ground no permit required. I suppose there is a fee for a permit. Dang. Why do we need permission for everything we do.
Some folk have too much time on their hands
A number of years back I owned a business on Queen Street. The back of the building faced east, this was the direction most delivery trucks came from. To help them spot us I put up a 2′ x 4′ sign with the business name on it on the back of the building. In less than an hour or someone from the city was there to inform me I needed a permit. If only potholes got filled that quickly.
Thank you for a great article. And we are sure we know who called in the complaint.
Someone can/will sue in case of an accident. It’s simply a matter of “CYA.”
Please explain how the city would be sued / not sued because of a building permit.
Note Win Eaton lawsuit:
https://democratherald.com/news/local/government-politics/article_1f01e88e-e06c-43bd-bebe-d08966f9f0a2.html
How does this relate?
Lawsuit derived from land use decision plaintif disagreed with…
Don’t see the parallel.
I believe even the DH article headline shows the “parallel” and connection…
Your sentence about someone can sue was enough, Ray. You are not 15 years old and don’t need to add acronyms to be “cool.” Just type out “cover your ass.”
When this 200lb foam thing blows away in the wind and crushes a toddler to death at the YMCA all you people crying about the city overreaching its authority will be asking “why didn’t someone see this coming?”
Reminds me of the “Chicken Little” story
Don’t be a “donkey”. How much wind would it take to blow that into the YMCA field? Come on. Be realistic. If we have that much wind, we’ll have much more to worry about than whether foam figures are going airborne.
The City needs money from wherever they can get it. After all, they just gave the City Manager a raise He now makes $238,000. I don’t know if that means a month or a year. Journalism has gone to pot, and the writers can’t seem to remember that they are not writing to their office buddies…they are writing to the general public….and they don’t bother to add the words, per year or per month, whichever it is. Also, the City Manager’s salary will be $262,000 by 2028!!!
I’m old, and I remember when cities and counties did not have city and county managers who are at the top of the salary list. The cities managed to survive without “city managers:” and the counties managed to survive without “county managers.”
It’s annual.
This really give me idea: Albany should have spray foam figure sculpture contest to raise money and awareness of this art form even if HH think it not so apex-like. Still people can be creative. Replace Timber Carnival with Spray Foam Fiesta? Bring artists to Albany – increase tax revenue from food and hotel stays. Big display at Fair & Expo, charge admission too. Some nation-wide famous sculptor person gives talk about importance of texture, color and right chemicals to use – all educational! Then we have lot of these show up as kids want to make these and schools grow with courses on spray foam art. OSU and LBCC have new building for this. Rich person donate money for spray foam museum in town to repurpose old abandoned building – no need for CARA money. Somebody from Rhode Island comes to Albany to see how create revitalization in their town because we do it best way possible. All because of permit needed for prospector and burro. Who would think this possible?
You say, “who would think this possible?” You…you thought of it. Kudos to you! Makes more sense than CARA’s 22 million dollar pink brick road (that is uncomfortable to ride a bike on), and more sense than paying a City Manager $238,000 for 2027 and $262,000 for 2028. (Thanks, Hasso, for clarifying that it is a yearly salary figure.)
That’s not it at all…..There’s a flock camera inside the belt buckle….Albany police found the fire bug on his bike wearing that yellow shirt…..Oh wrong post….
Just a bunch of crap ! Permit you to death, we are being controlled by greed !!!