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Abatement by demolition shall be ordered only where repair of the structure is unreasonable or impracticable, and demolition and removal of a structure or building is necessary to correct and abate a violation. Any action involving the demolition of a building or structure shall be commenced by issuing a notice of violation to the owner and any responsible parties in accordance with the provisions of section 16-45.
(Ord. No. 9816, § 15, 2-24-03)
(a) Purpose. In order to promote the preservation and rehabilitation of significant historic structures that may have become structurally unsound, the following demolition procedures have been established to provide for adequate notification, analysis, stabilization, or demolition and documentation of such structures without jeopardizing the safety and welfare of the public.
(b) Applicability. These provisions apply to all historic structures within a City of Tucson Historic District or to designated national, state, or City of Tucson historic landmarks.
(c) Definitions. For the purpose of these procedures, an historic structure shall be defined as any structure more than fifty (50) years old.
(d) Organization. The appropriate historic district advisory board shall be responsible for providing a list of architects familiar with the types of construction in its district to the Tucson-Pima County Historical Commission. At least one (1) architect from the list should be available to advise the structural engineer and/or building official when an emergency situation exists. The Tucson-Pima County Historical Commission shall file a list each January 30th with the planning department of five (5) qualified architects who are not city employees.
(e) Notification. When, either during or after business hours, the building official is informed that a structure is in imminent danger of collapse so as to endanger its occupants, other person, or neighboring structures, the building official shall at all times immediately notify the designated member of the planning department and the owner of the property in question and request the owner or the owner's agent to meet with the building official at the premises or other appropriate place concerning the course of action to be taken with regard to the subject structure. Planning department staff shall immediately notify the:
(1) Advisory board chairperson of the historic district in which the site is located;
(2) Tucson-Pima County Historical Commission Chairperson;
(3) State historic preservation officer if the structure is listed in the national historic register as being historically significant;
(4) An architect from the list provided by the Tucson-Pima County Historical Commission.
(f) Evaluation.
(1) The building official shall immediately thereafter evaluate the demolition option with representatives of the planning and fire department staffs, and a licensed structural engineer who has experience in working with local historic structures.
(2) An architect from the list of architects familiar with adobe construction should be at the scene of the proposed demolition within two (2) hours of being notified to provide advice to the building official and a structural engineer concerning the proposed demolition.
(g) Abatement: emergency stabilization or demolition. When an historic building is damaged beyond the point of safety as determined by this review process, the feasibility of stabilizing the building shall first be considered by the building official after consultation with a structural engineer and an architect, if available. If the building cannot feasibly be brought to the point of safety by stabilization, partial demolition should be undertaken to the point of stability, again as determined by the building official after consultation with the structural engineer and architect, if available. Partial demolition should be done in such a manner that the future rehabilitation of the structure will not be impeded.
(h) Fire department operations. The role of the fire department suppression forces shall be limited to emergency operations and the abatement of imminent hazards to life. Only as a last resort and under the most extreme circumstances will the fire department suppression forces consider demolition of an historic structure as a means of hazard abatement. The fire department suppression forces will make every reasonable effort to salvage and preserve as much of the historic structure as possible when involved in fire.
(i) Report. A written report documenting the necessity of demolishing an historic structure should be prepared within five (5) working days of the decision to demolish a structure. This report must include the analysis of the structural engineer and the recommendations of the architect consulted.
(j) Salvage and documentation. A two (2) day delay shall be imposed in all but the most extreme cases to allow for salvage of important architectural features or photographic documentation. Access for these purposes will be permitted only with the permission of the building official and the property owner (following a securing of the property by fencing or other means as determined by the building official).
(Ord. No. 9816, § 15, 2-24-03)
Any person who fails to obey an order issued by a magistrate, special magistrate, or special limited magistrate directing abatement of a violation of this chapter is guilty of a misdemeanor. A violation of this section is punishable by a minimum mandatory twenty-four (24) hours in jail, up to a maximum six (6) months in jail; by a minimum mandatory fine of two hundred and fifty dollars ($250.00), up to a maximum two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500.00); and by probation up to three (3) years. Minimum jail and minimum fines can not be suspended.
(Ord. No. 9816, § 15, 2-24-03)
ARTICLE VII.
ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS
ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS
The provisions of this article, which permit administrative review of a notice of violation, only apply to:
(2) Designations of slum properties pursuant to section 16-24 of this chapter;
(3) Violations of this chapter wherein the city seeks the recovery of costs through the imposition of an assessment as provided in sections 16-61(d), (e); and
(4) Abatement of a group dwelling public nuisance pursuant to section 16-37.
No administrative appeal is available in a case involving a pending or adjudicated court proceeding.
(Ord. No. 9816, § 15, 2-24-03; Ord. No. 10965, § 7, 2-15-12)
(a) Any notice of violation or slum designation described in section 16-70 can be appealed to the code official for an administrative conference for review. An appeal shall be made to the code official in the following manner:
(1) The applicant shall file a written appeal on the forms provided by the code official and accompanied by a non-refundable fee, as determined by separate ordinance, within ten (10) days after the date of service of the notice.
(2) The appeal will be heard by the code official within ten (10) days at a regular, specified time.
(3) The code official may use a hearing committee consisting of such staff as the code official deems appropriate or other technical persons to advise the code official on a particular appeal.
(4) The applicant shall provide adequate information to fully describe the conditions in question.
(5) The applicant may, but is not required to, meet personally with the code official.
(b) If the code official denies an appeal made under this section, the applicant must comply with the decision of the code official or may appeal to the board of appeals pursuant to section 16-73 of this chapter.
(c) Failure to file an appeal in accordance with the provisions of this section constitutes a waiver of the right to an administrative conference. Additionally, any person who appeals directly to the board of appeals pursuant to section 16-73 waives the right to an administrative conference.
(Ord. No. 9816, § 15, 2-24-03; Ord. No. 10126, § 16, 3-1-05; Ord. No. 10687, § 3, 6-23-09, eff. 7-1-09)
The code official may grant a minor variance to the provisions specified in section 16-70 of this chapter when there exists an unusual or unreasonable hardship resulting from a literal interpretation of this chapter. The code official shall first find that a special individual hardship makes the strict application of this chapter impractical, and the variance is in conformity with the intent and purpose of this chapter, and that the variance does not lessen health, life safety and fire safety requirements or any degree of structural integrity. The details of actions granting variances shall be recorded and maintained by the code official.
(Ord. No. 9816, § 15, 2-24-03)
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