The city of Columbus will not fine a downtown property owner after a wall under construction fell inside the structure a month ago.
On Aug. 4, the rear wall at 421 Main St. collapsed, injuring Ann Davis, the building’s owner. Kenny Wiegel, city building inspector, told The Dispatch this week that while no permit had been issued for the work being done on the wall, his office will not fine Davis.
“Because Ms. Davis was undoubtedly convinced that she held a work permit to do work in the rear, we are not going to issue a fine,” he said.
Prior to the incident, Davis had received a permit from Wiegel’s office that allowed remodeling to take place at the building.
“She indeed did not have a permit to do work in the rear, but she thought she did,” Wiegel said.
Each situation is handled on a case-by-case basis, Wiegel said. A fine for not having a permit is typically equivalent to double the permit cost. Wiegel decides when his office issues fines. No fine has been issued for lack of permit this calender year.
Davis, who was in the rear of the building when the brick wall collapsed, suffered a broken wrist and ribs. She spent a night at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle, then went back to work at Ann Davis Real Estate Group the next day.
She has owned the 4,400 square foot building since Nov. 2013. She bought it with the intention of sprucing it up, renovating the space and eventually installing two upstairs apartments. Despite what happened on Aug. 4, that is still the plan.
“We’re still going to do it all,” Davis said Thursday.
This past weekend, the last of the loose components remaining at the site of the collapse were removed, Wiegel said. Davis said an engineer will inspect the wall next week, draw up plans to have it rebuilt and give those plans to a contractor. The contractor will then ask the city for a permit to undertake the work. Wiegel anticipates no problems.
“We’re actually going to do everything that we can to work with Ms. Davis to help restore that back wall,” he said.
In the meantime, Davis, a local Realtor for two decades, is open for business downtown.
She had a new cast put on her injured arm Thursday morning. It is scheduled to come off in roughly three weeks.
William Browning was managing editor for The Dispatch until June 2016.
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