Letter from Tamara

Vince,

I have been so busy keeping up with this issue, I have not had a chance to talk to you. I am embarassed to say I still don't have a radio so I can wake up to you. That is on my "To Do" list. I hear you have been discussing it. Thank you. In case I don't get to touch base with you personally I am forwarding some responses I have given to questions and concerns. Use the information as you like.

#1 - Fire Hydrant/Minimum Fire Standard
We the owners of Pythian Castle did our first flow test on our hydrant in June 2005. City refused to acknowledge it or the hydrant. They demanded we put a new one in with an 8" line. We dug up the dirt to show them we have an 8" line feeding from a 10" shutoff located on our property. All of this could have been avoided if City of Springfield followed international fire code which recognizes the use of private fire hydrants along as they are flow tested annually. They city has finally adopted this standard this year. Three years after our request for a business license.

Claims have been made we haven't met minimum fire standards. We are one of the only buildings listed in the assessors book as fireproof construction.
Egresses from the rooms can evacuate over 500 people in less than three minutes from doors 2' wider than modern code. Most of our doors and openings are 5' wide, code requires 3'. From the inception of this building, we exceed the standards of modern codes which simply require 1 hour fire ratings. While modern code requires you have enough time to get out of a burning building, ours was built not to burn in the first place.
Very few buildings in this city can claim the same above code standards.
This does not mean we do not have exit signs or emergency lighting. We still live and work in a place where power goes out and people need to exit safely. In the rare case of a fire, we have extinguishers every 75 feet (twice code) and four internal fire hoses (no longer recognized in modern code, but they exist and work all the same).

2) General Response to Absurb Escallation of the Issue

In response to all the people that think I have been willfully operating unlawfully, I would like to remind them I asked for my business license in August of 2004 long before I planned to open. My request to operate a business here should have been a simple request handled by low level employee. To use an existing occupiable building for uses allowed in the current zoning in a structure designed for its use, is a decision that should have taken no more than a week to approve.

Instead of granting us a license, they forced us to rezone to the most expensive and complicated re zoning that exist saying our zoning did not include all our uses. Rather than inspect the building, they converted us to a never developed piece of land and a brand new never been occupied structure. This required us to pay an architect to redraw an existing building with no changes than color in the areas being used and by the public and noting existing egresses, something they could have done in a 20 minute walk thru.

This change then required these plans to be reviewed by the director of building and development, the highest ranking employee in building department. Our renovations requests which entails upgrades to the road and parking and no structural changes to the building could have easily been handled by lower level staff. Permits could have been authorized by the appropriate specialist. Now, after three years of attempting to get a license (the same time it took to build this entire building in the first
place) we are dealing with the second in command of the city's legal department.

To waste our tax dollars on planning and zoning staff, the time of the director of building and development and top legal staff to oversee minor projects is an egregious waste of tax payers money. It could be equated to having the chief of police issue parking violations.

If the people of Springfield thinks three to four years and is appropriate time for businesses to wait for such licenses and the use of this many city employees is acceptable to them, I have no argument. But, they should know, businesses are not going to choose to invest their money here if it requires four year of carrying cost with only the possibility of getting permission. Unfortunately, since my property is not portable, I can't simply move it to a more friendlier place. As a consequence of their actions the city won't only lose a business it is going to lose a historical site.

3) Response to the following question:
"As much as I don't want to say this, you have been operating without a business license. It may not be fair how the city has dealt with you and I can understand the frustration in that and wanting to be up and running but the law is still the law. A lot of folks, myself included, have a hard time getting past that. If anything, I'm wondering if you shouldn't have gone public with this years ago instead of waiting until you were shut down by the city".


For those of you who believe the city is right is shutting down unlawful businesses, you can be assured that we are not free to operate at this time. But, it is our opinion, the city is willfully withholding our certificate of occupancy and license as means of political control and they are intentionally creating fear in the minds of the people to seek support for their agenda. This tactic has has been used by many prominent political persons in history as a means of controlling the minds of the masses. And, it works, even you believe it. We have tried to bring attention to this matter earlier and we have been successful in changing the law regarding private fire hydrants. Unfortunately, people did not realize how bad the problem was and did not take it seriously until we were shut down. And for those supporting the shut down, it should be noted that even now and when I was voluntarily shut down for repairs, I was not able to get permits or inspections for completed work any more than I was before I was open or when I was open. My legal business status has no bearing on the issue.


My apologies for a horribly long email assuming you actually read this far.

Let me know what I can do for you.

Tamara