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No Permits, No Problem For Fairmount Fire District

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Oct 12, 2009 10:10 pm US/Mountain

No Permits, No Problem For Fairmount Fire District

Written by Brian Maass

DENVER (CBS4) ― The Fairmount Fire Protection District built and opened a massive new training facility in Jefferson County without ever getting a single required permit from the Jefferson County Planning Commission.

"Our position is they have not complied with state law," said John Wolforth, Jefferson County Planning Director.

Wolforth said he was not aware the fire department, which is located near Golden, had erected the $750,000 facility without any permits until he learned about it from CBS4. Wolforth said the message sent to the public by a fire agency skirting planning and building codes is "not a good one," especially in light of the fact the Fairmount Fire Department requires residents in its district to acquire and pay for permits for everything from construction plans to sprinkler systems.

The department began building the training center in the summer of 2008 in a remote area of Jefferson County. It has a rappelling wall, burn room, elevator shaft and other features for firefighter training. The facility was completed in early 2009 and has been in use since then.

Fairmount Fire Chief Don Angell initially told CBS4 he didn't bother with obtaining permits for several reasons.

"I told the (Jefferson County Planning) at the time we were not going to go through their process. We are not required to," Angell maintained, saying that as a "quasi-governmental entity we did not have to have a permit."

Angell said he also skipped the permitting process because, like most builders, he was in a rush.

"The permits would have slowed the process and we would have lost a $500,000 grant. Time was of the essence."

Wolforth disagrees on all points, saying the county has a streamlined process and the fire department could have obtained all necessary permits within 30 days. As to the argument that a fire department can skip the planning process, Wolforth says that is not true.

"Our position is they do need to get building permits and we will not issue them until they go through this process," Wolforth said.

After repeated inquiries from CBS4, the fire department's attorney James Petrock released a statement on Oct. 7 saying:

To meet time limits on the use of grant funds received by the fire district, work was commenced on the training center before a planning commission site approval application had been filed. While the cart may have been before the horse the district's intention has always been to complete the county review process and incorporate any reasonable recommendations into the project, realizing that the fire district has the final say since the project is on their dime.

So now, 10 months after the training center opened for business, the fire district will go before the Jefferson County Planning Commission Wednesday in an effort to get the proper permits.

"Isn't it a little late now?" CBS4's Brian Maass asked Wolforth.

"Better late than never," he replied.

The Fairmount fire chief now says he made a mistake in putting up a new building without prior approval.

"I'll admit it," Angell wrote in an e-mail. "I needed to apply to the planning commission and either be approved or denied prior to assuming governmental status."

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