Newspaper Page Text
Wednesday, January 26,2022
dawsonnews.com I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I 9A
FROM 1A
Resort
case, rather than a jury, as
well as serve as the case’s
fact-finder.
Code requirements
The stop-work orders are
in place for the greeting
room, welcome center,
wine bar, cabanas and
indoor pool because of
lacking life-safety plans,
according to Chief Bailey’s
testimony during the two-
day hearing.
The fire marshal acts
under the authority of mul
tiple codes, such as Dawson
County’s ordinance and the
2018 International Building
and Fire Codes with adopt
ed state amendments. At
least a month prior to
beginning construction, a
property owner or agent is
required to submit commer
cial and fire-life safety
plans to the fire marshal for
approval.
Two sets of plans are
required to be submitted,
with Planning and
Development possessing
one set and the other then
being returned to the appli
cant to be kept on the con
struction site at all times for
review.
Fire personnel perform
80 and 100-percent inspec
tions on forthcoming build
ing sites before issuing cer
tificates of occupancy.
Reviewing construction
plans beforehand, Bailey
said, allows him and his
colleagues to interact with
local architects or engineers
on a project. Having plans
also allows them to ensure
that measures like fire
alarms or handicap-accessi
ble features will be present
in a proposed building.
This mitigates them hav
ing to tell an applicant dur
ing inspection that a build
ing wasn’t properly
designed or built, so that
structure then has to be ret
rofitted or partially demol
ished to verify safety
aspects, which is more diffi
cult than installing them at
an earlier time.
People who build without
approval or in contrast to
approved plans from which
an appeal hasn’t been taken
violate the county ordi
nance and are subject to the
issuance of a stop-work
order.
Timeline
Bailey became the fire
marshal at the end of
August 2018. Roughly two
months later, he and others
were anonymously tipped
off to Paradise Valley’s
clubhouse having deviated
from the process of com
mercial construction. He
saw other potentially prob
lematic structures while he
was visiting for that viola
tion, and he was not able to
view the required stamped
construction drawings.
As Wasserman’s lawyer,
Homans objected to men
tion of an anonymous tip as
hearsay, while Frickey
FROM 1A
Kibble
pet food and supplies are
only asked to show up
and present a valid
Georgia I.D.
“They fill out a little
questionnaire that tells us
how many animals they
have and then we send
them home with pet food,”
Bagley said. “And we
have other supplies too
like leashes, collars, flea
and tick, stuff like that.”
The free pet food event
will be in the side parking
lot at 40 Hightower
Parkway in Dawsonville
on Jan. 30. The event will
run from 2 to 4 p.m., or
until food runs out.
Kibble 2 Care is always
accepting donations to
help the organization ful
fill its mission in the
community. The nonprof
it’s website includes a list
of drop off locations to
take donations of pet food
and supplies, as well as
links to an Amazon
wishlist to purchase need
ed items and a PayPal
Julia Fechter Dawson County News
Judge Richard Winegarden critiques the indoor pool's original drawing Friday, later saying that there's not a "vested right to build
an unsafe building."
argued it went to Bailey’s
state of mind as to why he
went out to the resort. If a
potential life-safety viola
tion is brought to the fire
marshal’s attention, Bailey
testified he’s obligated to
verify it.
Judge Winegarden asked
Bailey why he considered
the clubhouse commercial
in nature.
“Any reasonable-minded
person would assume resi
dential [to be] for someone
to live or be from the out
doors...none of those can
properly be deemed resi
dential structures by any
definition,” Bailey said.
Homans argued that the
structures under the law
suit’s stop-work orders
were issued based on resi
dential guidelines. The per
mits for the welcome center
and greeting room, indoor
pool, cabanas and wine bar
were issued between fall
2016 and spring 2018.
Wasserman testified that
he or people he hired tend
ed to hand-draw plans with
basic dimensions and mark
ing to go with permits. He
said he had never been
asked to submit a separate
set of plans for what he
deemed residential struc
tures. It was always his
understanding that site
plans were given from the
planning to fire depart
ments.
A letter from Planning
dated Dec. 18, 2018
extended Wasserman’s
building permits for two
years, until that date in
2020. The buildings would
still have to meet all appli
cable codes through the
later time.
On Feb. 5, 2019, stop-
work orders were issued
due to deficiencies with the
welcome center fire wall;
lacking details about the
greeting room’s occupancy
type and load to determine
life-safety features; and
lack of full plans for the
wine bar and indoor pool/
fitness center.
While the firewall was
approved two weeks later,
Bailey said there weren’t
plans for it and requested
plans for the greeting room,
wine bar and indoor pool.
Wasserman testified that
it can be “very hard” to
label buildings uses at
Paradise Valley and later
added that buildings repre
sent different levels of
assembly, all while being
behind a closed gate, simi
lar to how other subdivi
sions would have amenities.
Bailey clarified that ame
nities in subdivisions are
still subject to fire and life-
safety rales.
Though there was some
confusion about the greet
ing room being a nightclub,
Wasserman said it wasn’t
and was later able to have a
fire alarm company submit
apian.
Later that February, the
cabanas or community
rooms were issued a stop-
work order. In March,
Bailey met with an engi
neer Wasserman hired to
discuss life-safety plans for
that structure. Plans for the
cabanas were submitted,
but Bailey didn’t review
them.
Leading up to the sum
mer, Wasserman tried
administratively appealing
the stop-work orders while
continuing to meet with
local leaders. The county
has maintained that appeals
can only be processed for
building codes, not the fire
code.
At the beginning of June
2019, Wasserman met with
county officials again to go
over what was needed for
new permits. The cabanas
and indoor pool were split
into two separate permits,
and the combined structure
was split so each area
would be under 5,000
square feet, with walking
decks to connect them. A
second engineer submitted
life-safety drawings for
these structures.
Bailey signed the permits
as an acknowledgement,
not approval. The permits
Photo courtesy of Scout Samples Bagley
Kibble 2 Care has grown by leaps and bounds
since 2020, and now Bagley and other Kibble 2
Care volunteers travel to different counties to host
pop-up events providing free pet food and sup
plies to any Georgia resident who needs them.
account to donate mone
tarily.
In the end, Bagley said
that she hopes that she
and her nonprofit can not
only help to cut down on
the number of owner sur
renders taken in by local
shelters, but also to make
a difference in the lives of
the pets and their owners.
“Obviously when we
started that was when a
lot of people were getting
laid off and having to get
on unemployment and the
shelters were really over
whelmed,” Bagley said,
“so I hope that what
we’re doing helps.”
For more information
about Kibble 2 Care,
including how to get food
for your pet or how to
donate food, go to https://
www.kibble2care.org/ or
email info@kibble2care.
org.
that were issued required
life-safety plans, he said.
Afterwards, the orienta
tion for the cabanas were
changed but kept at the
same dimensions.
Originally, the pool was
planned to be in the middle
of a larger structure, but it
was moved to the rightmost
side of the fitness center.
Wasserman still refer
enced the old permit for the
drawing of the indoor pool
and said it wasn’t voided
while maintaining that the
newer permit was for the
building above it.
Sarah Martin, the resort’s
manager, testified that she
attempted several times
over the next year to find an
architect who would re
draw the already-in-prog-
ress buildings. However,
she was unable to find
someone before the 80-per
cent inspection time.
By the end of August
2020, the cabanas were
almost built, while a foun
dation was set out for the
pool. The stop-work order
on the wine bar was still in
effect.
Since Bailey said he had
no idea what he and Lt.
Archer would be inspecting
on Aug. 26, 2020, they
brought blank orders with
them to Paradise Valley.
Wasserman could not pro
vide them with plans for the
greeting room, welcome
center, cabanas or wine bar.
They could not inspect
without construction plans.
The next week, Archer
delivered stop-work orders
citing the code violated on
the notices.
As of now, the welcome
center still needs drywall
and flooring, and the wine
bar likewise needs walls
and floors. The greeting
room just needs an interior
floor, while the majority of
work remains to be done on
the pool and fitness center.
Wasserman estimated
that Paradise Valley has
spent over $1,687 million
on the new buildings so far.
It was Bailey’s opinion
that the building permits
weren’t properly issued to
Paradise Valley, given the
lack of construction or life-
safety plans beyond basic
drawings.
The judge asked how
often it is that sufficient
plans aren’t available for
buildings.
“This is the only instance
I’ve been directly involved
with...[out of] thousands,”
Bailey said.
Homans argued that
good faith efforts were
made on the part of
Paradise Valley, despite
oversight of government
officials regarding the
building permits. He elabo
rated that the resort has
invested a lot of money into
these new buildings and
that oversimplifying his cli
ent’s case “wasn’t fair.”
Frickey argued against
the plaintiff’s bid for vested
rights, maintaining that giv
ing the resort a pass now
would mean giving them
future leniency. He reaf
firmed the fire department
officials’ duties to make
sure buildings are safe to be
occupied.
As of Monday afternoon,
a decision has not been
announced in this civil case.
oTER
NORTH GEORGIA
MOUNTAINS
CHAPTER
970
VIETNAM VETERANS
OF AMERICA
We are pleased to extend our most sincere THANKS
to the companies and buinesses that supported our 2021
raffle and scholarship funding campaign.
A special THANK YOU to those who purchased raffle tickets or
made donations.
If you are visiting one of these fine businesses please thank
them and give them your supoort.
JOHNNIE B’S, Dahlonega
HOME DEPOT, Dawsonville
VERA BRADLEY OUTLET, Dawsonville
PUBLIX Markets
INGLES Markets
KROGER Marketplace
AMICALOLA FALLS PARK AND RESORT
NORTH GEORGIA PREMIUM CARWASH
FOOTHILL GRILL, Dahlonega
PAPA’S PLACE, Dawsonville
SMITH HOUSE, Dahlonega
NORTH GEORGIA HAIRCUTTERS, Dahlonega
ONE-ON-ONE PRINTING, Dawsonville
SALT MED SPA, Dawsonville
DAWSONVILLE GUN
HIGH MUSEUM OF ART, Atlanta
CENTER FOR PUPPETRY ARTS, Atlanta
CREATIVE DISCOVERY MUSEUM, Chattanooga, TN
TENNESSEE AQUARIUM, Chattanooga, TN
TELLUS SCIENCE CENTER, Cartersville
ALLIANCE THEATER, Atlanta
DAHLONEGA GOLD MUSEUM
CHESTATEE FORD, Dahlonega
MANY SHADES-O-GRAY, Dahlonega
TRITTS SPORTING GOODS, Dahlonega
ANAKEESTA, Gatlinburg,TN
INTERACTIVE NEIGHBORHOOD, Gainesville
BENIHANA RESTAURANTS
EGG HARBOR RESTAURANTS
CUTCO CUTLERY, Olean, New York
GERALD SWAFFORD, Dawsonville
