What's happening with the ice cream shop?
The south side of the DD building and the pet grooming business does not yet have exterior siding on the walls. Building official Doug Parr says that according to state law, he cannot issue a certificate of occupancy until that is completed.
Everyone loves ice cream, and wants it to be available in Manchester!
Kids want ice cream after their baseball games. Parents want someplace they can let the kids go and not be worried about them. Seniors enjoy having a place to stroll and being able to find a nearby bench so they can watch the river go by. Visitors to town love having a place to grab a cool drink and an ice cream treat while browsing the businesses and other eateries around the village.
Owners Jeff and Crystal Fahey also want their ice cream shop to open. The Faheys have long served Manchester. For many years they operated the Dairy Queen along the river. A few years ago, they decided to convert the Dairy Queen into a non-franchise ice cream operation called the DD. As part of that transformation, they decided to remodel the building with an eye toward improving their business, and better serving the community.
So, why isn't it open?
The Faheys have been speaking publicly on this issue for several months now. We spoke with Western Washtenaw Construction Authority (WWCA) Official Doug Parr to find out how he sees this situation.
Nearly two years ago, in July 2019, the remodeling work on the DD was still not complete. It was at that time that Parr allowed a temporary certificate of occupancy to operate for a shortened summer season, which ran through early November.
(During their last day of business that season, the Faheys donated all of the profits from their last day of sales, a total of $850, to the Community Resource Center.)
That temporary permit, however, had allowed the DD to be open only for the 2019 season. The permit was issued on the condition that necessary work would be completed before re-opening in 2020. At the end of that season, there still remained work to be done to fulfill the terms that Jeff Fahey had set himself in July. In public statements at village council meetings, and in other settings, the Faheys say that with the uncertainty of the COVID-19 crisis, they had trouble finding contractors who would do the work that was required for completion of the DD section of the building.
Parr explains, "The Michigan Building Code is set up so that if you have multiple uses or occupancies in a single structure, you can finish them one by one, get an occupancy permit for each one, and then move on. With the site being well under construction (in 2019) and going fine, I gave the Faheys a temporary Certificate of Occupancy on the DD portion, based on their letter establishing a timeline for the remainder of the work."
Parr's view is that because the Faheys were remodeling many parts of their building, the Code gave him the discretion to be lenient in the short term while they finished several different connected projects. As part of that leniency, however, Parr requested a letter from Jeff Fahey laying out a firm timeline for completion of the project.
According to documents shared by Parr under the Freedom of Information Act, that letter, signed by Jeff Fahey on July 14, 2019, cites the work that remained to be done and estimated a six-month timeline for completion, which would have been January, 2020 — two months before the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Michigan in earnest.
"Some of the work mentioned in the letter still is not done," Parr added.
The main sticking point is that full siding on the back of the building has not been completed. Until the back of the building is complete, Parr doesn't view the DD as being in compliance. Parr acknowledges that Fahey believes the pandemic has prevented him from completing the back of the building. But Parr argues that the pandemic is not, to him, a sufficient excuse.
As Parr says: "[Fahey] is saying that the pandemic set back his schedule but I can tell you that for the 46 weeks we [the WWCA] were open in 2020, we set a record for building permits. In the past nine months, the last half of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021, we have already met our budgeted income for the year. So I can say that COVID really hasn't stopped construction [for anyone else].
Parr went on to say: "When [Fahey] wanted to open last spring, I explained to him we could not do it like we did the year before. But I told him if you get a reputable contractor to set the timeline, I will accept those contracts as you making steps toward completing the project.
Parr does acknowledge that some progress has been made, saying: "He did get the cement work done, but I still have seen nothing about siding the building."
Parr explained that siding the building with an approved material is extremely important to keep out the elements of Michigan's winter weather, not to mention that insects and rodents can get in through cracks. Parr went on to note that there has been no caulking done on the parts of the building that have been exposed for a year and a half.
At the end of the day, Parr is adamant that the siding on the building must be completed before anything else can happen.
"I'm standing fast on the codebook," Parr said. "I have to have some kind of guarantee that exterior siding will be finished before we can issue any occupancy permit."
Fahey responds by saying that he has a permit to open from the Washtenaw County Health Department, and (during public comments at a recent village council meeting) asked why the village and the WWCA would hold him up if the Health Department would not.
Parr replies by saying that the Health Department's permit is contingent on the building satisfying all building codes. Because the siding on the back of the building is incomplete, the building does not meet the code. And because it does not meet the code, the Health Department Permit is not valid. When the building meets the code, then the permit can be considered valid.
"I called Joel Underwood (at the Health Department)," Parr said. "He was very open with me. He told me straight out that the Health Department's permit clearly has a contingency upon the business satisfying all state and local zoning and building codes.
Parr views the situation as very clear cut.
"The code book is State of Michigan Law," he emphasized.
Parr went on to say, "I can reference Michigan Common Laws and show you where it says that everything in the building codes is state law. That's how my position works.
Parr anchors his argument in his many, many years of experience. "What I bring to the table," he noted, "is 52 years in the construction industry, 45 years with a master license; I've been a registered code official 16 years, and I've also served 30 years in local government. I know how the two have to mesh.
"I'm not a newbie in this field, and I'm not going to risk my reputation and my position."
He concluded, "We can open the DD, but [Fahey] needs to get some contractors lined up. The prices are giving everyone sticker shock this spring, but we have a lot of construction going on despite that. Now, it's the safety aspect I'm going at — I don't think the building is safe for occupancy; it has been exposed to the elements for too long. There could be mold, bees nests, or other infestations.
"He needs to get it sided, get it caulked and get it done. That's the only real issue right now.
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