The Dearborn Building and Safety Department has been experiencing some growing pains over the last year, but Mayor Michael Guido says he thinks they are about taken care of.

Not too long ago, the department was down several staff members, including field inspectors.

In fact, according to Guido, the normal staff of electrical inspectors is three, and just a few short weeks ago, the department was down to one.

The problems ranged from difficulty scheduling certificate of occupancy inspections, getting someone to answer the phone and being greeted in the office.

Realtors were complaining at recent City Council meetings  that it was taking longer than a month to get a home inspection.  Typically it could be done within a week.

Realtors said they had been losing deals because interested rates are only guaranteed for 30 days, but they couldn't get their inspections and work completed in that time frame.

But the mayor said Realtors can help by planning ahead instead of waiting until the last minute.

"Realtors said they want to help, well then, don't schedule your closings until after the inspection for the C of O." Guido said.

"If you want to close, ask ahead of time, look out into the future and plan better."

Guido said the inspections can be done before there is a firm buyer, and a C of O is good for one year after it is issued.

Guido said several people have been hired in the Building and Safety Department in the last couple months, so the shortages and long waits should soon be alleviated.

In fact, two full-time and some part-time positions were added to the department's budget for this fiscal year, Guido said.

"We've made a lot of progress in the last 60 days," he said.

"We're working toward catching up on electrical inspections so we get it down to a three- to seven-day wait.

"Just a few weeks ago it was 30 or more days."

In addition, Deputy Director Robert DeBerardino has been serving as the acting Building and Safety Director for nine months.

The mayor said he has conducted some interviews for the head of the department, but plans to wait until after the election to make a permanent selection.

"We may re-post since it's been a while, but I did do some interviews already," he said.

Guido said he realizes that training is an integral part of having a good staff.

But right now, he's more concerned about getting caught up on the backlog of appointments.

He hopes that in winter, when it's a "slow time" for Building and Safety, some training measures can be done.

Guido is also looking to change the main focus of the department, he said.

Building and Safety has always been seen as an enforcement arm of the city, and while enforcement is necessary to good neighborhoods and high housing values, the department also needs to be customer friendly, Guido said.

"We will continue our separation of the construction (commercial) side from the residential," he said.

"Ford Motor Co.'s needs are different than Mrs. Smolinski's," Guido said.  "That makes it better for the consumer."

He also praised the office staff, who answer the phones and deals with incoming customers.

Although, there have been complaints about getting through to the department on the phone as well.

City Councilman Doug Thomas has made it known on several occasions he's not happy with the state of the department.

Thomas said when he calls the department he gets a voice mail, presses zero ... and the cycle continues until eventually he ends up at the city's main switchboard.

More than one visitor has complained that going into the department you can go to the counter and not be greeted until two ladies finish their personal conversation and decide it's time to help the public.

"We're very proud of our office staff, especially those who work the counters, they are the unsung heroes," Guido said.

He said hiring replacements for the Building and Safety Department can take a while, because candidates have to go through the civil service process.

But progress is being made, he said.

However, if anyone has complaints about the Building and Safety Department, he said they should feel free to call the mayor or the employee's supervisor.  Guido can be reached at 943-2300; DeBerardino can be reached at 943-3139.

"Consistency is an issue that's really important." Guido said.

He added that someone from his staff regularly reviews any complaints or concerns with the department.

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The following article was written by Gary L. Thompson, Times-Herald Staff Writer and appeared in the July 5, 2001 edition of the Times-Herald Newspapers.

Dearborn struggles with zoning compatibility rules

Dearborn Planning Commission will schedule a vote at its July meeting on whether to recommend the passage of new zoning ordinances aimed at enforcing more compatibility in construction.

The commission had decided to hold a special study session solely dealing with the proposed ordinances, after encountering strong opposition from several builders.

One ordinance change would quantify what the city means by its present requirement for new construction to blend in with surrounding neighborhoods. The components of compatibility are to include the front facade, height and bulk (defined as indicating the size and setbacks of buildings, and location in respect to each other). The other ordinance change would send certain variance requests to the City Council rather than the ZBA.

Planning Commission Chair Linda Hallick took issue with the proposed ordinance, saying the city already has vehicles for dealing with the issues that the ordinance is supposed to address. Lot coverage, setbacks and closeness of houses to each other was of prime importance, Hallick said, but the current laws were being negated by variances granted by Zoning Board of Appeals variances, or by builders who ignore the laws and are permitted to do it.

One of the commissioners’ key discussions regarded the requirement of compatibility with 51 percent of the homes within 300 feet, whether it should be a radius of 300 feet from the property, or if the zone should be rectangular (Dr. Tawfiq Hassan said that homeowners would likely be primarily concerned about the homes on either side of theirs, facing their back yard, and across the street).

City Planner John Nagy and City Attorney Debra J. Walling promised to present two or three proposed methods of measuring the area of compatibility.  The commission was told that the proposed ordinance language had simply adopted the 300-foot standard for notifying neighbors of proposed zoning changes, and that language could easily revised. Objections were raised to requiring compatibility with rear homes on a separate street, with ZBA member Janet Burg raising the question of enforceability since she and other ZBA members were not supposed to go into backyards when examining a site.

Jewel Morrison, president of the Dearborn Federation of Civic Associations, said that the local homeowner associations were having trouble agreeing exactly what is compatible. However, she told the commission, they certainly want compatibility to some extent; and that if a new house’s size, difference in look, or lot coverage proved to be "overpowering;" the neighbor-hood associations "are pretty well in agreement" that would not be compatible.

Some builders continued to attack the proposed ordinance. One proposed provision particularly targeted was requiring builders use red brick (this pro-vision was in the city’s zoning law for years, but was dropped in the 1993 revision of the city’s zoning).

The second ordinance would send variances more than 20 percent from city standards to the city council rather than the ZBA. Through extended discussion, the commission clarified that it would be Nagy who would make the decision to send the variance to the council, if he found the proposed use did not match the city’s master plan for the area.

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