Permit a growing pain for super greenhouse
US: Southern New Mexico project on hold because of incorrect paperwork
Even though the new greenhouse and offices have been built south of Deming, the state Construction Industries Division won’t issue an occupancy permit until the proper paperwork is submitted and the building is inspected by a qualified commercial inspector.
CID Director Katherine Martinez said her agency has been portrayed as the “bad guys,” but there are legitimate safety concerns in not having a proper commercial inspection.
Employees will be working inside the new greenhouse and offices, she said, “and that leaves me some room for concern. It’s a very large greenhouse. If there’s a fire, for instance, how are those people going to get out of the building? We’re just trying to say, ‘Bring the plans in, let’s see what we have.’ ”
At the root of the problem: Luna County’s lone building inspector, who inspected the greenhouse in February, is only authorized to issue residential permits. The CID, which certifies state and local inspectors, barred him in January from performing commercial inspections until he has the proper national certification.
Across the state, CID found that some 20 electrical, mechanical or inspectors working for cities and counties lacked national certification to perform certain types of inspections, prompting CID inspectors to take over those duties until their local counterparts come into compliance.
In the case of Preferred Produce, a company representative did have some preliminary discussions with a CID plan reviewer last March in Las Cruces, after obtaining the county residential permit in February. But the representative never returned to complete the process, Martinez said.
Dr. Matthew Stong, the company’s founder and CEO, said he’s enlisted the help of the state Economic Development Department’s Business Advocacy office. “The short story is they (Luna County) gave me a permit and then two years later they (CID) came back and told me the permit was not any good and that I have to pay them a lot of money to get a new permit and that doesn’t make any sense to me.”
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Source: http://www.abqjournal.com
