City cites Brookside for violation

The city of Columbia has issued a violation notice to contractors for the Brookside on College student apartment building at College Avenue and Walnut Street for working on the site after-hours without an extended work permit.

Tenants at the apartment complex recently received emails from Brookside saying the company had obtained a permit to do after-hours construction work to prepare for a second round of move-ins to the site last week, but the city said no such permit existed.

City Manager Mike Matthes said in an email sent Friday to North Central Columbia Neighborhood Association President Pat Fowler that the city would issue a violation notice to the developers for the project.

Matthes said in the email that news coverage of the after-hours construction work "was a surprise for us, and we are responding."

He also said Community Development Director Tim Teddy would be preparing a notice of violation.

The Odle family, the developers for the 273-bed student apartment building, originally planned to have Brookside on College ready for all residents by this fall.

That plan was derailed in May, though, when a portion of the building was heavily damaged by a fire for which the cause remains undetermined.

The developers were issued an after-hours work permit for the site shortly after the fire to allow crews to conduct cleanup work. However, city officials said no such permit had been issued for more recent work at the site.

The tenants whose apartments were not ready by August were provided temporary housing at Stephens College as work continued on the complex.

Craig Van Matre, the Odles' attorney, said the developers plan to have all 273 tenants moved into the apartment building on the northwest corner of College and Walnut by the end of the month. He said crews could still be completing some items as tenants move in but that the work should not interfere.

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City cites Brookside for violation