City Attorney Michael Aguirre asked the U.S. Attorney’s Office Tuesday to prosecute unnamed individuals for failing to halt construction on a 12-story building near San Diego’s Montgomery Field that federal officials have labeled a hazard to airport operations.

Despite a Federal Aviation Administration determination that the building’s height poses a hazard to aircraft landing in bad weather, developer Sunroad Enterprises proceeded with the project, according to Aguirre.

“It’s against the law,” Aguirre said at a news conference adjacent to the office development. “These people have been given clear, unequivocal directives to stop, they have refused.”

Aguirre declined to identify any city or Sunroad official he asked the U.S. Attorney’s Office in a letter to prosecute.

In a statement, Steven M. Strauss, an attorney for Sunroad, said the company is a “responsible corporate citizen and would never construct a building that posed a safety hazard to the public.”

“It is unfortunate that the city attorney has chosen to misstate the facts, mislead the public and slander both Sunroad and the city’s Development Services Department for his own personal political reasons,” Strauss said.

Strauss argued that the building complies with the FAA’s height buffer zone and has received all necessary approvals and permits from the city to construct the structure to its existing height.

Strauss called Aguirre’s request for criminal indictments an “absurd” and “frivolous” waste of federal law enforcement resources.

Earlier this month, Aguirre filed a lawsuit asking a judge to enforce a stop work order issued by the city last October, arguing that construction crews continue to build on the top floors.

Jeff R. Brown, an aviation safety officer for the state Department of Transportation sent a letter to the city Friday demanding it enforce the order to halt construction on the upper floors.

According to the state DOT, the 186-foot height of the building exceeds both state and federal aviation safety regulations by 26 feet.

The letter chides the city for allowing construction on the building to continue above the permitted 160-foot level.

“The city’s apparent failure to enforce the notice, which enables the developer to violate state law and seems to disregard public safety, is of great concern to the department,” Brown states.

Brown adds that the “reluctance of the city to take the necessary steps to protect its citizenry is a mystery.”

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 28th, 2007 at 4:05 pm and is filed under Building. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.