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NORTH SALT LAKE -- The North Salt Lake man whose retaining wall failed last week -- spilling dirt, mud and rocks into neighbors yards below -- says he's preparing to sue the city.
Randy Tran's attorney says North Salt Lake should have never approved the faulty wall. The city, however, maintains everything was done up to standards.
Since the April 19 slide, crews have been installing helical piles to Tran's home to stabilize the foundation.
"The Trans are the innocent victims in this case," says Tom Bowen, attorney representing Randy Tran.
Tran's back hill has slid three times in the past few years. Now the home is on an unstable foundation, and neighbors below are fed up.
"They've relied up on the system to help them solve a problem on the backside of their house, and the system has failed them completely," Bowen says.
The attorney says North Salt Lake failed to properly inspect the retaining wall in 2009.
All walls are required to meet city code. The code says "it is unlawful ... to have constructed ... any retaining wall ... without first obtaining a permit from the city."
That didn't happen. A contractor started building the wall without a permit, so the city stopped construction. Bowen says the city should have required a series of things from the contractor before starting up again.
But city administrators told KSL News it's impossible to follow those steps if a contractor starts construction without a permit. Instead, they relied heavily an engineering company to make sure construction was sound.
A city inspector went to check out the completed work. Bowen says that inspector wouldn't approve it, despite orders from his boss, Jerry Thompson.
"The one inspector declined to pass it, but the head inspector said it was perfectly fine, signed off on it, and his report you find in the file says the work is completed," Bowen says.
Seven months later, the retaining wall crumbled. Bowen says the city could have prevented this.
"They could've followed their own rules. They could have followed the building code standards," he says.
Bowen says while his client weighs his legal options, he'll continue to live in an apartment instead of his home.
E-mail: ngonzlas@ksl.com
