Tulsa homeowner faces possible jail time for permit violations

The city of Tulsa is pressing charges against a homeowner - who more than doubled the size of his house without a building permit. <br/><br/>It's led to a standoff between the city and the homeowner

Friday, May 14th 2004, 10:04 am

By: News On 6

The city of Tulsa is pressing charges against a homeowner - who more than doubled the size of his house without a building permit.

It's led to a standoff between the city and the homeowner - who continues to build. The house is in east Tulsa near McClure Park at 7116 East 7th Street.

News on Six reporter Emory Bryan says the neighbors around this house tune out the constant sound of nailing and sawing - because it's been going on for 7 or 8 years. The homeowner - Dan Tucker - has more than doubled the size of the house, but the city says it was done without a permit.

Now that the house is approaching three stories tall - and completely fills the lot side to side - the city has filed criminal charges in an attempt to stop Tuckers endless construction.

It's unusual for a city nuisance complaint to escalate into criminal charges, but in this case the homeowner could face jail time if he doesn't get the proper permits. The city could even declare the house a nuisance and order it demolished.

Neighbor Jim Powell, Neighbor: "Someone needs to take action and they haven't." The neighbors around Mr. Tucker have complained to city hall for years.

The city responded with five charges - for not having an electric, plumbing, mechanical or building permit - and one for continuing to build after he's been ordered to stop. But the work continues. A hired man was building on the backside Friday. He said he would send out Mr. Tucker to talk with us. We waited, and waited and knocked on what best we could determine was the front door - but Tucker never came out.

Since being charged - he's asked for the permits. But even by Tucker's measurements - which the city says are way off - it shows the house covers far more of the lot than what's allowed - they've denied what would amount to retroactive approval. And this week the city re-opened an investigation into whether Tucker illegally runs a business out his home.

The house has a door to nowhere with the name of his business on it - and the phone number is assigned to the house. It's the latest step in a long process the neighbors hope will some day stop construction - on their neighborhoods biggest eyesore.

Tucker's attorney told the News on 6 Friday, he's hoping to work out an agreement with the city. The city prosecutor says he's recommending jail time unless Tucker gets the permits - which another city department refuses to issue.