Search Warrant Issued For Construction Company VP
A search warrant has been obtained by the San Diego city
attorney's office for Sunroad Enterprises vice president Tom
Story.
As reported by ANN on
Thursday, Sunroad Enterprises is embroiled in a legal
dispute with the AOPA, the FAA and the City of San Diego over an
office tower being built less than a mile northwest of Montgomery
Field (MYF). The FAA says the 180-foot-tall building is a hazard to
small planes because it exceeds height limits by 20 feet.
The AOPA and the City of San Diego have joined together in a
lawsuit to force the company to tear down the top two floors of the
structure.
The sealed warrant, issued Wednesday and not yet served, will
allow investigators for the Public Integrity Unit of City Attorney
Michael Aguirre's office to search the office of Tom Story of
Sunroad Enterprises, reports The San Diego Union-Tribune.
Story said the company's lawyers offered late Thursday to
provide the city attorney's office with any documents requested in
exchange for a promise not to execute the search warrant. Aguirre
agreed to hold the warrant to give time for discussion on what
documents are being sought, Story said.
Sunroad Enterprises has countersued for $40 million, complaining
the city issued them permits for a 180-foot-tall building. The
company was ordered by the city to halt construction in November
until the dispute with the FAA could be resolved.
Story had applied for and received permission from the city to
erect weatherproof roofing and a room on the roof to provide
shelter to elevator components. When his office investigators
discovered external walls were being erected, which was not spelled
out in the weatherproofing agreement, Aguirre immediately sent a
letter revoking weatherproofing permission on the top floors of the
$45 million building.
"If it is not already clear, no work of any kind is to be
conducted on the top 20 feet of the Centrum I structure," the
letter said. The last part of the sentence was underlined for
emphasis.
"Our position is that all work is per city authorization," Story
said. "We have done nothing inconsistent with what the city has
approved."
AOPA joined the lawsuit on behalf of pilots who fly the ILS
Runway 28R IFR approach to land at Montgomery Field. Pilots must
circle within 400 feet of the building, located less than a mile
northwest of the airport. These types of landings account for about
10 percent of total landings at the airport.
"As far as the FAA is concerned it is a hazard," FAA spokesman
Ian Gregor said. "The construction issues are a local matter and
not something the FAA would get involved in."
The city attorney could not be reached for comment.