Up goes the tent, down goes the tent...

By Avi S. Adelman - Posted on 24 December 2009

Every Christmas on Lowest Greenville, you can count on three things - Santa will deliver toys, Hanukah Harry will deliver better toys, and one of the scumbar owners will put a tent on his property without any permit. And this year was no different.

Except this time, a full court press by local neighborhood associations and City Council Member Angela Hunt made sure the tent came down. And it ain't going back up.

Lost Society's owners contracted with tent vendor Sandone, who erected the tent over the entire rooftop patio without any permits from the Dallas Fire Department, a requirement for any tent over 400 square feet. By Wednesday morning, staff from various departments were all over this mess. By Wednesday evening, it was the fourth story on CBS11 News (no link posted yet).

Without giving away too many details, here are the facts as they are known right now -

Sandone never applied for a permit, and in fact has pulled this stunt before in other locations. They are the unofficial vendor of illegally installed tents all over Dallas. They also refused to answer any questions about the tent from CBS11 News.

Lost Society asked for a 90 day special event, so the tent would be available for an NBA All-Star Players Event. In February. 2010.

No one in Dallas ever gets a special events permit 90 days out from an event. NBA All-Star Game related events need additional permits from the City and the NBA.

No allowances were made for parking requirements for 200+ people that the scumbar owner wanted to put on the patio, or the 120 people eventually requested.

At least five city agencies weighed in (unusual, yes; monumental in a holiday week), coordinating to make sure the City had good reasons to keep the tent from staying on the roof. The City revoked Lost Society's Certificate of Occupancy on Wednesday afternoon and would not issue an Environmental Services (health inspection) permit (how can you inspect a kitchen that does not exist?). Other issues cited were the erection of a tent within 20 feet of the building (prohibited), failure to have applied for a special event permit, and for creating an illegal addition to a building without permits.

The tent and frame were removed early Thursday morning. Even if Lost Society applies for a permit next week, it will never be issued. At least five city departments are coordinating their efforts and have found enough cites in City Code to keep this or any other tent from being erected on Lowest Greenville ever again.

Now you see it... (Wednesday morning)