By Lori
Weisberg, The
San Diego
Union-Tribune
September 27, 2010
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For
nearly a year, one of downtown San Diego’s swankiest hotels has been
operating
illegally without required documentation certifying it can be open to
members
of the public, a major violation that city officials have been aware of
since
last October.
While
the matter has been under investigation by the City Attorney’s office
since
July, questions persist as to why the city permitted the 184-room SE
San Diego
Hotel to continue operating for months without a valid certificate of
occupancy, a document required of all public buildings before they can
be open
to the public.
City
officials insist that there are no outstanding issues related to
compliance
with health and safety regulations and that they would never have
allowed the
hotel to open had there been such violations. The city attorney’s
office says
it cannot comment on an ongoing investigation, and building department
administrators will say little about why the hotel operation has not
been shut
down, nor would they talk about whether the city would be held liable
if an accident
occurred at the hotel.
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Photo
NELVIN C. CEPEDA
Suite
and Tender, the Se San Diego hotel's main restaurant, is
an example
of the chic decor that defines the luxury downtown highrise. |
“There
are processes we have to go through to shut any business down, but
there is due
process,” said Kelly Broughton, Development Services Director. “If the
city was
concerned about it from a safety perspective, we would have taken more
immediate action.”
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