Promoter of shut-down party points at Norfolk official

NORFOLK

In an abandoned warehouse, hundreds of 20- and 30-somethings drank keg beer and danced.

It was New Year's Eve, and a party was in full swing - laser show firing, DJs spinning, drinks flowing.

The city's Bar Task Force was on the lookout. Officials had seen Craigslist ads seeking a warehouse to host the party. About 11 p.m., police and fire marshals found the building, at 114 E. 25th St. in Park Place.

The task force discovered zoning, fire and other violations, and outside found a woman unconscious from an overdose. Police shut down the party.

Fire marshals issued six misdemeanor citations to promoter Charles Burnell, whose companies, Restless Bodies and WeOK, organized the party. Today, Burnell stands trial in Norfolk Circuit Court, facing up to six years in prison and a $15,000 fine for violations stemming from the party.

Burnell, though, is upset that the owner of the warehouse - Paul Filion, a top administrator in Norfolk's city government - received no criminal penalties.

"For them to try to pass the buck to me as the promoter, I just think it's funny," Burnell said at a court hearing this summer. "I'm in no way able to change the use of a building. I'm not an owner."

Filion was hired by City Manager Regina V.K. Williams in 2008 to oversee downtown development and light-rail construction. He reports to the city manager's office and makes $102,000 annually.

Filion did not return phone calls to his office Monday. He has owned the warehouse, which is assessed at $107,000, for nearly eight years, and usually rents it to companies that need storage. In an e-mail obtained by The Virginian-Pilot through the Freedom of Information Act, he told Williams that he didn't know Burnell and his partner, Paul Meyer, would be throwing a party.

In response to city officials' questions about the warehouse, Filion wrote that Meyer and Burnell were paying $500 a month in rent and had no lease, and that he knew they had painted graffiti and done electrical work in the building.

"I have no affiliation with the party or event other than making the mistake in trusting in the tenant," Filion wrote to Williams in January. He wrote that he "will assure you the inproved (sic) due diligence will be completed on my end to ensure a respectable and safe business."

At the party, the Bar Task Force found nearly 400 people, seven times the capacity the fire code would have allowed.

It also found that the party was operating without a liquor permit, had jury-rigged electrical wiring and wasn't zoned to be a dance club. Inside, a fog machine pumped out smoke, exits were blocked, and gas containers fueled space heaters and a grill.

Then a woman shouted for help. In the parking lot, police found a 27-year-old Virginia Beach woman unconscious from an overdose. Sarah Reeve Flumerfelt died 10 days later, according to official reports.

Burnell said Flumerfelt's death wasn't due to the party.

"It's a bad situation any way you cut it," he said. "But it could've happened anywhere."

A week after the party, Filion received a fire marshal's citation demanding that he fix electrical work that had been done without a permit and remove canisters of propane from the 5,000-square-foot warehouse, which is now vacant.

Although city records show an electrical permit was obtained, it has since expired, city spokeswoman Terry Bishirjian said Monday.

Deputy city attorney Cynthia Hall said Filion had never received a final inspection for the work and that city officials would follow up.

Hall said Filion wasn't charged because he told officials he didn't know his tenants would be having a party there.

"It's the use that changed the occupancy," she said. "The information we have is that Mr. Filion didn't have anything to do with that."

Burnell originally was tried in Norfolk General District Court in January and was found guilty of endangering the lives of occupants, overcrowding, obstructed exits, no exit signs, having propane tanks inside and illegally changing the occupancy of the building.

He was assessed a fine of more than $10,000 and ordered to serve a year in jail. He has appealed his conviction and says the city has unfairly singled him and his business out.

His business partner, Meyer, who has since moved to New York, pleaded guilty to five charges and was ordered to pay about $2,000 in admissions taxes and the city's costs for breaking up the party. Meyer also was ordered to serve 150 hours of community service while wearing a T-shirt that proclaimed "I'm not OK. I staged an illegal party" The phrase and thumbs-down logo are a play on the men's WeOK business.

City officials said they pursued the case because Burnell, who had charges dropped a few years ago after a party at another warehouse, placed everyone who attended the party at risk.

"Our goal really is to prevent this from happening again," Hall said. "You've got a warehouse with basically one exit door and a whole bunch of people. If a fire had broken out, it would have been disastrous."

Hall said propane tanks and dangling electrical cords increased the fire risk.

"This is exactly why fire safety codes were drafted," Hall said. "People are coming to these locations thinking they're going to be safe."

Meghan Hoyer, (757) 446-2293, meghan.hoyer@pilotonline.com