City Manager Rob DiSpirito has remarked that the enforcement of fire codes is a matter of life and death. One landlord would most certainly agree.
An elderly Oberlin landlord refused to discuss the ongoing debate over fire codes with the Review for fear he would have a heart attack.
City officials and Oberlin rooming house landlords are divided over enforcment and interpretation of fire codes in the Oberlin area. Landlords of Oberlin rooming houses have voiced concerns over the city's attempts to enforce state codes that have gone unenforced for years.
The metal ladders nailed to trees and sides of houses that were normal safety features for Oberlin residents, surprised Fire Chief Dennis Kirin and City Manager Robert DiSpirito when they were hired by the city two and three years ago respectively.
According to Kirin, Ohio state fire codes had not been applied to rooming houses for many years, although landlords felt they were keeping safe rooming houses. Rooming houses are defined as homes which house five or more people.
State fire regulations, codified in the Ohio Basic Building Code (OBBC), require rooming houses to have a number of electrical safeguards, including interconnected smoke alarms.
According to John Gibbon, an attorney from the Cleveland law firm Walter and Haverford who is representing three of the rooming house landlords, his clients purchased houses and made a number of improvements to them based on their understanding of fire codes. They relied on the fire code interpretations offered by Oberlin city officials.
"If a person wanted to make a house into a rooming house, he'd make an appointment with the planning commision," said landlord David Sonner. "Houses had to be approved by the city."
Sonner said rooming house owners were subject to yearly inspections.
According to Gibbon, the city is now telling rooming house owners that the Oberlin regulations governing rooming houses had not been interpreted properly by city officials. Landlords feel the new interpretations are problematic and will result in substantial expense.
"They told us that what they'd been telling us for years was wrong, and that it was our fault for not knowing," said Sonner. "They said we were the dummies because we had taken what they had told us as correct."
"Legally the owners' position is that the city should not be permitted to re-interpret their ordinance to the detriment of property owners. The law has been on the books for 20 years; to enforce it now, it is to re-interpret its meaning. The owners would certainly agree to appropriate safety standards," Gibbon said.
City Solicitor Eric Severs disagreed. He informed Kirin and Dispirito that just because the law had been ignored before, did not mean that they could ignore it now. Hardwire alarms and the fire exit requirement have both been required by the OBBC since 1977, he said.
"The city had no authority to enforce the OBBC," Sonner said. "Zip, zilch. If they want to change the rules, don't try to apply it retroactively," Sonner said. "I have been puzzled by this for over a year. I can't fathom it. You'd have to be a real dough head."
Kirin and Dispirito began to attempt to enforce state law on rooming houses, although they had not yet been granted permission by the state to impose the statute. A letter was sent informing rooming house owners that they must bring their houses up to state code.
On August 15, 1996, residents received a letter from the city outlining the standards required by state laws. The letter stated, "After an evaluation of the existing City Ordinances under Section 1353 and the current requirements as set forth under the Ohio Basic Buiding Code, it is the intent of the City of Oberlin to imediately inaugurate steps to bring all new and existing rooming houses into full compliance with current safety standards."
Landlord Carol Graham contacted John Brant, executive secretary of the OBBC to clarify the legality of the city's letter. Brant responded, "If Mr. Klingshirn or other local officals are using the Ohio Basic Building as the basis for the changes which they are ordering you to make to your buildings, they are violating statuatory law and the Ohio Basic Building Code."
"I have always abided by what the city asked me to do. What they said in the beginning is not what they are saying now," landlord Van Kirkendall said.
Oberlin Student Co-operative Association (OSCA) also appealed to Brant. Brant said OSCA was particuarly concerned about the stringent requirements. At first it appeared that it was going to cost OSCA $2500 to bring one house up to code. The codes required hard-wire alarms on every floor, including the basement and in each bedroom.
Brant and the city corresponded and agreed that the city could not punish those who broke state laws before the city had the right to enforce them. They agreed the city was allowed to create its own laws as long as they didn't contradict state law.
Oberlin College lent its support to the city's efforts to toughen its fire codes. In a letter dated January 27, 1997, Dean of Student Life and Services Charlene Cole-Newkirk conveyed the College's support to the Oberlin City Council. "The greatest concern I have is the safety of our students," Cole-Newkirk wrote. "The failure of landlords to comply with minimum standards of State and local ordinances regarding fire safety and health and welfare of residents can lead to tragedy that none of us would like to face."
The city of Oberlin was granted authority to enforce the OBBC in July of this year.
Some landlords mantain that the standards imposed by the OBBC are not appropriate for rooming houses.
"It's ludicrous," Sonner said. "According to the law, for eight people I'm supposed to put a water fountain in there."
Most debate has centered not on water fountains, but on the requirement that landlords install hard wired smoke alarms.
In a letter written to the Review, landlord Carol Graham claimed that buildings which were in existence before the passage of the OBBC were exempt from regulations requiring hard wired smoke alarms.
Sonner concurred, and added that he did not believe hard wired smoke alarms to be a justifiable expense.
"I'd be willing to put them in if they weren't ruinously expensive," Sonner said. Hard wired smoke detectors must be installed by certified technicians, raising the price of basic installment. "The fire chief insists that houses must be equipped with hard wired smoke detectors. People don't want the stress."