City wants fire safety

Landlords and city still in deadlock over fire codes

The dispute between several city landlords and the city government has continued with little change in the last few weeks.

One pair of rooming house owners, Glen and Susan Gall, have reached a "mutual agreement" with the city, according to the Galls' attorney Susan Zidek. This change leaves three landlords still in legal disagreement with the city. Both the Galls and City Manger Rob DiSpirito declined to comment on the agreement.

A city appeal of a summer ruling in favor of the landlords is also still in process at the Lorain County Common Pleas Court.

The current dispute dates to last year when the city made fire safety a priority. When the city of Oberlin began reinforcing its fire codes it was met with legal resistance from several landlords, including Glenn and Susan Gall, David Sonner, Betty Baxter, Carol Graham and Van Kirkendall.

Eric Severs, the city's legal representative, advised the city that it is legally required to enforce the ordinances in question, regardless of the behavior of past administrations. DiSpirito believes there is a moral obligation involved as well. "This is life-safety, and we don't believe you can grandfather risk to life and limb," he said. "There's only one goal we've had since the beginning, and that's saving lives."

According to city regulations all rooming houses, defined as properties which house five or more unrelated tenants, with a third floor must have a second means of exit. The city has required that landlords provide a more stable second exit than the window ladders which have been commonly used. Additionally, any rooming house must have interconnected fire detectors which alert the entire house when fire is detected in one area.

Not only are these fire detectors difficult to disconnect but they allow for early detection. Many Oberlin houses have a space between the walls which allows fire to move without being detected. Without interconnected fire detectors, DiSpirito said, a basement fire could easily engulf much of the house before residents become aware of it.

DiSpirito said several landlords have attempted to "grandfather" these regulations, arguing that the city does not have the right to enforce regulations it has neglected to enforce in the past. "The whole reason we're in this pickle is that the city had dropped the ball for a number of years," said DiSpirito.

While the specifics of these legal cases are not yet open to the public eye, DiSpirito believes there is still much for the public to see. When DiSpirito first arrived here two years ago, none of the 55 rooming houses had interconnected hard-wire fire detectors. Now all but one of the rooming houses have these devices. "We have achieved now about 90 percent of what we set out to do," said DiSpirito.