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HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - Property Maintenance Appeals Board Minutes 06/07/2018Property Maintenance Appeals Board Meeting June 7, 2018 Call to Order The regular meeting of the Property Maintenance Appeals Board was called to order by Temporary Chairman Gary Denner at 4:02 PM. Denner read the opening statement. Present from the Property Maintenance Appeals Board were Gary Denner, Dustin Mason, Delores Ball and Rachel Norem. City of Ames staff present were Sara Van Meeteren, Holly McDonald, Natalie Herrington, Mark Lambert and Amy Colwell. Approval of Minutes Minutes from the October 5, 2017 meeting were approved. A motion was made by Dustin Mason to approve the October 5, 2017 minutes; Delores Ball seconded the motion. Motion passed 4-0 Old Business Mr. Denner asked for follow up on the previous appeal on 135 Wilmoth Street as he drove by the property and it doesn’t look like anything has been done yet. Ms. Herrington stated the weather and the contractors schedule has been an issue, but was assured that the driveway should be complete by July 10, 2018 and if not will see what action needs to be taken then. Ms. Van Meeteren stated there will be a discussion because if the owner loses her letter of compliance they are in a moratorium area so she would not be able to get it back. Ms. Herrington stated that the homeowner is aware of what would happen if she loses her letter of compliance. New Business A. Election of Chairperson Gary Denner asked the board members for nominations. Dustin Mason nominated Gary Denner as Chairperson and Delores Ball seconded. Mr. Denner accepted the nomination and will be the new Chairperson. Motion passed 4-0. B. Hearing on Appeal of owner at 1211 Lincoln Way regarding height of egress window sill, asking for appeal due to strict compliance with the code is impractical/not reasonable and I propose an alternate method to meet the inten tions of the code. Natalie Herrington, Housing Inspector, stated that the appeal property is located at 1211 Lincoln Way and the windowsill height is 4 inches too high. She noted that she did go back a couple of times to re-measure. Ms. Herrington stated that she was told that the owner/property manager had available a step stool for the tenants to use if needed. She mentioned that she did not see anything in the records that gave any indication that this was approved or agreed to. Ms. Herrington stated that with the layout of the room if a step stool or permanent steps were put beneath this window that area is also the pathway for the tenant to get to the bathroom from the bedroom, this posed an unsafe path. She noted that after speaking with the Building Official and looking into options it was decided that the owner needed to bring the egress window into compliance. Mr. Denner stated that from what he can see from the notes is that the owner is wanting to build in two steps. Ms. Herrington stated that if built her concern is there is not enough room to get around safely as the bed that is currently in the bedroom takes up a lot of space and there is a narrow walkway along the wall where the window is located. She noted that the stairs would be in the path of travel. Ms. Ball asked if the stairs could be attached to the wall that could fold down if needed. Ms. Herrington stated that the code does state that the tenant has to be able to get of the room without any special knowledge or tools. Ms. VanMeeteren asked the board to remember that the height of the windowsill isn’t just for access to get out of the house if needed but also to allow emergency personnel in as well. Mr. Denner stated if able to fold it down would someone know to do that if the room was filled with smoke if not previously told. Mr. Mason noted that if a permanent structure was going to be built the owners would need to relocate the baseboard heat and wanted to know if that was going to be done . Ms. Herrington stated she is not sure. Mr. Denner asked if this unit was a one bedroom as he is not familiar with the building. Ms. Herrington stated there are two units, 5 and 6, unit 6 is a small efficiency space. Mr. Denner asked if this was a converted home. Ms. Herrington stated per Beacon it just says it is multi - residential. Testimony from Appellant No one was present to speak on behalf of the appellant. Board Discussion No further discussion was had by the board. Mr. Denner read the three options that were available to the board. Dustin Mason moved to accept Alternative 1 that states the Property Maintenance Appeals Board can uphold the decision of the Building Official to require the egress window to be brought into compliance by lowerin g the sill height to 44 inches. Ms. Ball seconded the motion. Passed 4-0 It was discussed that reasonable time would be given to the appellant to get the work done. Board/Staff comments Ms. VanMeeteren stated that Ms. Norem just joined the board and also Rich Lepper will be joining the board as well. She also noted that still need to fill Bert’s old position that is just a random person that does not need to be linked to a rental to send them her. Mr. D enner asked if there were any other upcoming appeals that the city is aware of. Ms. VanMeeteren stated there are none at this time. Adjourn Gary Denner moved to adjourn. Dusin Mason seconded. Motion to adjourn passed unanimously at 4:19 PM.