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Mounds View Staff Report January 5, 2009 • Page 3 Silver View Plaza After the initial fire inspection of the Laundry King (in which they failed their inspection), staff sent correction orders to Kraus Anderson (the property owner), as we had no contact information on the tenant. Before staff was able to locate the tenant, we received a complaint about this business. As staff has done in the past, we asked the water department to let us know who pays the water bill for the business. In this case, staff found they have another company doing their bill paying. Kraus Anderson had to research the owner information and assist City staff in locating the manager to open the venting areas so City staff could complete the fire inspection and follow up on the complaint. When City staff completed the re-inspection of the mall, staff noted that a new furniture store had moved in to Silver View Plaza and was in operation. This business may be considered a change of use, as they are now storing and selling furniture where previously there was a "B" occupancy. This new use may require a sprinkler system upgrade and an update of the emergency services pre-incident planning. As such, City staff continues to work with landlords and business owners to resolve these matters. If the City had a business license/ registration program, the new business would have been required to register with the City before operating. Based on such a registration request, City staff would have inspected their facility, identified the hazards and would • have required the owner or operator to correct problems before they moved into their space. Wvnsong Theater Staff has been working with this business since February 2008 on a non-heated closet enclosing a sprinkler valve assembly. This code violation came to our attention after a fire call to the building for a water-flow situation. Theater management indicated that they would install an anti-freeze system no later than May 2008. When City staff followed up with the manager in May, they promised that the room would be heated by September 2008. A follow up by City staff in September to the district manager said the issue is being held up at the corporate level. Having this information available to staff early on (through a licensing or registration process) would make complete communications with all levels of their management cleaner, and would define a responsible party for correcting violations, rather than working with middle and lower management. Again, if the City had had the contact information from the beginning, we would have saved many hours of City staff time in trying to resolve the matter. Recommendation: Provide City Staff with direction about the City Council's interest in starting a business registration or licensing program in Mounds View. If the City Council has interest in such a program, then City staff would continue to work on the matter and would bring back more details for Council consideration.