Agenda Packets - 2002/04/08 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Item No: 7H Meeting Date: April 8, 2002 Type of Business: Council Business City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Honorable Mayor and City Council From: James Ericson, Community Development Director Item Title/Subject: Discuss Possible Changes to the City Code which Would Require a Certificate of Occupancy when a Change of Building Occupancy Occurs in the Commercial and Industrial Zoning Districts Date of Report: April 3, 2002 Background: This item was presented to the City Council at the April 1, 2002 worksession. To recap that discussion, with this ordinance staff is taking the opportunity to make an improvement to the City Code to require City notification and inspection for every change in occupancy within the commercial and industrial businesses districts. In addition, the ordinance makes some clarifying statements as to the requirements of a certificate of occupancy. Discussion: The reasons why this is being put forward for Council review and approval is to protect and safeguard the public safety, as highlighted by the following: 1. The first issue deals with fire response. Often times, our volunteer firefighters enter a business without knowing the nature of the business or the types of materials or hazards that may be present. This lack of knowledge puts the fire responders in dangerous, life-threatening situations that can be avoided with the passage of this type of amendment to the Code. 2. Second, when a new business takes occupancy in a previously occupied building, often times there are no interior build-out modifications needed which would warrant building official and fire marshal review. Since no permit is needed, we are often unaware when a new business occupies space previously held by another company. The issue however is not that we don’t know, it is that the new business may warehouse or produce materials which have a different rating than the previous business, or may store or handle hazardous materials which may require modified sprinkler specifications. Without such a review, not only is the fire department put at risk in the event of a fire, the heath and life-safety of the employees are put at risk if the sprinklers are inadequate or improperly located. 3. Last, this change would allow the Police Department to better maintain its emergency call list so that in the event of an after-hours emergency, there is someone that can be contacted, or someone that can provide access to the building to turn off false alarms. Ord. 699 Report April 8, 2002