Agenda Packets - 2002/04/01 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Item No: 5 Meeting Date: April 1, 2002 Type of Business: Worksession 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: March 27, 2002 Background: Once again, staff is taking the opportunity to make an improvement to the City Code which would require City notification and inspection every time there is a change in occupancy for commercial and industrial businesses. Discussion: There are a couple reasons why this is a good idea, and they all focus on public safety. 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, the Police Department maintains an emergency call list of every business in the City 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. A change of occupancy without notification to the City could result in delayed emergency responses and delayed alarm shut-offs or compromised security in the event of a break in. And the Solution is…? The City’s Building Official / Fire Marshal has researched this issue and found that some