Description

This building (and 211 Walnut St) has changed status from regular multifamily residential to providing emergency shelter and services inside the building in an office. In a community meeting, the building owner said that there is not a wired fire alarm, but regular battery operated alarms. This is very concerning to me as a neighbor because it is so close to other houses and could cause serious damage if it burns. And, I'm worried about the people being housed in these buildings who don't have a choice because they have been placed there. At least the hotels had sprinklers! His other building on Main St. burned down and people died-- I'm afraid of something like that happening here, especially when there are no wired fire alarms at this one. Also, is it a new use of the building for the non-profit to provide services there and maintain an office in it? Wouldn't that be commercial? The non-profit occupying it also indicated that there are multiple families (previously strangers) housed together in the apartments in some cases. Is that not considered a boarding house? I tried to address these issues with my city councilor, but it's a complicated issue that I haven't been able to get answers about. So, I'm posting it here in hopes that the fire dept can look into the situation and perhaps require the building owner to do some upgrades to be able to have these new types of uses of the building. Thank you.