Derby Apartment May Have Been Improper Rooming House

The apartment house on Olivia Street that was badly damaged in a fire March 29 may have been in violation of Derby zoning rules.

The three-story house had six apartments, which was allowed under under the local zoning rules.

However, the fire marshal discovered several rooms in a first-floor apartment had individual locks, indicating the apartment was being used as a rooming house, building official David Kopjanksi said. 

Evidently what was happening there was that individuals were renting individual rooms in that apartment, rather than the apartment being rented out to one family or a set of individuals,” Kopjanski said.

There were four rooms that had separate locks within the first-floor apartment.

It is unclear what the business arrangement was and who was collecting rent. A message seeking comment was left with the landlord.

It wasn’t an illegal dwelling unit, but that apartment may have been used like a rooming house,” Kopjanski said.

City officials are not pursuing the matter nor taking action against tenants or the property owner. Had city officials been aware of the situation prior to the fire, they would have simply issued a cease and desist letter to correct the situation.

It’s vacant now. From a zoning or building department perspective it’s pretty much a moot point,” Kopjanski said.

If the apartment house is repaired and made available again for tenants, city officials will stress rooming houses are not allowed there.

If the building gets fixed up and re-occupied, then, of course, there will be a provision in the CO (certificate of occupancy) that none of the dwelling units can be used as a rooming house,” Kopjanski said.

The first-floor apartment had nothing to do with the fire — other than suffering smoke and water damage.

However, rooming houses are supposed to be inspected by fire and building officials — and rooming houses are subject to tougher health and safety regulations than traditional housing.

Rooming houses can cause problems in neighborhoods they are not meant to be in.

From the standpoint of zoning it becomes an issue because you generally have more occupants, which means they are more than likely to drive, which could create parking issues,” Kopjanski said. 

Rooming houses are regulated by zoning, along with the building and fire code,” he said.

There were no injuries in the March fire.

The fire started on an outside porch on the building’s third floor, where cigarettes were left in an ashtray. Strong winds that day knocked the ash tray onto a mattress on the ground on the porch and started the fire.

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