Laura Incalcaterra

lincalca@lohud.com

Strawtown Road building "grandfathered" and doesn't need to meet current town, state building, fire codes

Rockland's sanitary code requires second way out for people living above second floor

Building is said to have been consistently occupied since 1860

Building part of historic structures near the Strawtown-West Nyack Road intersection referred to as Clarksville Corners

Joseph Schleimer doesn't feel he should be required to install fire escapes or sprinklers on his 1860 West Nyack building — and he won't have to if a proposed law passes Monday.

The Rockland County Legislature will hold a public hearing and possible vote on the Legal Consistency Act at 7 p.m. in the Allison-Parris County Office Building in New City.

The law would provide for legal agreement between county regulations and municipal building and zoning codes with respect to historic structures that are 125 years and older.

While it will apply to all such buildings, it is being considered because of one, 7 Strawtown Road, and a beef between Schleimer and the county Health Department.

His building is "grandfathered," meaning exempt, when it comes to most current town and state building and fire codes, although it must have smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, Clarkstown Chief Fire Safety Inspector Vincent Narciso said.

But Rockland's sanitary code requires two means of coming and going in cases where people are living above the second floor. Sprinklers can be installed in lieu of one means of egress.

Schleimer describes the building he said he's owned since about 1995 as a two-story structure with a basement, therefore making it exempt from the egress rule.

The Health Department describes it as a three-story building that needs sprinklers or a fire escape, or else no tenants can live in the upper story.

Schleimer rents out all three levels, with a single-family apartment on the top floor. His building is part of a set of historic structures near the Strawtown-West Nyack Road intersection, an area referred to as Clarksville Corners.

The egress issue came up after the health department visited the building in 2012 to check on a complaint. The department declined to provide details, saying it doesn't want to discourage people from making complaints.

It issued a violation and told Schleimer to comply. The county Board of Health then ordered him in 2013 to comply and not to re-rent the apartment after the tenant left.

During a follow-up visit, the Health Department said, it found no compliance and the apartment re-rented. They are seeking to get the apartment vacated.

Schleimer said he was being "harassed" by the Health Department and that plenty of other historic structures are not in compliance.

"It should never be an issue when someone's lived in a place since 1860, consistently occupied," Schleimer said. "I'm all for protecting people, but you just don't go to something that has historic significance and for some silly reason, I don't know the reason in this case, this whole thing happens."

County Legislator Ilan Schoenberger, one of the proposed law's sponsors, agreed.

"This guy's being given an unfair treatment by the health department in an area where they should be respecting local zoning," Schoenberger said. "If you're so concerned about public safety, you should be applying the law equally to everyone."

Schoenberger said numerous buildings in Rockland, including some of the "McMansions" that have sprung up, are three stories but don't have the second means of egress. He said the Health Department didn't have jurisdiction over private homes, but the situation illustrates that the rules aren't even-handed across the board.

The Health Department said it is mandated to enforce the sanitary code and that it addresses problems as they become known to the agency.

Gordon Wren Jr., the county's director of Fire and Emergency Services, backs the Health Department's actions, saying the height of the building should make it obvious that to protect the public's safety, a second way out is needed.

"I feel bad for the property owner because I'm sure it's expensive," Wren said. "I think it's the right thing to do."

Twitter: @LauraInc15

The Rockland County Legislature holds a public hearing on the Legal Consistency Act at 7 p.m. Monday in the Allison-Parris County Office Building, 11 New Hempstead Road in New City.