iolators plague housing
Photo by Halina Pawl
Haggart on a tour of apartments and rooming houses on Ohio street between the 1100 block and the 1300 block. Four buildings were visited, two owned by Ling and two owned by McGonigle.
Haggart said the purpose of the trip was to inspect a building at 1224 Ohio St. which Ling had purchased last August and had failed to report the sale to the state. Haggart said it was illegal to purchase a licensed building and not report the sale to the State Food and Lodging Board.
Haggart said he found six violations of state requirements at 1224 Ohio St. Haggart said the violations included broken windows, screens blocking the fire escape and only one fire extinguisher. Haggart said state regulations required that a fire extinguisher be placed on each floor of a rental building.
At 1309 Ohio St., a rooming house owned by Ling, Haggart said violations of the housing codes were: only one fire extinguisher, front steps leading to the porch in disrepair and rubbish around the house which needed to be cleaned up.
A house at 1316 Ohio St. is owned by McGonigle. Haggart said he found broken windows and no fire escape in one basement apartment. He said the rug on the stairs would have to be either removed or tacked down.
At 1247 Ohio St., also owned by McGonigle, Haggard said the building was in good repair and "neat". He said, however, that the ceiling would have to be repaired and that an old fire extinguisher would have to be replaced.
Haggart said when he inspected 1224 Ohio St., it was for the first time this year. He said he had inspected 1247 Ohio St., 1309 Ohio St. and 1316 Ohio St. earlier this year and had issued licenses for the buildings, however he found violations at all buildings after inspecting them again.
Storage room poses possible fire hazard
Haggart said in such a case landlords would be contacted by his office which would explain that the violations he found would have to be corrected within 30 days or legal action would be taken.
Both the state and the city have the authority and the
This storage room on the second floor of 1224 Ohio St. was found in a house owned by Daniel Ling, associate professor of physics. The window has no glass and is covered with polyethelene and the wall is partially covered with insulation. Robert Haggart, building inspector for the State Food and Lodging Board, said the room was a possible fire hazard.
Jorgenson said the city works within the framework of the Minimal Housing Code. He said the city did no routine inspection of old buildings due to the small staff (two men) that the city office has. Jorgenson said it was all his staff could do to inspect the new buildings in Lawrence.
Jorgenson, building inspector for Lawrence, Clarence Hammer, director of the State Food and Lodging Board, and Haggart, said they are shackled by inadequate laws and a shortage of manpower in their offices.
methods to inspect buildings. The State Food and Lodging Board has certain requirements which must be met before a building can obtin a licence. The city has a Minimal Housing Code which points out both conditions which must and must not exist in buildings which are being rented as apartments and rooming houses.
Jorgenson said other inspections were made on a
complaint basis and that all complaints received were checked out by his office. Jorgenson emphasized that he had received few complaints.
Haggart said when he enters an apartment house, he is restricted to inspecting only in the hallways. He may not enter anyone's apartment without their permission. He said in a rooming house, he could and should inspect individual rooms. But, Haggart said he usually only inspected the hallways in rooming houses for "a man's home is his castle and I feel that his applies to everything."
The three inspectors whom the Kansan interviewed, Ken
Haggart inspected the building and licensed it for this year, then inspected the building again and found violations which included screens blocking the fire escape and only one fire extinguisher for the entire house. The house is owned by Daniel Ling, associate professor of physics.
Photo by Halina Pawl
Cardboard window at 1224 Ohio St.
Broken windows were one of the violations of the state housing code at 1224 Ohio St. found by Robert Haggart, building inspector for the State Food and Lodging Board.
May 12 KANSAN 11
1969
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