Bayonne to crack down on homeowners who violate building codes
Published on 9 Aug 2007 at 6:34 am.
3 Comments.
Filed under Local.
By N. CLARK JUDD
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
A fatal fire in an unregistered apartment may lead to tougher action by the city against illegal apartments and other building code violations, Bayonne officials said.
Bahgat Mosaad, 33, was found dead in an attic apartment after a three-alarm fire in a West 11th Street home on July 22, reports said. Firefighters said the attic apartment and a basement apartment were unregistered.
The homeowner, Hany Salib, swore in an April affidavit he had emptied those apartments and would not use them again.
The city cited Salib for those apartments the day Mosaad was found dead, said Salib’s attorney, Francis Cutruzzula. But city law director Jay Coffey said the city is now looking for ways to crack down on homeowners who violate fire and building codes before tragedy strikes, not after.
“We’re going to be looking at things like multiple utility bills, multiple mailing addresses, multiple cars registered to different people through the parking authority if they’re in the parking zone,” Coffey said.
The city could not force Salib to let inspectors into any part of his home, Coffey said. And after Salib swore on April 17, “I am not currently using and will not use or allow the use of the premises for more than two dwelling units,” the city was forced to take him at his word.
Resolving Salib’s case is the first part of this process, Coffey said.
“We’re investigating whether or not he perjured himself when he signed that affidavit,” he said.
3 Comments to ‘Bayonne to crack down on homeowners who violate building codes’:
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Waiting on 9 Aug 2007 at 7:48 am: 1
I wonder if mayor allen will wait for a few burned bodies in an illegal North Plainfield house firebefore she starts enforcing the law. Mayor Allen, please don’t wait and let any of our children die because of your inaction.
Mike on 16 Aug 2007 at 11:09 am: 2
The root of the problem is probable cause, which is needed to get into a property in the first place. It may be that the courts will have to make case law on this subject to better define it. Curtains on windows, more mailboxes than registered dwelling units, superfluous cars all seem to me to shout ”probable cause”
Amen on 17 Aug 2007 at 9:53 am: 3
Second to that. Statutes and ordinances just aren’t getting the job done. Look what happened to Hazleton, PA, where the courts struck down their preemptive ordinance.