No Expansion For You!

33 Phillips Street this morning

Last night in the 4th hearing stretching out over 9 months the Zoning Board of Appeals denied the Special Permit for 33 Phillips Street; perhaps the most notorious rental property in all of Amherst; located on the most notorious street in Amherst,; owned by Stephan Gharabegian, perhaps the most notorious landlord in all of Amherst.

Building Commissioner Rob Morra had discovered an illegal 4th unit in the basement with improper fire safety protection and other violations.  A cease and desist order was issued 5/20/14 requiring Gharabegian "remove the basement unit."

 Stephan Gharabegian (leaning forward chin in hand)

Instead the owner appealed the decision by applying to the ZBA for a Special Permit to formally allow the 4th unit. The Building Commissioner put a stay on his order, although no tenants were allowed in the basement unit over the past 9 months.

Normally a Special Permit process like this takes two or three months.

The hearings were continued numerous times because Gharabegian failed to provide basic information required by the ZBA, including updated floor plans and approval from the Conservation Commission for the parking lot expansion and realignment near a wetland.

After about 45 minutes of discussion it became clear the Special Permit, which requires a unanimous vote, was not going to be approved.  Gharabegian then stated his "best option was to withdraw the application."  But that too requires a unanimous vote of the board.

 Eric Beal Chairs his final ZBA meeting after 8 years of service

In his final meeting, after 8 years of service on the ZBA, Chair Eric Beal stated he would deny the permit both on its merits and because of a lack of due diligence submitting all the paperwork on the part of Mr. Gharabegian.

   33 Phillips Street Timeline

At 7:45 PM, one hour after the start of the hearing, the board voted unanimously to deny the permit.  Gharabegian cannot reapply for two years and by then Building Commissioner Morra will have enforced his original order to "remove the basement unit."

186 College Street

Two hours later the ZBA took up  another Gharabegian Special Permit request concerning his property at 186 College Street, where he wished to legalize a 3rd unit in a house only permitted for two units.

Senior Planner Jeff Bagg pointed out that, similar to the 33 Phillips Street situation, Mr. Gharabegian has "made some effort" but not nearly enough to consider the paperwork complete.

The ZBA quickly turned the tone of discussion to allowing a "withdrawal without prejudice."  Mark Parent said he was fine with that but would allow only 7 days for a new and complete application to be submitted or the $100/day in fines start accumulating.

Member Tom Ehrgood thought 10 days was too draconian saying "If we allow the withdrawal we should allow a reasonable time period for the reapplication."  Looking at Mr. Parent he then said, "How about 10 days?"  Parent slowly nodded his head up and down saying, "Yes."

Although Mr. Parent originally assumed it was 10 calender days, and had to be convinced to change it to 10 business days.  

Just before the board came to a unanimous vote allowing the withdrawal Mark Parent looked directly at Gharabegian and said, "I hope you get it done, and that there's no fines necessary."

Time will tell.  And not all that much time, as the ten day period starts today.

   186 College St timeline

#####

The ZBA is one of the most important public bodies in Amherst.  With Mr. Beal's retirement the Select Board will be looking for a dedicated, patient volunteer (with thick skin) to replace him.  Citizen Activity Forms can be accessed here. 

Party House Zoning Delays

186 College Street (Rt 9), Amherst

Stephan Gharabegian, arguably Amherst's most notorious absentee landlord, made yet another brief appearance before the Zoning Board of Appeals on Thursday night in his ongoing quest to expand the capacity of 186 College Street from a two-family (8 unrelated tenants) to a three-family (12 tenants), which is how he used it until getting caught last year by the Building Commissioner. 

Senior Town Planner Jeff Bagg expressed concern to the ZBA about the "long periods of time with minimal activity on his part," for addressing concerns of the Building Commissioner about parking, possible wetlands on the property that could be impacted by the expanded parking required, and a 2nd means of egress for the 3rd unit. 

In fact the Building Commissioner already enforced that serious code violation -- a second means of egress for the other two units -- in order to make them safely habitable.

 Stephan Gharabegian appears before ZBA.  Chair Eric Beal (ctr) Senior Planner Jeff Bagg (far left), Tom Ehrgood to his left

ZBA member Tom Ehrgood said rather sternly while looking directly at Gharabegian: "When we issue Special Permits for complicated cases like this and the hearing continues to stretch on, it sends us a bad message,  and gives me pause, making me wonder if you will oversee it properly."

June 11 will be the 4th time before the ZBA

The hearing was continued to June 11 so Gharabegian can go before the Conservation Commission, have an engineer submit a proper parking plan and creating a safe 2nd means of egress for the 3rd unit in case of fire.

Since Eric Beal, who was chairing the meeting, is leaving the ZBA on June 11 that will be the final deadline for Gharabegian to have all the paperwork in order.

ZBA Drones On

Crotty Hall rendering looking from the Northwest

As usual the Zoning Board of Appeals meeting last night went on for over four hours, and as is also somewhat usual they did not come to a final vote on any of the three major items discussed.  And you thought Amherst Town Meeting took forever!

First up was Stephan Gharabegian, arguably the most notorious absentee landlord in the town of Amherst.  Mr Gharabegian owns almost half the houses on Phillips Street, the most notorious street in Amherst.

33 Phillips Street

In this case he wishes to expand capacity for 33 Phillips Street, probably the most notorious house in all of Amherst.

The house is a 3-family unit meaning it can have 12 "unrelated" tenants.  But Mr. Gharabegian had, without official permit, refinished the basement for a 4th unit, thus increasing monthly rental income significantly.

And since the bootleg apartment had major health/safety violations -- no second means of egress in case of fire -- it came to the attention of Building Commissioner Rob Morra who shut down the basement apartment until the ZBA hears his case.

Which started on October 2, continued to November 6, continued to last night, and now continued yet again until June 11.

 Stephan Gharabegian addresses 3-member Zoning Board of Appeals last night

Neighbors repeatedly pointed out the detrimental impact that 33 Phillips has already had on the surrounding neighborhood (Fearing Street and Sunset Avenue) as a 3-family, so allowing it to become a 4-family will only make matters worse.

Besides, town officials should not be rewarding bad behavior, since the 4th unit was illegally created to begin with and only comes before the ZBA because he got caught.  Member Tom Ehrgood, waiving a police summary report, said the location was a "magnet for police attention."

The board was a little more receptive to another rental property with a less than sterling reputation, 164 Sunset Avenue.  They generally came to the conclusion that formalizing the house as a two family unit was reasonable, with some conditions that will be hammered out at the hearing continued to February 12.

The most surprising event of the night was a 2+ hour discussion (borderline heated) over Crotty Hall, a sleek new building proposed for 418 North Pleasant Street at the very gateway to UMass.

The Dover Amendment allows religious and educational institutes to pretty much run roughshod over local oversight except for the setback zoning requirements, which are enforced by the Building Commissioner.

In fact they are made even more stringent as the requirements in the Amherst Zoning Bylaw have to be doubled since educational and religious buildings are oftentimes HUGE and can be plopped down in the middle of a residential neighborhood.

In this case the designers did not realize that the 10 foot side setback touching Phillips Street needed to be doubled to 20 feet.  But the Amherst Building Commissioner did. 

Gordon & Crotty Hall. Dotted line top right Phillips Street property

Thus the building was totally designed, at a current investment of $222,000 (85% of which is lost if the building requires redesign), with a 10 foot side setback in mind.  Neighbors on Phillips Street are not happy.  The ZBA is caught in the middle.

Neighbors also complained that the twin building, Gordon Hall, has a noisy HVAC system that drives them crazy from April until October, and the new building will be much closer to them.

Sounding troubled, ZBA Chair Eric Beal said, "This is a hard case for me.  You relied on the 10 foot setback in good faith."

The proposed building is named for Jim and Pam Crotty, who have lived in Amherst for 40 years.

Mr. Crotty, UMass Professor Emeritus of Economics and Sheridan Scholar, spoke about bringing faculty who now work in Thompson Hall to the new building to work alongside colleagues in Gordon Hall:  "It would be superb to get this synergy between faculty and grad students."

Two members of the ZBA, Mark Parent and Tom Ehrgood, seemed convinced the extra intrusion into Phillips Street was not  "unreasonable", especially since the main UMass campus is only a snowball throw away.

Chair Eric Beal was not 100% convinced, however, and wished to see "renderings" of the new building.

The board took a five minute break so architect Sigrid Miller Pollin could pull them up from her computer.  But when the meeting resumed the renderings only showed the impact from North Pleasant Street and not from Phillips Street.

The appeal hearing was continued until February 12.  The building plan will also need review by the Amherst Planning Board for a Site Plan Approval.

Public Safety Crackdown

11 Phillips Street

The Amherst Fire Department is getting serious about public safety.  Well actually, they've always been serious -- but now they are getting deadly serious about public safety in a pro active way.

Or as my Irish mother used to say, "A stitch in time saves nine."  And in this case it's lives that are saved.

On Monday in Eastern Hampshire District Court before Clerk Magistrate Bill Nagle,  fire safety officer Mike Roy won a $1,040 judgement against a leaseholder at 11 Phillips Street, perhaps the most notorious Party House in all of Amherst.  Owned, naturally, by the King of the Decadent Street, Stephan Gharabegian.

Party House Fire Complaint by larry_kelley_1

The house was being used as a "rooming house" with W-A-Y more than four unrelated tenants packed into the 10-bedroom abode.  Once that was exposed, resulting in a town crackdown, the landlord -- Stephan Gharabegian -- padlocked six of the rooms.

But the occupants of the four remaining rooms have removed all the furniture and use the open space as a giant party room.

11 Phillips Street, interior view

And the kids engaged in Russian roulette by covering  the windows with black plastic (which in a fire instantly gives off deadly fumes) and covering the smoke detectors with bags as well, probably so the cigarette or  pot smoke does not set them off.

The most recent major structure fire that resulted in a death  at Rolling Green Apartments last year could have been far, far worse if the smoke detectors had not done their job.

In fact, AFD responded a few days after the deadly fire for reports of an alarm sounding.   Turns out smoke detectors from the damaged building had been thrown in a dumpster and some of them were still sounding the alarm.

Previously AFD would issue a $100 civil ticket and if you ignored it, they would have to take you to Land Court in Northampton.  Now they will be issuing criminal complaints which could result in six months in jail.

Or most likely, as with this plea bargain case, the court converts it to a civil infraction with the $1,000 fine. 

Complying with these common sense safety regulations is far less a hastle than dealing with District Court ... or planning a funeral. 

Turning Up The Heat

11 Phillips Street (this morning)

Some of you may remember 11 Phillips Street as the house busted last fall by APD for hosting an underground bar as well as cramming 14 students into living quarters only zoned for four.  Kind of a BIG difference wouldn't you say?

Well our Building Commissioner certainly thought so, and hit owner Stephan Gharabegian with a $100/day fine, racking up a $2,400 tab before coming into compliance.  Better late than never.

 Stephan Gharabegian, yesterday, Amherst landfill.  A regular one man band

   Amherst Landlord Surrenders

Party House of the Weekend

186 College St. Amherst

The wild weekend continued over Saturday night into Sunday early morning as the Amherst Police Department responded to 186 College Street  for a report of a young female passed out due to alcohol consumption (ETOH).  Once there they found a bevy of dangerous problems all too typically associated with a Party House:

According to APD logs (12:20 AM early Sunday morning):  

ETOH 18-year-old female located stumbling around yard outside residence. A large crowd was attending a party inside first floor, where the female patient had originated from.  I made contact with RP (reporting party) who stated female was vomiting inside the house and had consumed too much alcohol.  Patient transported to Cooley Dickinson Hospital by AFD.  Large crowd of approximately 200 cleared from residence.  Two tenants issued TBL citation for Nuisance House.  Significant code violations observed while inside, including no smoke detectors, unsecurable front door and an unstable living room floor which was concaved by approximately 12"

Issued $300 ticket for Nuisance House:

David Shamula, 21 Fairway Lane, Ocean, NJ, age 20

Gregory Cantor, 27 Tri Street, Ashland. MA, age 19

Ownership record for 186 College St, Amherst  Stephan Gharabegian

Mr. Gharabegian's other holdings in town.  Yikes!

UPDATE  11:30 AM   Look who came to visit (middle vehicle with blue plate):  AFD

AFD back on the scene

The Daily Collegian Reports

Good Fence = Good Neighbors

45 Phillips Street now fenced in

So I could not help but notice a spiffy new fence enclosing the postage stamp front yard at 45 Phillips Street, one of the more decadent houses on a street that wears decadence like a charm, and a regular stopping place for Amherst Police Department.

 

45 Phillips Street 3/29/13 (note cars on front "lawn" )

I asked Building Commissioner Rob Morra under Public Documents Law for the letter/threat he sent to owner Stephan Gharabegian that resulted in a pang of remorse for bad housekeeping, but was told the exchange took place over the phone.

"I made a call to Mr.Gharabegian a couple weeks ago to explain that improvements were necessary to address the parking issues at 45 Phillips Street.  The following Monday this fence along with a couple of plantings were installed.  At this point, I am satisfied with his response and will monitor the property to determine if the improvements are effective."

The good news represented by this new fence is that if the most notorious landlord in Amherst can respond to a little official coaxing there's solid hope for the new Residential Rental Property Bylaw that will pass Town Meeting next month.

After all, the vast majority of landlords in Amherst are conscientious law abiding citizens who care about the quality of life in our little college town. 

We hope.

There He Goes Again

33 Phillips Street

The poster boy for lousy upkeep of student rental housing, Stephan Gharabegian, is at it once again.  On good old Phillips Street naturally, where he owns almost half the houses on the slummy street. 

Building Inspector Jon Thompson has given him until June 24 to either demolish a bootleg four bedroom basement apartment or file for a Special Permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals, where he's been turned down in the past.

And since the illegal basement apartment did not have a second means of egress in case of fire Gharabegian is lucky the town did not file endangerment charges!

   33 Phillips Street - Cease and Desist

Party House of the Weekend

45 Phillips Street

Once again a weekend that was relatively quiet compared to the bad ol' days of just two or three years past.  Our only Party House, with two arrests for Noise & Nuisance, occurred on Phillips Street the most notorious street in Amherst.

 Click to enlarge/read

45 Phillips Street to be exact, owned by the most notorious absentee landlord in Amherst, Stephan Gharabegian, who also owns another three houses on Phillips Street, #37,#33, and #11.

Only one house out of all nine on the street is owner occupied.  And the front bookend on North Pleasant Street is a fraternity.

Phillips Street located adjacent to UMass

In Eastern Hampshire District Court this morning both underage individuals took the standard plea deal offered by the Commonwealth: Pay one of the $300 tickets and stay out of trouble for the next four months.

Adrian Lech, age 20

Jason Rubenstein, age 20

A Decadent Crown Jewel

11 Phillips Street, Amherst/UMass border

Since Stephan Gharabegian is the "King of the Decadent Street", owning almost half the hovels on Phillips Street, the slum capital of Amherst & UMass,  I hereby dub (dripping in sarcasm) 11 Phillips Street his crown jewel. 

Exhibit A:  The most recent Board of Health investigation report that found 11 Phillips Street to be "in violation of the Minimum Standard of Fitness for Human Habitation."

11 Phillips St Health Dept report




Exhibit B:  The most recent Amherst Fire Department investigation citation that found dangerous shortcomings in fire safety requirements and flagrantly ignoring an order to stop using a one-family dwelling (maximum of 4 unrelated tenants) as a boarding house with 13 tenants.

An overcrowded abode, lots of alcohol and defunct fire alarms is a sure fire formula for catastrophe.

11 Phillips St AFD Ticket

And clearly, a recent Worcester Housing Court decision reaffirms the ability of cities and towns to enforce unrelated tenant zoning restrictions.  The town has known about the overcrowded conditions at 11 Philips since at least last June when the Health Department did their inspection.

Yet when Amherst police raided the address on October 30, to shut down an illegal basement bar, that busload of students still lived there.  The town needs to get serious about overcrowded illegal living conditions.  Before a tragedy occurs.

King of the decadent street

Sunday Morning after a rough Saturday night

Decadence and student party houses go together like pizza and beer. Take Phillips Street for instance (and the Amherst Redevelopment Authority could), scene of a major disturbance last weekend--specifically 33 Phillips Street, where 11 arrests occurred on Saturday night starting as early as 6:46 PM.

The house is owned by STEPHAN GHARABEGIAN under protection of a Limited Liability Partnership KNIGHT PROPERTIES LLC (with his wife, Angela.)

In addition to this party house the pair own three others on Phillips Street (#11, #37, #45) thus making a total of 4 out-of-nine, almost half the housing for a street the ARA consultant deemed "decadent".

Color schematic of the Gateway area showing properties with decadent conditions (Phillips Street, where all but one wins the prize)
#########################################
To: Larry Kelley
Sent: Mon, May 2, 2011 8:43 pm
Subject: towns reputation...

Hi Larry,

My teen daughter had a soccer game on Sunday on the UMass campus against a team from Maine. As we waited for a game against a Rhode Island team to end, I heard the out of towners talking. They were going on about how disgusting it was on their way to campus and said they "would NEVER send their kids to school there." They were talking about the party remnants, beer cans, trash, etc. I started to defend our town and explain the Hobart mess and just stopped. It isn't just that weekend, and we all see it. I was actually embarrassed and didn't say another word. Do you think sharing this with someone at UMass or the town manager would make any difference at all?

Mary

Let's hope Mary...let's hope.

Phillips Street Filibuster #Fail

11 Phillips Street, Amherst

By not showing up for his original "show cause hearing" before a Clerk Magistrate, Joshua Reiss, age 20, set himself up for a criminal proceeding in Eastern Hampshire District Court on Friday before a Judge for a possible felony conviction.  

He lost his case -- bringing a $1,000 fine for tampering with smoke detectors in his humble abode -- but the complaint was diverted to a civil offense, so he will not be stained for life with a felony conviction.

But considering the acts he was found guilty of, his lesson could have been a lot more costly ... like contributing to the death of a roommate.  Or the lesson you can't learn from, because you're dead.  

 APD report

AFD report

Smoke detector 11 Phillips Street: In the bag

Phillips Street has one of the largest concentrations of problem houses in the town (most of them owned by Stephan Gharabegian), but these days no neighborhoods are safe from "real estate investors" who buy up single family homes and pack them with student renters. 

 778 North Pleasant Street, Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity

Just up the road from Phillips Street, AFD Fire Prevention Officer Mike Roy recently fined the fraternity at 778 North Pleasant Street $500 for the second offense of tampering with smoke detectors. 

   UMass Frat fined safety violation

11 Phillips Street also had a second offense

Party House runner up

The Enchanted Forest: 83 Morgan Circle

Nestled in a fairly solid, not-yet-overtaken-by-students residential neighborhood, 83 Morgan Circle made the police report this past weekend for the first time since last March . That may not sound like something to celebrate, but last year this address was party central, earning my "Party House of the Semester Award" for their repeated shenanigans.

Police responded early Sunday morning (1:45 AM) to a call complaining about a "loud party". When police arrived resident Ryan Good promised his remaining guests would "keep the noise down." Fair enough. APD issued a written warning.

Ryan Good's name did not show up last March when residents at 83 Morgan Circe were sited for the fifth separate occasion. So maybe we have had a turnover this fall with all new housemates who are not quite as outrageous as the Bad Boys who lived there all last year, but not exactly Mother Teresa types either.

Which makes you wonder what kind of background check the property owner does before turning over the keys to the front door?

Interestingly the house at 83 Morgan Circle is co-owned by Stephan Gharabegian who also owns almost half (4 of 9) the, errrr, dwellings on Phillips Street, arguable the worst slum in town. Which is why I dubbed him "King of the decadent street." One of the four he owns includes 33 Phillips Street, where white, pretty boy rapper Paul Markham proudly resides.

Mr. Markham's anthem "Welcome to The Zoo" perpetuates the party atmosphere that feeds the machine built around alcohol. Perhaps Markham will change his tune when some kid dies due to alcohol poisoning.

Former Amherst College Pres Tony Marx busted for DUI (driving a company car)

Let's get Physical

 45 Phillips Street

Student rowdyism escalated yet another notch late last night as Amherst Police officers had to physically defend themselves against combative college aged youth jet-fueled by alcohol, a danger to innocent bystanders, first responders and themselves.

Last week two drunk students unabashedly fighting in a downtown restaurant got physical with a female Amherst police officer who was attempting to break it up, and early this morning the violent response to APD officers continued unabated.

Around 12:30 AM an officer noticed a disturbance at 45 Phillips Street with about 20-30 males on the front porch yelling and throwing punches at each other.  In trying to break up the melee one of the perps "attempted to free his friend" from the cops hold and had to be pinned against a fence and placed under arrest.:


Officers later cited the house, owned by Stephan Gharabegian, with a $300 ticket for violation of the town's Nuisance House Bylaw.

Arrested for Disorderly Conduct and possession of liquor under age 21:

Kevin John Defusco, 5 Depot Road, Westford, MA, age 19  (UMass student)

Gilreath Manor, Hobart Lane 

 Around 2:00 AM police were called to Hobart Lane apartment #26 Gilreath Manor for reports of a fight involving ten individuals.  In breaking up the disturbance an officer was hit with pepper spray and required a response from AFD to rinse his eyes.

Arrested for Assault & Battery on a police officer, A&B with a dangerous weapon (pepper spray), Resisting Arrest, and Disorderly Conduct:

James M Robinson, 10 Truman Circle, Springfield, MA, age 19   (UMass student)

Around 2:45 AM police responded to 15/17 Fearing Street for reports of a "highly ETOH" (drunk) individual "throwing bottles at people."

 15 Fearing Street    (managed by Kendrick Management)

The responding officer was greeted by a dozen young men on the front porch who stated Jonathan Jacobs was "going crazy," throwing bottles and other items at them.  Due to his violent behavior they had evacuated the house.  Jacobs was located in his upstairs room but immediately became combative, assaulting one officer with his shoulder and knocking over another.  At APD headquarters he refused to identify himself and was held on $2,500 bail.

Arrested for Assault with a Dangerous Weapon (bottles), Disorderly Conduct, Resisting Arrest, A & B on a police officer:

Jonathan Daniel Jacobs, 225 Maryann Way, North Attleborough, MA, age 22  (UMass student)

#####

Meanwhile around 1:15 AM police responded to a report of a motor vehicle crash on Mattoon Street near Amherst Regional High School.  The driver reported swerving to avoid a pedestrian and lost control because of the "wet roads", but an eyewitness had another different version not involving a pedestrian.  The driver was given a field sobriety test and failed. 

Arrested for OUI Liquor and Marked Lanes Violation:

Daniel T. Kearney, 21 Wing Rd, Lynnfield, MA, age 21  (UMass student)

#####

Sadly, at 1:43 AM, UMass police, APD and AFD responded to a male who fell and hit his head near the Newman Center, UMass.  The first officer on the scene reported the male was on the ground surrounded by friends who confirmed he "had been drinking" and suddenly collapsed, hitting his head.  

AFD transported the unconscious young man to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, where he is reported to be on a breathing machine in the Critical Care Unit.

UPDATE (Monday afternoon): The young man was released from the hospital Sunday at 2:30 PM.  Let's hope he learned a lesson.

More Beds Than A Barracks

 11 Phillips Street, Amherst (but touching UMass)

The crackdown continues on Phillips Street, the slummiest street in Amherst.  Over the weekend police busted 33 Phillips Street, arresting eight young men (including UMass party anthem "singer" Paul Markham) for rowdy behavior, and now 11 Phillips Street is in the crosshairs.

Of course both dwellings are owned by the "King of the Decadent Street", Stephan Gharabegian.  And yes, notice 11 Phillips is catagorized by our assessor as a "one family" dwelling, meaning only four (4!) unrelated housemates can set up shop under that particular roof.

From: McKay, Donald, Assistant Fire Chief
To: amherstac
Sent: Wed, Oct 31, 2012 1:51 pm
Subject: 11 Phillips St.

Larry,

              The following is the verbatim copy of the email I sent to the Building Commissioners office yesterday:            

At approximately 10:00 am today the Fire Department was contacted by APD Lt Ron Young who had concerns about the fire safety of the occupants residing at 11 Phillips St.

APD had obtained a criminal search warrant and discovered the fire safety concerns upon gaining entry to the residence. I responded and conducted a fire safety inspection.

My findings are as follows: The fire alarm system panel was in trouble and I question whether or not it was serviceable.  No permit has been issued for the new panel. I found a first floor pull station that had been activated and not reset.  I have no record of a fire department response to this address.

14 students in residence in the single family occupancy per APD. 1 bedroom with 2 beds on the 1^st floor with 2 additional mattresses stored under each bed, 2 bedrooms with 2 beds each on the 3^rd floor (# 7 & 8). Covered, disabled, or missing smoke detectors east and west bedroom, basement rooms 4, 5, 6, 9, 2^nd floor rooms 7, 8, 3^rd floor. Access to the fire alarm panel obstructed. Egress from the kitchen obstructed.

This spring and summer, Health, Fire, and Building inspected this residence on the 29^th of June and the 17 of August.  Each inspection found the same number of bedrooms or possible bedrooms.  The owner did not allow us entry into most of the bedrooms as they were occupied and locked.

The students will not be allowed to sleep in the building until the fire alarm system is returned to service. I was able to make contact with the owner who was in New York and he did arrange to have the fire alarm system placed back in service.  I checked on this about 5:30PM last night.

Mike Roy is at the National Fire Academy this week but he and I have talked and upon his return we will issue fire safety violations to the owner.

Assistant Chief Donald R. McKay,
EMT-P, MPH Amherst Fire Department

The (Springfield) Republican reports

An Extensive List

So you know that private meeting held on public property between high-ranking UMass bureaucrats, town officials and a few landlords that I complained to the Attorney General about for barring my presence?

Well guess how many local landlords were invited?

2,500 -- give or take.

And since only 11 showed up that's a response rate of .0044%.  Reminds me of  the voter turnout for the local election Amherst just held.

The only landlord I was curious about was Stephan Gharabegian, King of the Decadent street (Phillips Street).  Strikes me as kind of inept that he was not even invited. 

As he is the Poster Boy for Bad Boy landlords.

Back story via emails

Preventable Deaths = Priceless

11 Phillips Street

Any good fire prevention expert will tell you the best way to prevent fire related deaths is not to let The Beast form in the first place.  And nothing is better at accomplishing that then a sprinkler system.

Number two on the list is an early warning system that allows notification to residents to get out of the structure as quickly as possible i.e. smoke or heat detectors as well as simultaneously sending notification to a professional alarm monitoring company.  

But those detectors are worthless if they have been purposely disabled or simply not maintained properly, like changing the battery every year.

Take 11 Phillips Street -- and I wish somebody with eminent domain powers would take that entire street -- for instance:   In Eastern Hampshire District Court last week Fire Prevention Officer Mike Roy won yet another "disabling a smoke detector" case.

 Click to enlarge/read

While an $800 fine may seem steep for Mr. Weiner had AFD pressed to keep the mater criminal he would could have served up to two years in jail because the charge is a felony.

Instead, in a Clerk Magistrate Hearing, he was found "responsible" but as long as he abides by the four conditions the matter will be dismissed in November.

 Terms of settlement written up by his lawyer

And since he is one of only four who supposedly lives at 11 Phillips (but notice he identified himself as a "Fraternity Vice President ... hmmm) and rent is a whopping $4,800 per month, I think he -- or his Fraternity -- can well afford the fine. 

Beats being dead.

APD Community Liaison officer Bill Laramee (left) and absentee property owner Stephan Gharabegian this morning at 45 Phillips Street after first meeting at 11 Phillips Street

 AFD Fire Prevention Officer Mike Roy files complaint with Eastern Hampshire District Court on 4/26