COLUMBUS — The clock continues to tick on an order to vacate the premises at the Mansfield Inn.
The Ohio Board of Building Appeals on Wednesday afternoon voted unanimously to uphold a Jan. 30 order from the Richland County Building Department that the 800 Laver Road motel is structurally unsafe.
That order mandates the two-story motel be vacated by Friday in a facility that still has no running water and has been cited by the Ohio EPA for allegedly violating six Ohio laws and rules regarding safe drinking water.
Those issues are separate from the structural problems discussed Wednesday.
The five-member board made the decision after a 30-minute online meeting to hear an appeal by the building’s owner, Paresh Patel of Barstow, Calif.
Patel represented himself at the hearing.
Richland County Building Dept. Director Steve Risser and Chief Building Official Kenneth Arthur also participated in the hearing with the board based in Reynoldsburg.
(Below is a PDF from the Richland County Building Department from Jan. 30, which includes an order to vacate the premises by Feb. 13.)
Risser has worked during the past two weeks with members of the Mansfield/Richland County Homeless Response Team to assist motel residents find other living arrangements. Many of the residents live at the Mansfield Inn on a long-term basis, paying between $225 and $250 per week.
That work will continue, according to Risser and Richland County Commissioner Tony Vero, who helped launch the response team five years ago.
“The Homeless Response Team will meet Friday morning and discuss next steps to ensure the remaining people are out of the motel and are being cared for appropriately,” Vero said Wednesday evening.
Risser credited Wayfinders Executive Director Miles Parsons and social worker Angela Riley from Catalyst Life Services in meeting with residents and assisting them find other accomodations.
“They are both doing terrific work. I think they are down to about four people, or four rooms,” Risser said.
On Tuesday evening, Parsons said the Wayfinders board had approved spending up to $10,000 from its operating budget to assist the residents find places to stay in other local motels. The shelter on West Third Street is at capacity.
“It sounds like it’s only going to be a couple of people (left by Friday). I think for the most part we’re going to try and work as best we can to voluntarily get them out of there. I think people will voluntarily leave once they understand the issue. Some of it’s just logistics,” Risser said.
Risser has said his office inspected the hotel after a complaint by the Ohio State Fire Marshal’s Office.
In his order, Arthur wrote, “The structure has sustained structural damage and subsequent structural failure. As such, the structural damage and failure is deemed a serious hazard and the structure is deemed an unsafe building in accordance with OBC 109.4.”
Arthur’s report noted “cracking, spalling and failure of second-floor concrete balconies, walkways and stairs.”
“Water intrusion, ice buildup and inadequate drainage have been observed and are contributing to the concrete failure as previously described,” Arthur wrote.
He also cited a failure in the hotel’s plumbing system as identified in the same state code.
“The structure is currently not provided with any water supply system and causes the structure to be unsanitary,” Arthur wrote.
During the appeal hearing, Patel said he had hired an engineer to inspect the building and provide recommendations, some of which included shoring up the second-floor balconies with 6-by-6 timber posts.
The engineer who authored the report didn’t attend the online hearing. The Richland County Building Department had not seen the report, which Risser said Patel emailed to him afterward.
Regardless, the state board was not overly impressed with past attempts to repair the structure, including prior work on the second-floor concrete balconies.
“It’s obvious somebody has tried to apply a layer of concrete or plaster or something to cover the cracks,” board member Steve Regoli said.
“According to the engineer’s report, those cracks go completely through the slab of the balcony. So that’s a that’s cosmetic (fix) and not a repair.
“This is really kind of disconcerting,” Regoli said.
Risser said his office is willing to work with Patel if the owner tries to make long-term repairs to the 65-year-old motel. Patel bought it in 2007 for $1 million, according to the Richland County Auditor’s Office website.
Patel could choose to appeal the board’s decision in Richland County Common Pleas Court, according to Risser.
“In our experience with this kind of stuff, if you have a good relationship with a contractor and good communication … a good contractor will usually bend over backwards to try to get stuff in operation and running,” he said.
Those repairs would have to include repairs to the motel’s water supply, provided by two wells on the site.
“According to (Patel), he’s got well contractor engaged and I did see some correspondence back and forth between the EPA and the well contractor earlier today,” Risser said.
“There are some electrical issues that need to be resolved, as well.”
