City of Las Vegas firefighters head into the Alpine Motel Apartments after a fatal early morning fire in downtown Las Vegas Saturday, Dec. 21, 2019. Six people died and 13 injured after a fire in the three-story apartment complex, authorities said.
Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020 | 6:30 p.m.
Las Vegas officials announced today their intention to create a new citywide program to track and inspect rental properties in order to protect residents’ safety in light of the Alpine Motel fire that killed six people in December.
Officials propose that owners of multifamily dwellings with four or more units register their properties annually with the city, providing property addresses, the number of individuals per rental units and bedrooms, and contact information for the owners and property managers. Owners who live out-of-state will need to provide information for a local representative, said planning director Robert Summerfield.
Once registered, properties will be inspected every five years by a third-party agency. The city will audit inspection reports to track what violations have occurred. Violations will be resolved using a “progressive enforcement approach” depending on the severity of the violation, Summerfield said.
“If we have a dangerous condition, a life safety or health-related situation, you’ll have 24-48 hours to get that remedied,” he said. “Ultimately, if we have penalties and have to do abatement actions on the city’s part, we will have liens placed against the properties.”
Properties that are less than five years old, which a city audit shows are less susceptible to exhibit code violations, will likely be exempt from the inspection aspect of the program. The inspection and registration system will be funded via an inspection fee on all multifamily rental property owners.
Officials anticipate that the fee will be small enough to avoid creating a burden on property managers that could be passed onto rent rates.
“We project that $10 a unit a year will get us the resources we need to really do this,” said Tom Perrigo, executive director of community development.
The city will hold public meetings on Feb. 13 and March 12 to educate rental property owners about the proposed new program. Both meetings will take place in the Las Vegas City Hall council chambers at 2 p.m.
The city currently only inspects rental properties following the receipt of a complaint about a code violation, Perrigo said. Officials looked to other cities that have a proactive approach to building safety in developing this proposed program.
“In subsequent briefings with (the Las Vegas City Council), council absolutely supported that direction and further directed staff to bring policies forward to help implement some of these programs,” Perrigo said.
Following a Dec. 21 fire in the Alpine Motel Apartments on Ninth Street that killed six residents and injured 13 others, authorities investigated negligent living conditions and code violations suspected at the property. Previous code violations at the Alpine Motel had been reported, and a report released in early January showed that the building had a defective fire alarm system as well as issues with fire doors and security bars.
In addition, city staff have been analyzing code violations and fire hazards across all rental properties after the fire, which was the deadliest residential fire in Las Vegas history. Through an audit, officials determined that older buildings were more likely to fail inspections and catch fire, Perrigo said. For example, units built prior to 1974 — mostly located near the downtown area — have accounted for 30% of all fire incidents since then, he said.
Officials anticipate that an official ordinance for the registration and inspection program will be ready by the April 14 council meeting. Assuming the ordinance were approved, implementation would begin later that month, Summerfield said.
