Despite a past building fire, a pile of dead tree limbs, and widespread signs of vandalism and trespassing at the former Niagara Infirmary, it remains unclear what steps city and town officials have taken to address the conditions at the long-vacant, 16.9-acre property.
According to Jason Dool, the city’s chief building inspector, the 16.9-acre property owned by Ryan Mulvey of Switzer Buildings LLC in Hamburg is divided north to south between the city and town. The boundary line runs through the Switzer Building, which faces Davison Road. Mulvey could not be reached for comment.
The Switzer Building has open and broken-out ground-floor windows on both the city and town sides of the structure that provide easy inside access. Graffiti can be seen inside the vacant structure along with drywall scraps from trespassers breaking through an interior wall. Emails sent Thursday that included photographs to Town Supervisor Mark Crocker, city Fire Chief Luca Quagliano, Dool, and Jon Wiley, 5th Ward alderman and chair of the fire board, received no responses by Friday evening.
Crocker answered calls and said Thursday that he would bring the matter to town code enforcement and fire marshal Bill Youngman. On a Friday phone call, Crocker said he would provide information that day, but did not.
Andrew Nemi, deputy chair of the fire board, said there are frequent police calls to the Davison Road address for trespassing.
“We’ve already had a close call with fire there,” Nemi said of the charred chapel on site. “I think most people that drive by there think the condition of the building is unacceptable.”
Nemi said the conditions of the 10-building long-vacant campus built in 1914 could easily lead to a major fire and death like what occurred in 2016 when four buildings burned at the High Tred International facility on Stevens Street.
Former firefighter Mark Devine, who represented the 3rd Ward last year, said Thursday that vacant buildings are at risk for burning because trespassers create campfires inside to keep warm.
A recheck of the Davison Road buildings on Friday found no posted notices, and no efforts to close the open windows on the Switzer Building.
“I assume first and foremost that it’s a building inspection issue,” Nemi said. “Obviously the fire department could cite them for fire code violations. They had a (chapel) fire over there a handful of years ago because of something like this.”
Kathryn Fogle, 4th Ward alderman, confirmed Friday that there are currently five employees in the city’s building inspection department.
“The building has to be secured,” said Tom McKinney, chair of the Standards and Codes Committee for the Firefighters Association of the State of New York. “New York State Property Maintenance Code definitely comes into play. A vacant building must be secured from vagrants.”
Recently retired from working as a code enforcement officer in Warren County, McKinney said, “I’m an advocate for the fire side of the code, but I enforced all codes, from concrete to how tall your grass is. In a lot of cases, your municipality has an ordinance against leaving a vacant building accessible or exposed.”
“The property owner is responsible for it,” McKinney said. “This could be where, if that situation is there, the owner is given multiple notices, and they can use taxpayer money to secure or destroy the building.”
Former 5th Ward alderman Margaret Lupo said last year, “I’ve had calls about the neglect of the property. There’s been kids on the roof. There are homeless people in the buildings. I was walking my dog through there one afternoon and someone was breaking bottles. I’ve never been back.”
Broken glass continues to litter the campus’s parking lots this week.
Last December, Dool said, “We’ve been working with the owners,” but did not provide any information on order to remedy or timelines for improving the property’s conditions.
Dool did not respond to phone messages or an email Thursday asking, “Have you issued formal violations of any kind for this campus in the last two years? If so, what were they and when?”
Speaking in March about the parking lot on Walnut Street owned by Mulvey, Lupo said, “I was told (Mulvey) wants to have free rein to develop the infirmary property. The parking lot was essentially being used for leverage on the other project,” Lupo said.
Under the city’s building code, Section 66-23 on orders to remedy, it states, “The Code Enforcement Officer is authorized to order in writing the remedying of any condition or activity found to exist in, on or about any building, structure, or premises in violation of the Uniform Code, the Energy Code, or this chapter. An order to remedy shall be in writing; shall be dated and signed by the Code Enforcement Officer; shall specify the condition or activity that violates the Uniform Code, the Energy Code, or this chapter.”
Under the section on permitted Inspections, the city’s code states, “a fire safety and property maintenance inspection of any building, structure, use, or occupancy, or of any dwelling unit, may also be performed by the Code Enforcement Officer or an inspector authorized to perform fire safety and property maintenance inspections at any time upon . . . . receipt by the Code Enforcement Officer of a written statement alleging that conditions or activities failing to comply with the Uniform Code or Energy Code exist.”