District 39 Senator Sponsors 'Elevator Bill' After Lilydale Condo Complaints

Tom O’Connell, a condominium owner in Lilydale, heard an estimate of $10,000 per elevator from state lawmakers and those in the elevator industry to bring the elevators in his building in-line with code changes passed in 2007. The estimates were wrong.

“The actual cost that most buildings are seeing that I know about—in Lilydale or West St. Paul—is more on the order of $100,000 per elevator,” said O’Connell. He said that his own building, Overlook Condominiums, had received an estimate that the necessary updates to both its elevators would cost roughly $200,000.

Under current law, building owners have until Jan. 29, 2012 to make the required code updates, which include installing safety redundancies and additional access points for fire fighters to reach upper floors. Elevators not in compliance with the state code may be taken out of service.

O’Connell petitioned Sen. Jim Metzen (D-District 39) to exempt certain buildings from the new codes.

While no exemptions are in the works yet, the Minnesota House of Representatives did pass legislation last week that would extend the deadline by which commercial and residential building owners must comply with the code changes. Metzen sponsors the Senate companion, SF617.

As a result of the proposed legislation, owners would have until Jan. 29, 2012 or three years after a compliance plan has been filed with the state—whichever is later—to make any necessary changes.

But even as the bill passed in the House, owners of residential and commercial properties with elevators not currently up to code expressed frustration at the bill’s necessity. 

“The people in our building’s position is that they (state lawmakers) should’ve grandfathered in a whole bunch of buildings that are short buildings,” O’Connell said. O'Connell reported that at Overlook Condominiums, which has two elevators, the assessment given to each condominium owner for the elevator updates is roughly equivalent to three years worth of property taxes. His own assessment was for roughly $6,000, an assessment he hopes future legislation might keep him and tenants like him from having to pay.

Lisa Smith, building manager for Lexington-Riverside Condominiums on Sibley Memorial Highway, reported that the total cost of bringing each of the two buildings' elevators up to code came to $220,000.

Although she also questioned the necessity of the upgrades for small buildings like the one she runs, Lexington-Riverside is moving forward with the updates immediately. Smith estimated that, beginning in June and lasting approximately six to eight weeks, owners of condos in both Lexington-Riverside buildings would have to use the stairs while the elevators are brought up to code as a part of other repair work.

That timeframe could also become a hardship for those residents with limited mobility who rely on the elevators, according to Lilydale city council member Marilyn Lundberg.

Ultimately, O’Connell said he hopes after the buildings receive an extension, an exemption from adherence to state elevator codes might eventually be passed into law for certain properties. 

Metzen said that while he sympathizes with residents, he was pleased with the bill’s passage in the House and looks forward to voting on it in the Senate. He said that getting anything more done on the issue during the current legislative session would be difficult, but he would be open to revisiting the issue at a future date.

“I would look at (a moratorium) later,” he said, “but right now I want a half a loaf of bread. I can’t get the full loaf right now.”

The bill has been referred to the Jobs and Economic Growth Committee for a hearing in the Senate. Metzen is the minority lead in that committee.