here is where i stand:
i have my building, its a old dental office with 9 small rooms with sinks in each. i am merging 3 for my living.
it is zoned light retail, city says its fine for hotel/b&b.
i do have to do some renovation to open up an area for use as a second small
biz of a bike shop. i want to triple use this building bikeshop in front, my living and a hostel with the 6 rooms left.
after talking to the city they say i need a firewall and sprinkler system.........
i am at a deciding point on what to do with this. do most of you live at your
hostels? are they retail zoned? converted buildings or houses?
any ideas, past experiences on city codes and living where you work?
thanks alex in amarillo
14 years
You are probably hooped on the sprinkler system since it was an office before changing it to a "residence". If the building was an apartment or something similar you would most likely be grandfathered and not have to upgrade to current building standards. Well at least in Canada it has worked that way.
14 years
You are probably hooped on the sprinkler system since it was an office before changing it to a "residence". If the building was an apartment or something similar you would most likely be grandfathered and not have to upgrade to current building standards. Well at least in Canada it has worked that way.
yeah, huh.
i don't have anything wrong with the current standers but the unforsceen experience of a fire sprinkler system.
14 years
Yeah, changing the use of a building is not fun. I just went through it here in Missoula, where I renovated an old art gallery into the hostel. The building was already zoned commercial, but the change of use meant everything had to be brought up to current code.
I managed to avoid the sprinkler requirement because my occupancy is low enough, but everything else was fair game. Greatest cost to me was actually ADA compliance, in terms of both monetary cost and all the space I lost in what is already a small building.
Good luck dealing with your local gov't.
14 years
Yeah, changing the use of a building is not fun. I just went through it here in Missoula, where I renovated an old art gallery into the hostel. The building was already zoned commercial, but the change of use meant everything had to be brought up to current code.
I managed to avoid the sprinkler requirement because my occupancy is low enough, but everything else was fair game. Greatest cost to me was actually ADA compliance, in terms of both monetary cost and all the space I lost in what is already a small building.
Good luck dealing with your local gov't.
what is your ocupancy and sq footage?
what was involved for Ada compliance?
thanks. Alex.
14 years
I converted the first floor of the house into the hostel and I live on the second floor, which was already an apartment. I hope to eventually expand to where I currently live.
I have an occupancy of 12 in about 1100 sq. ft. Like I said, really small. But the ADA stuff was an expensive hassle. I understand why the law is in place, and I agree with its intent, but as written it leaves very little wiggle room for small business owners.
Among the things I had to do:
- one of my two bathrooms is completely accessible ... it's the size of a small bunk room.
- kitchen had to be designed to accommodate wheelchair access at the sink, which, if you look at my web site photos, takes up a lot of space.
- automatic door opener on my back door. NOT CHEAP.
- I'm fine with building a ramp to the back door (my handicap parking space is in the back), but the city also made me build a concrete walkway on the side of my house to the main road in front, which meant excavating quite a bit of soil. All this despite the fact the sidewalk is not wheelchair accessible from the road, so a disabled guest would have to be dropped off in the back.
- I was not allowed to put a microwave above the stove hood in the kitchen because it was not accessible.
- Not allowed to stack the washer and dryer
Again, some of the ADA stuff makes sense, but be ready for some expensive surprises. Same goes for fire code stuff. The best example of this is the pull down fire alarm that I had to put in my tiny crawl space because it's "a change in elevation"
14 years
Does anyone know what the regulations are for requiring a sprinkler system? Do most hostels have to do this?
I was just looking at a property that is currently an optometrist's office. I'm curious, how large are the rooms in your building? I'm worried that maybe the rooms are a little too small . . . the beds would fit in fine, but I don't want guests to be falling all over each other and their bags just trying to get dressed. Plus there aren't windows in any of the rooms and I'm worried about it feeling a little claustrophobic. But having the sink in each room is a definite perk! How do you plan to re-do the building so it doesn't have that dentist's office feel to it anymore?
14 years
I'm not sure if the fire codes vary from state to state, but here in Montana, I would have needed to install a sprinkler system if my occupancy was above 16.
As for the bedrooms without windows, I'd be sure to ask about this ahead of time. Most city codes require at least one window in every bedroom for getting out in the event of a fire.
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