City ousts warehouse residents

Columbus code-enforcement officers on Wednesday cleared residents from a Near East Side warehouse where they were living.

The officers had filed emergency orders saying the building was unfit for habitation. The violations include electrical problems, obstructed exits, a common area filled with autos and auto parts, and a lack of smoke detectors.

The building at 1199-1207 Franklin Ave. in the Olde Towne East neighborhood dates to 1909 and was originally the Avery Pontiac dealership. It has been on the city’s register of historic places since 1984. It has been home for photographers and artists.

City officials could find no certificate of occupancy, said Dana Rose, the city’s code-enforcement administrator. But Paul Hackmann, who bought the building in 1980 for $90,000, said he has a copy of the certificate of occupancy and told city officials he had planned to give it to them when he returns in April from Florida, where he said he lives.

Hackmann didn’t know the city had cleared out the building, and he called the action “unbelievable.” He said an electrician fixed electrical issues after the city’s March 7 inspection.

Twelve to 14 tenants were living in the building, Rose said. He said there are five units upstairs, and the only way to get out is through the area where the autos are stored. “You see a lot of debris, clutter,” he said.

Battalion Chief Steve Martin of the Columbus Division of Fire described the building as a “junkyard.” Fire officials are working with code enforcement. Building inspectors went in on Tuesday.

Rose said he’s not sure whether everyone has found a place to live. He said residents will be allowed in on Friday and Saturday to remove anything they left behind.

In 2012, the city filed orders against Milo Arts center on East 3rd Avenue — for years a live-work space for artists — for a lack of smoke detectors and sprinkler problems, among other violations. Violations were fixed, and today more than 30 people live there, property operator Rick Mann said.

In December, 36 people died in a fire in an Oakland, California, warehouse that had been converted into a live-work space for artists.

[DISPATCH/ERIC ALBRECHT] Chris Cope, a three-year tenant at the studio arts complex at 1199-1207 Franklin Ave., moves out his belongings from the building. Cope said he and other residents of the building received only a 24 hour notice to vacate the premises.