Lynn building under seven-day repair order

LYNN – The owner of a string of troubled properties in Lynn and Utica, N.Y. assured a city inspector he will “do whatever is necessary” to make repairs to his 93-95 Green St. building.City Chief Building Inspector Roger Ennis said Timothy Klotz offered that verbal assurance after Ennis reached him by telephone during an inspection of the Green Street property. Plumbing, fire and electrical inspectors who swarmed through the four-family residence found “numerous code violations,” Ennis said.”There are fire and safety concerns including excessive storage of combustibles. Our concern is the safety of the tenants to be able to leave the building in case of an emergency,” Ennis said.Inspectors barred tenants from the building’s basement because of the large amount of potentially flammable items stored there. Klotz, who is listed as a trustee for 93 Green St. owner Jacqueline Realty Trust, is under a seven-day city order to repair stair railings, steps and correct other code violations.”He was very cooperative and said he would do whatever is necessary to get things done in a timely manner,” Ennis said.Richard Sokolow, identified by Ennis as the “authorized agent” assigned by Klotz to oversee the repairs, met Thursday with city inspectors along with a contractor and pulled an emergency permit to do the city-mandated work.”He’s taken responsibility to make repairs and is proceeding in the right direction but we’re only in the starting block,” Ennis said.Arson investigators last week said eight local buildings owned by Klotz were the sites of 13 fires, including several arson blazes, between 1994 and 1999. Klotz was not linked to the fires but regarded, according to fire Lt. David Legere, as a “person of interest” in the investigations.With the exception of the Green Street property, Klotz sold his other buildings or lost them to court-ordered demolitions after the city cracked down on code enforcement violations and neighbors’ complaints about drug dealing.Four people died Sept. 20 in a fire in a Klotz-owned building in Utica. Utica fire investigators said the building lacked working smoke detectors.Ennis on Thursday said 93 Green’s smoke detectors work but city inspectors in 2007 cited him for numerous code violations in the building, including non-working rear hallway smoke detectors and blocked hallway exits.The city will also continue pushing to collect $8,775 in fines listed under Klotz’ name and dating back to 2005 with recent ones issued in February and April. They include two violations for 93 Green St. and several listed to a former Klotz property at 122-126 Marianna St. with the remainder issued to 32 Cooper St., a property Klotz lost through foreclosure last summer.Klotz in 2004 faced criminal charges in District Court for failure to abate lead paint in 93-95 Green following a city Health Department violation filed against him in January 2004.