SOMERS, N.Y. - Multifamily and apartment buildings in Somers will now be required to have Knox Boxes, or master key systems, that will allow the fire department easy access during an emergency.
The new local law was passed unanimously on Thursday, July 9, by the Town Board after a public hearing.
It takes effect 180 days after filing with the state. For new construction, the key safes would have to be installed before a certificate of occupancy can be issued.
The law will apply to multifamily projects with three or more dwelling units such as The Mews I and II and The Avalon in Baldwin Place. It will not affect condominium developments such as Heritage Hills and The Willows because although their units are attached, they are individually accessed.
The change came at the recommendation of Fire Chief Greg Lucia, who pushed for the legislation after an incident where firefighters had to force open a door, damaging it.
Damaged doors must be resecured after the emergency has passed, noted Rob Russell, deputy chief of the local Bureau of Fire Prevention.
And that can be expensive.
A Knox Box costs about $500, while replacing a commercial door can be a lot more.
But more importantly, being able to quickly access an apartment during emergencies such as gas or carbon monoxide leaks will save lives.
“Just because you knock on a door and there’s no answer, doesn’t mean there are no individuals on the other side of that door,” Russell explained.
Mews developer Ken Kearney sent a note to the Town Board indicating his support for the key safe systems.
SECURITY, PRIVACY
Russell sought to alleviate any security or privacy concerns.
The Knox Boxes are already in use at all commercial properties in town, he said.
They will only be accessible by the fire department, which will have a one-of-a-kind code to open them.
The system will record the individual who accessed the master key, as well as the time when it was taken out and when it was returned.
Master keys can’t be copied and each is unique to the town in which they are assigned.
“Even though there are Knox Boxes on personal properties throughout Westchester, we can’t access Yorktown’s or Bedford’s Knox Box,” Russell explained, adding that the systems are “tightly regulated” and “very secure.”
Councilman Richard Clinchy said he’d been approached by folks worried that this meant “somebody would get a key just to their apartment.”
“No, it would be a master key that would open every door in the building,” Russell said.
Councilman Anthony Cirieco asked about including emergency contact numbers in the key safe.
Russell noted that the Knox Boxes at Muscoot Farm do contain emergency contact lists.
“It’s certainly good practice; it’s nothing that’s required under the code at the time, but you could put a little card in there with your emergency contacts,” Russell said, adding that the “only downside is that the property owners can’t access the box without us so it’s hard to keep that updated.”
Councilwoman Gina Arena, whose husband had been the fire chief in Katonah, pointed out that Knox Boxes had been installed in all the businesses in town years ago.
“They really helped a lot of people,” she said.
Councilman William Faulkner wondered under what circumstances the boxes would be utilized and how a resident’s “privacy would be safeguarded.”
That would be for “life-threatening” situations such as a fire or a gas or carbon monoxide leak and the building needed to be evacuated, Russell said.
A master key could be used in other situations such as a “welfare check,” where someone has either called 911 or folks are concerned because they haven’t been able to contact them for days.
After the emergency has passed, the building can be resecured “without causing any damage and then we can go on our way,” Russell said.
COMPLIANCE
Fines for non-compliance would be up to the Town Board.
According to the model law that the town was weighing, failure to comply will result in a notice of violation and civil penalties ($250 to $1,000 per violation); each day of noncompliance may constitute a separate offense; and additional remedies may include “court enforcement or administrative orders.”
SIGNAGE ORDINANCE
The Town Board also voted on July 9 to pass a new ordinance requiring the posting of signs on properties that are in line for zoning map changes, something that’s in the purview of the Town Board.
Right now, the town code only requires projects seeking site plan and/or subdivision approval from the Planning Board to post signs alerting the public to what’s going on.
The issue arose after Roland Ciafrone and other Baldwin Place residents complained that the general public hadn’t been made aware -- through signs or mailings – of requests for zoning changes from single residential to multifamily made by two housing projects in Baldwin Place: North Edge and Trailside Estates.
“We never saw a sign until well into the process. For three years, I guess you guys were going back and forth on that and nobody knew anything about it,” Ciafrone claimed.
After he spoke to Supervisor Robert Scorrano, a sign was installed “the following day.”
“We’re concerned about putting signage up where you can see it. Not in the back of The Somers Record. Not online. Something physically on the property,” he said, adding that the process may have been “legal and legit” but “nobody’s going online to look at this.”
“Thank you for saying it’s legal and legit,” Scorrano quipped.
“It’s legal and legit, however it’s got to be changed. That’s why we have laws, and we amend laws,” Ciafrone said.
The new signage requirements will not affect either Trailside or North Edge because the two projects are well past that point in the process.
The amended signage law will also require those seeking site plan and/or subdivision approvals and zoning map amendment approvals for landlocked properties to post signs on public byways so folks can see them.
Veolia Water, the entity that operates water and sewage systems in the Heritage Hills condominium complex, is planning to upgrade an existing facility there to deal with its PFAS contamination problems.
The plant is located on a parcel carved out of the privately-owned Rhinoceros Creek Reservation, which lies over a major aquifer and provides water – via a long-standing easement – to Heritage Hills.
Signs were posted on the reservation's access road, but couldn’t be seen by the general public passing by on Route 202.
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