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Landmark Condominium resident urges code enforcement, tenant protections amid alleged STR conversions
Summary
A Landmark Condominium resident told the committee that investor-run short-term rentals and construction have taken over common areas, created fire-safety risks and left exit doors blocked and most elevators out of service; the resident asked the city for stronger code enforcement and tenant protections.
Nikki Buggs, a resident of the Landmark Condominium, used public comment time at the Sept. 22 committee meeting to request city intervention into alleged short-term-rental operations and code-enforcement issues at her building.
Buggs said the building suffered a near-fatal fire on Jan. 17, 2024, and that investor-operated short-term rentals have occupied common areas and undertaken alterations that she says compromise fire safety and tenant protections. "They've gone so far as to take over all of our common areas, including that fire-ridden area," Buggs said, adding that units are being used as transient lodging and that the building now houses more people per bedroom than original design intended.
She told the committee that exit doors, including those at the pool and the area where the fire occurred, are bolted shut and that only one of three elevators is operational. "Those are exit doors that are completely blocked. That means if something takes place within the building, then we're actually trapped in the building," she said. Buggs said she and other residents have observed construction that, in her view, threatens the building's structural integrity.
Buggs asked the committee to direct the city's code-compliance and law departments to investigate potential misuse of nonprofit status and to pursue stronger elder- and tenant-protection measures and enforcement for short-term rentals. The committee did not take immediate action at the meeting; staff did not provide an on-the-record response during the public-comment period.
