ROCK SPRINGS — The tenant of a downtown Rock Springs embroidery shop recently requested permission to open a coffee shop in the same space but was denied because of the city’s fire code regulations.
Now the business, Nell’s Coffee at 204 Elk St., has closed and moved to a new location at 1100 Elk St. The 204 Elk St. building’s owner Rick Milonas has taken the city to task over its building code that forced the move. In July, he threatened to sue the city over it.
Milonas said it would cost $500,000 to add fire sprinklers and bring the 6,400-square-foot, 90-year-old building up to code as is required for restaurants.
Milonas believes he is being singled out and treated unfairly and argues that businesses in numerous other Rock Springs buildings are also out of compliance with the fire code.
Under current fire code, if a restaurant is under 5,000 square feet in space, fire sprinklers are not required.
Rock Springs Mayor Max Mickelson said there are businesses that are not now required to update to current fire codes because their defined use has not changed and the buildings were in compliance when built.
When Milonas’ tenant, Nell’s Coffee owner Danielle Valdez, applied for a change of use from an embroidery shop, classified as mercantile, to a restaurant, the request triggered a fire code investigation.
Lots Of Noncompliance
Mickelson told Cowboy State Daily that a number of Rock Springs restaurants could face a similar fate as time passes and codes are updated.
“I believe the state is moving toward a requirement that all businesses with cooking apparatus will be required to have sprinklers,” Mickelson said. “My hope is all of these family-run businesses are preparing for that possibility.”
International Fire Code requirements are updated every three years. Several of the Rock Springs businesses Milonas mentioned as receiving preferential treatment are either code compliant, or grandfathered into code compliance because their designated use has not changed, Mickelson said.
Mickelson said Milonas is upset over losing a tenant.
“He wanted to come in and yell at us and have us say we will ignore the fire code, but the city is not able to do that ethically,” Mickelson said.
No Lawsuit, Yet
Rock Springs City Attorney Richard Beckwith said Milonas never followed through with his lawsuit threat.
In his correspondence with the city, Milonas listed numerous businesses that he claims are receiving preferential treatment. However, none of them are restaurants that exceed 5,000 square feet.
The total square footage of a building is what mandates fire sprinklers when an occupant requests a change to a more hazardous occupancy, according to Jeff Tuttle, Rock Springs chief building inspector.
In a response to Milonas’ concerns, Tuttle wrote that Nell’s Coffee may have been able to get by with building firewalls and adding fire sprinklers to the kitchen area only.
Mickelson said in the next 10-15 years he believes the grandfather clause that allows some restaurants to run without fire sprinklers will end.
“About $150,000 seems to be the average cost to install fire sprinklers,” he said. “We have a bunch of landlords who have not and do not want to put money into old buildings. Most coffee shops don’t make sprinkler system money. It’s a huge challenge for the city.”
Mickelson added that his initial reaction was to find a way to use the grandfather clause to remedy the situation. However, Rock Springs Fire Department officials pointed out several instances of large building fires with multiple fatalities in other states.
Using the grandfather clause as a work-around in this case presents too much risk for the city, he said.
