AMHERST — Despite the warm, humid temperatures last week, Christina Rose was among tenants at a downtown apartment building unable to turn on her home’s air conditioning to keep cool.
Instead, Rose only had the option to access heat in her Clark House unit, which was not needed as even the first-floor spaces in the six-story building climbed into the upper 80s.
“Our system either has air or it has heat,” Rose said on Sept. 27. “It’s not like you have a choice to put either one on.”
But Rose contends that the situation she and others in the 22 Lessey St. building face is affected by the Minimum Standards of Fitness for Human Habitation section of the state’s sanitary public health law, which currently requires all apartments to have heat available from Sept. 15 to June 15.
At Clark House, the heating and cooling systems are not able to run at the same time, meaning that when air conditioning is turned off for the season, as it was earlier this month, it’s unlikely to come back on, even if a heat wave is forecast.
Ed Cafasso, a spokesman for Clark House manager WinnResidential of Boston, said it is illegal under state law to turn the cooling system back on without a variance from the Board of Health. But he pledged to seek a permanent variance that would mean air conditioning from May 1 through Oct. 1
“We are going to request a permanent variance so Clark House has the option of allowing air conditioning to be on as late as Oct. 1,” Cafasso said.
In a letter sent to tenants Monday, WinnResidential apologized for the inability to get the system back on, noting that it has already been winterized.
The letter also provided tips on staying cool and public places with air conditioning, including the neighboring Bangs Community Center and the Jones Library.
The state’s Department of Public Health, coincidentally, is rewriting the code to update sections of the minimum standards for habitation.
Under a revision in the temperature requirements section, property owners could make changes to the heating system without a variance: “A board of health may alter the number of heating days required… in any year by posting notice of such alteration on the municipality’s website.”
Amherst Health Director Julie Federman said such changes are important at the state level as climate change makes it warmer temperatures more likely earlier in spring and later into fall.
Though the situation is somewhat unique to the Clark House, because of its separate heating and cooling systems, a change in the law might offer needed flexibility, Federman said, making it easier for property owners to shut off the heat when necessary.
A year ago, Rose said she circulated a petition that collected the signatures of 60 residents on the six floors to push for adjustments.
“When I went around to these people they were really suffering,” Rose said, noting some had asthma, heart conditions or old age.
Previously, meetings have been held with the property managers, town officials and even state legislators. Rose praised state Rep. Solomon Goldstein-Rose’s legislative aide, Catie Rutley, for responding to the concerns.
Rutley said in an email that any changes to public health policies can go into effect without legislative action following the hearings that are being held across the state.
Senior Center Director Nancy Pagano said the arbitrary dates for heating and cooling in the state code can put elders at risk because of the variances in weather in Massachusetts, exacerbated by global warming.
Federman said that even with code changes, though, some residents will continue to complain about being too hot while others are too cold. That means that turning off the heat and turning on the air conditioning are not simple calls for a property manager.
“It is a difficult decision for a complex to make because they are balancing the needs of everyone,” Federman said.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.