Marty McKenzie is appealing an April 19 guilty verdict in Moore County District Court on charges of fire code violations at two buildings he owns in the downtown Pinehurst.
The court found him guilty of not having both sides of exit doors unlocked, having an insufficient fire alarm system and problems with sprinklers in the two buildings.
McKenzie will have to pay $1,100 if he fails in his appeal, along with fines levied by the village that amount to more than $10,000.
The buildings, the Theatre Building and the Pinehurst Department Store, are among the oldest and most prominent buildings in the village.
Village Manager Andy Wilkison said both buildings are now in compliance with fire codes.
McKenzie and Village Fire Marshall Floyd Fritz declined to comment on the pending case, which was continued last Tuesday in Moore County Superior Court. The district attorney has yet to set another date.
In 1999, the Village Council adopted the latest version of the state building code. The new code included stricter safety and fire regulations.
About that same time, the village promoted Fritz to fire marshal, Wilkison said. That’s when the Fire Department decided to step up inspections.
Fritz had been with the fire department for several years previously.
Officials at the Pinehurst Resort and FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital said they’ve had violations arise because of renovations or building additions. Both the resort and the hospital have been in violation after inspections in the past — usually for small things.
After an inspection, they said, they are able to go over the fire marshal’s findings and disagree if they want to.
Stuart Voelpel, an administrator at First Health, said all disagreements the hospital has had with inspectors have been “minor,” involving things such as placement and location of smoke detectors.
“They don’t require major changes,” Voelpel said, “like knocking down a wall or moving a door.”
After an inspection finds a violation, officials can sit down with members of the fire department and discuss what they can do to comply.
Mike Czarcinski, executive vice president of operations at Pinehurst Resort, said he’s glad to have the chance to get clarification on codes.
“It’s the Fire Department’s responsibility to point it out,” Czarcinski said. “Safety is our main concern.”
It’s likely that McKenzie and Fritz had similar meetings. An inspection in spring of 2000 found more than 100 violations in the two buildings. By October of that year, McKenzie had corrected about half of them.
Fritz filed charges on the remaining violations. They are criminal charges that carry a fine per day. Later, he charged McKenzie with not paying his fines.
