Assemblyman Rumana drafting legislation for 2-year moratorium on construction of multi-family housing

January 29, 2015, 5:39 PM Last updated: Thursday, January 29, 2015, 8:31 PM

CHRIS PEDOTA/staff photographer

Officials have said the destroyed Edgewater building had lightweight construction with a truss style of roof framing.

Pressure is mounting for a review of state building codes and even a potential construction moratorium in the aftermath of a fast-moving fire that destroyed more than half of an Edgewater apartment complex last week and left hundreds homeless.

Officials in Mercer County on Thursday called for an emergency review of state construction codes before a residential community planned by the same developer for Princeton gets evaluated by the state. And Assemblyman Scott Rumana, R-Wayne, said he is working on legislation that will put a moratorium of up to two years on the approval and construction of multi-family housing developments until the states building code is revised.

The goal is not have any New Jersey residents lives at stake. But equally as important, its to not put our first responders into these buildings, which I would call fire traps, said Rumana. I have too much experience in seeing the failures of these types of facilities if this fire happened seven or 10 hours later, who knows how many people could have died?

A five-alarm blaze at the Avalon at Edgewater destroyed much of the 408-unit complex, shut schools and roadways, temporarily displaced nearby residents and brought to the surface long-standing issues in the firefighting community about lightweight wood construction a cheaper, faster and legal style of building that is common in New Jersey and elsewhere.

This type of construction is of particular concern when fire breaks out because of the potential for collapse and materials to burn quickly. Officials said the gutted Edgewater complex had lightweight construction with a truss style of roof framing.

The lightweight wood construction used to build the Edgewater complex is the reason the fire raced through the luxury apartment development so quickly, said Rumana. Buildings constructed with such highly flammable materials are virtual tinderboxes.

Mercer County Executive Brian M. Hughes and Princeton Mayor Liz Lempert, meanwhile, are calling for an emergent review of the states Uniform Construction Code prior to the formal evaluation by the state of AvalonBays plan to construct 280 housing units on a former hospital site.

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Assemblyman Rumana drafting legislation for 2-year moratorium on construction of multi-family housing