Belmar yeshiva housing is a dorm and needs sprinkler system, court rules

A state appellate court said residences housing students of a yeshiva in Belmar are considered dormitories and must adhere to the state's fire safety codes. (File photo)

BELMAR Housing for a yeshiva in Belmar is considered a dormitory and is subject to New Jerseys fire safety codes implemented after a deadly blaze at Seton Hall University more than a decade ago, an appellate court has ruled.

In a case that has been brewing for eight years, the decision by Judges Mitchel Ostrer and Garry Rothstadt upholds fines levied against Belmar Property Holding Co. LLC for its failure to install automatic fire suppression systems in buildings housing students attending a private Hebrew school in Belmar.

The court, in its 21-page unpublished decision issued Friday, also noted that a change in ownership of the dormitories does not absolve the new owners from correcting the violations.

The court battle grew out of an inspection by the state Division of Fire Safety in 2006 after the Belmar Fire Department responded three times that year to fire alarms at three dormitories serving the Mesivta Keser Torah of Central Jersey.

From that inspection, division officials said the buildings converted houses on Twelfth Avenue and on C Street were dormitories and needed automatic fire sprinkler systems.

New Jersey passed a law in 2000 requiring certain student housing to have automatic sprinkler systems after the death of three Seton Hall University students in dormitory that had no sprinklers.

A month before a scheduled reinspection, the school and its rabbi, Dovid Heinemann, transferred title of Masivta Keser Torah to Belmar Property and Or Meir, the sole managing member of the holding company in December 2007, according to court papers.

In January 2008, the buildings were inspected again, and they failed again for failure to install an automatic fire suppression system, according to the court documents.The state fined BPHC $500 for each of the three properties not in compliance and the holding company appealed the matter to an administrative law judge, who eventually upheld the states findings, according to the court documents.

In arguing its case, BPHC attorneys contended the houses were not used as dormitories and the yeshiva is not a school that fell under the requirements of the state fire safety codes. They also argued that the residences, which were a couple blocks from the yeshiva on Eleventh Avenue, could not be considered dormitories because they were not on the schools grounds. They contended off-campus housing covered under the new regulations applied to fraternity and sorority houses.

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Belmar yeshiva housing is a dorm and needs sprinkler system, court rules