Ann Arbor OKs new law to protect renters against ‘invisible killer’

Council Member Jenn Cornell, D-5th Ward, lead sponsor of Ann Arbor's new carbon monoxide detector ordinance, speaks at the City Council meeting April 3, 2023.Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News

ANN ARBOR, MI — Ann Arbor is now requiring rental housing units to have carbon monoxide detectors.

Recognizing the dangers that come with gas-burning appliances like furnaces, which the city is trying to move away from, City Council voted unanimously Monday night, April 3, to give final approval to a new ordinance to protect renters.

Under the new law, landlords who who violate the requirement for carbon monoxide detectors can face up to $500 in fines, while anyone who willfully disables a detector can be charged with a misdemeanor punishable by 90 days in jail and/or a $500 fine.

It seems like a no-brainer to advance the safety of renters in Ann Arbor, said Council Member Jenn Cornell, D-5th Ward, lead sponsor of the ordinance, who thanked the city's Renters Commission for input on the issue.

Carbon monoxide detectors can save lives and are not expensive to install or maintain, Cornell said.

A for-rent sign outside a rental house in Ann Arbor on March 22, 2023.Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News

"Known as an invisible killer, carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless gas created when fuels such as gasoline, wood, coal, natural gas, propane, oil and methane incompletely burn or are poorly ventilated," Senior Assistant City Attorney John Reiser wrote in a memo, noting there are over 52,000 rental housing units in the city and a majority of Ann Arborites are renters.

"Breathing in carbon monoxide from incorrectly installed or poorly maintained or ventilated appliances can cause headaches, dizziness, nausea or death," he wrote.

Maintenance worker found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning in Ann Arbor hotel

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also warns about the dangers.

"Every winter when the temperature drops, your furnace can become a silent killer," the CDC cautions, indicating the poisonous gas produced by furnaces kills hundreds of people every year and makes thousands more sick.

Ann Arbor's housing code already required smoke or fire detectors in all rental housing units, but it did not previously require carbon monoxide detectors.

While the building code requires carbon monoxide detectors for newly constructed rental units, they were not required when much of Ann Arbor's rental housing stock was built. The new ordinance amends the housing code to require them, including provisions for where they need to be placed.

For single-family rental houses or duplexes that contain a fuel-fired appliance or have an attached garage with a common door, there must be at least one carbon monoxide detector on each story and there must be one outside each separate sleeping area or bedroom. Other multi-unit apartment buildings, regardless of the year they were constructed, must follow requirements laid out in the International Fire Code.

"The owner is responsible for assuring that the detectors and devices are maintained in good operating conditions and have working batteries," the new ordinance states. "Residents shall be responsible for informing the landlord if and when the device becomes inoperable or the batteries need replacing."

Batteries in battery-operated detectors must be replaced so that the device is always operable, the new law further states.

"At every change of tenant in every dwelling unit, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors shall be tested to ensure they are in operable condition," it states.

Ann Arbor officials at the City Council meeting at Larcom City Hall on April 3, 2023.Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News

Joining Cornell in co-sponsoring the proposal were Council Members Dharma Akmon, Travis Radina, Ayesha Ghazi Edwin, Cynthia Harrison and Erica Briggs.

Briggs, D-5th Ward, said she's heard broad support for it from residents and landlords.

"I’m very excited by this," Mayor Christopher Taylor said, calling it an important advancement for public health. "We want to make sure that the majority of our residents who do indeed rent are as safe as we can help make them."

Ann Arbor firefighters responded to a carbon monoxide alarm at a local hotel last November and found a maintenance worker dead from carbon monoxide poisoning.

In addition to carbon monoxide, Ann Arbor officials caution gas-burning appliances can cause indoor air pollution linked to adverse health effects, including cancer, heart disease and chronic respiratory conditions such as asthma and bronchitis.

Those health reasons, in addition to environmental reasons, are why the city is now taking steps to try to get the community to transition away from gas to all-electric buildings that can be powered by renewable energy.

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Ann Arbor OKs new law to protect renters against ‘invisible killer’