Ann Arbor aims to protect renters from carbon monoxide poisoning with new law

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

ANN ARBOR, MI — In the near future, Ann Arbor may require rental housing units to have carbon monoxide detectors.

Noting the dangers that come with gas-burning appliances like furnaces, which the city is trying to move away from, City Council voted unanimously this week to give the initial OK to a new ordinance to provide added protections for renters.

The new law now awaiting final council approval April 3 would require carbon monoxide detectors in residential rental units and prohibit people from disabling them.

Landlords in violation could face up to $500 in fines, while anyone who willfully disables a detector could be charged with a misdemeanor punishable by 90 days in jail and/or a $500 fine.

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

"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.

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 City Council members at their meeting at city hall on March 20, 2023.Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News

Council Member Jenn Cornell, D-5th Ward, lead sponsor of the ordinance, thanked the city's Renters Commission for offering valuable insight and input on the issue.

"It's another level of safety and security for residents here," she said of the measure, calling it a strong step forward to make sure renters are safe from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Ann Arbor's housing code already requires smoke or fire detectors in all rental housing units, but it does not currently 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 would amend the housing code to require them, including provisions for where they need to be placed.

The detectors are relatively inexpensive and can save lives, Reiser said.

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

Akmon, D-4th Ward, said it's an issue she heard about last summer from a landlord who was mystified why the city required smoke detectors but not carbon monoxide detectors.

She looks forward to the day when most residents aren't burning fossil fuels in their homes and don't have to worry about the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning anymore, she said.

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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.