Sub. S.B. 237

127th General Assembly

(H. Commerce and Labor)

Changes the title of the Office of Fire Marshal to the Office of State Fire Marshal, and changes the term "Fire Marshal" to "State Fire Marshal" ("SFM") throughout the Hotel Law (R.C. Chapter 3731.).

Allows guests to stay in a transient hotel for a continuous period of 270 days or less if the transient hotel satisfies various new requirements added to the bill that were not contained in the As Passed by the Senate version and increases the number of rooms that may be used for these longer stays, and removes the provision proposed in the As Passed by the Senate version that specifically would have allowed guests to stay longer than 30 days as long as those guest stays were primarily less than 30 days.

Requires the SFM and the building official with jurisdiction to approve the plans for a fire alarm and detection system to be used in a transient hotel that allows the guests to stay for a continuous period of 270 days or less and requires both the SFM and the building official to sign the certificate of occupancy.

Removes the requirement proposed in the As Passed by the Senate version that requires an owner or manager of a hotel to maintain a daily register regarding length of guest stays and to make the register available for inspection by the SFM and instead requires the hotel owner to designate those rooms by room number and submit a list of those rooms to the SFM and prohibits the owner from changing that designation during the license year.

Removes the authority proposed in the As Passed by the Senate version for municipal corporations and townships to adopt local laws that prohibit a guest from staying for 30 days or more in a transient sleeping room that does not have dwelling unit features included in a transient hotel.

Makes the following changes to the Hotel Law that were not included in the As Passed by the Senate version:

· Requires a hotel, in 25% of the rooms the hotel is required to hold out as accessible sleeping rooms or suites, to provide at least one bed that is suitable, according to requirements specified in the bill, for use with a portable lift a guest provides, and specifies timelines for compliance and enforcement procedures regarding this requirement through the Ohio Civil Rights Commission and the SFM.

· Changes the requirements for a facility constructed or altered after the bill's effective date to be considered and licensed as an extended stay hotel or an SRO facility.

· Restricts an owner of an extended stay hotel whose license has been revoked from operating that structure or allowing public use of that structure until and unless the SFM determines that it is safe for that structure to be operated.

· Allows the SFM to fine a licensee in accordance with the bill's requirements in an amount of (1) for safety violations, $250 per violation not to exceed $1,000 per day, and (2) for all other violations, $10 per violation.

· Expands the list of activities regarding hotels in which a person cannot engage without a license and prohibits any person from advertising, conducting, maintaining, or operating a licensed hotel or licensed SRO facility in a manner that is inconsistent with the requirements of the Hotel Law.

· Requires a licensee to renew the licensee's license in accordance with rules adopted by the SFM instead of the standard license renewal procedure as required under current law.

· Requires a licensee that wishes to transfer the licensee's license to another person pursuant to continuing law to have the facility inspected by the SFM.

· Makes changes to the enforcement and disciplinary procedures taken against a licensee that are specified in current law.

· Specifies that the length of a license suspension cannot be more than 180 days and specifies that a suspended license automatically is revoked without further action taken by the SFM if the violation for which the license was suspended is not corrected during the suspension period.

· Prohibits a licensee whose license is suspended from operating the facility as a hotel or SRO facility while the license is suspended.

· Prohibits the SFM, if a person's license has been revoked, from granting that person a new license unless the requirements specified in the bill have been satisfied.

· Requires a health official who finds a violation of the sanitation requirements in the Hotel Law to notify the SFM, who may take any action permitted under the Hotel Law that the SFM determines is appropriate.

· Allows the SFM to file a complaint with the Attorney General or, as under current law, a county prosecutor, or both, regarding enforcement actions to remedy violations of the Hotel Law and specifies procedures for filing those complaints.

· Specifies that nothing in the Hotel Law can be construed to limit the ability of the SFM to take any action permitted under the Fire Marshal and Fire Safety Law regarding dangerous conditions against a hotel or SRO facility in addition to or instead of taking action against the hotel or SRO facility under the Hotel Law.

· Makes additional changes to the Hotel Law.

S0237-127.doc/ar 5/28/2008