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What can you put in hallways?Mar 15, 2012

Hi all...maybe some of you can help me figure this out.

I am not 100% sure what the following statement means in our offering plan regarding landings, etc. See below the excerpt for my questions:

A Unit Owner shall not place or cause to be placed in the lobby, public halls, stairways or other common areas or common facilities, any furniture, packages, or objects of any kind. The public halls and stairways shall be used for no purpose other than for normal transit through them.

So, I assume that in terms of the stairwell landings, there can be nothing on the floors, correct. And does that count for top floors, behind roof access ladders?

Does it mean that pictures, shelves, mirrors, etc., are also not allowed...nothing on the walls?

Does this mean that in the vestibules, there can be no umbrella holders, small tables below the buzzers, mirrors, cork boards?

I understand the rationale for not having things on landings...but what about walls? Like, can there be soffit shelves for stuff or is that considered a fire hazard?

Thanks...this is very confusing.

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Re: What can you put in hallways? - CDT Mar 15, 2012

The passage you're quoting involves restrictions on what an individual Unit Owner can do in the common areas of your building. However, your Board of Managers / Board of Directors generally has the freedom to furnish and decorate common areas however they see fit, assuming they follow the applicable fire codes and similar laws.

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hallways - Michele Mar 16, 2012

OK...so, what can be put on the landings? That is where I am not clear...and where can I find the fire code that describes that? Thanks.

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hallways - dsi Mar 16, 2012

You can put nothing there, some buildings allow doormats, many don't. You cannot leave wet shoes, boots, umbrellas and especially bicycles. You can not decorate the walls, put up shelving etc. However, your Board can, and they can also allow any of the above to occur and then enforce it's later removal if it get's out of hand, or they can decorate it as a Board, or designate a committee to devise and select decor for approval. Providing that none of it interferes with fire code and doesn't interfere with any ADA access/egress rulings.

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