Cornell has filed an application for a variance in order to place a noncompliant library on the second and third floors of Rand Hall (part of Rand-Sibley-Milstein Halls). The library has already been placed on the third floor of Rand Hall, in violation of the New York State Building Code. In a hearing last July, 2013, the Capital Region-Syracuse Board of Review determined that the library was, in fact, noncompliant. Rather than fix the problems in Rand-Sibley-Milstein Hall that are causing a library occupancy to fail basic fire safety standards in the Building Code, Cornell has filed a variance application with the New York State Division of Code Enforcement and Administration (DCEA) asking that this noncompliant occupancy be allowed to remain in place forever.

I have placed both Cornell’s application and my analysis of this application online. The actual variance hearing will probably be scheduled in mid-November, 2013, in Syracuse.