Furniture Follies owner Ridge Cook appealed to the Carrboro Board of Aldermen on Tuesday for a change to the town fire code, which has prevented him from moving his business into its new location in Carrboro.
The board said they would refer Cook’s request to staff and look at town and state fire codes to determine their options.
About a year ago, Furniture Follies, a used-furniture and antique store, moved from its previous location west of Carrboro to the old Cleora Sterling building on Hwy. 54, two miles west of Carrboro Plaza.
However, in order to open his business there the building needed a sprinkler system. The town ordinance requires sprinkler systems in non-residential businesses larger than 6,000 square feet.
Cook and his landlord, former Chapel Hill Town Council member Cam Hill, looked into installing a sprinkler system, but discovered the building lacked the water pressure to support one, increasing installation costs from about $100,000 to $300,000.
“That turned out not to be economically feasible,†Cook said.
In order to stay open, Furniture Follies has been holding yard sales outside of the building, he said.
“The landlord has foregone the rent for almost a year and we’ve forgone most of our income for that period of time,†Cook said. “At this time, the landlord has indicated that he has no choice but to seek a different tenant for that building, and that means Furniture Follies will most likely leave Carrboro.
“I’d like for our business to be able to stay in Carrboro.â€
The board said they would like to see whether they could revise the ordinance so that Furniture Follies could remain in Carrboro.
“I think Furniture Follies is a really great local business, and to my way of thinking it’s very much part of our vision as a town to support local economy and to support businesses who support recycling and reuse and that kind of thing,†Mayor Mark Chilton said.
Board member Dan Coleman said he would like to look at ways to change the ordinance for certain businesses without changing it for other businesses, such as restaurants.
However, Town Attorney Michael Brough said a change to the town ordinance may or may not make a difference for Furniture Follies, because of state building codes.
Furniture Follies needs to remove their signs that are posted through out the public spaces in Carrboro. These signs are an eye-sore.