Just because you own a building does not give you the right to let people sleep in it.
Boydean Frazier learned that lesson after police and health officials raided his 2,300-unit storage facility Jan. 24 in response to a Salt Lake resident's complaint that people were living in windowless 200-square-foot concrete block units. Police used a second search warrant Tuesday to seize two computers, surveillance cameras and several boxes filled with paper-work.But Frazier, the owner of AA Alpine Security Storage, 780 N. Warm Springs Road, says his only intent in letting construction workers sleep in storage units was to help them.
"I really didn't think there was anything wrong," he said. "I thought I was doing (the workers) a favor."
Some 40 individuals were employed at the height of the storage unit project last year, Frazier said. About 10 of them did not have a place to live, so he let them sleep in trailers on the construction site. But as building progressed, the trailers had to be moved into some of the storage units.
"They were allowed to stay in trailers first. Then they decided kind of on their own to move into some of the units," Frazier said.Although he does not allow renters to live in storage units, he let the workers stay for $60 a month, which he deducted from their paycheck with their consent. "I didn't realize that there would be a problem."
That is, until a disgruntled storage unit renter called the Salt Lake City-County Health Department. Apparently, the man claimed he had lost property from his storage unit, and when Frazier refused to pay for it, he complained about the construction workers living on the site, Frazier said.
After an inspection, Frazier received a notice of violation in October from the health department asking him to discontinue occupancy in storage units. In the letter, investigators warned him of future inspections to ensure that residents living in the storage spaces had adequate plumbing, lighting, ventilation and heating but did not mention any penalties if Frazier did not comply.
"Our role in this is to protect the safety and welfare of our residents, and when they are housed in unsafe and unsanitary conditions, we need to step in and protect them," said Jana Carlson, public information officer for the Salt Lake City-County Health De-part-ment.
During the Jan. 24 search, Carlson said investigators found evidence that about 20 people had lived in five units. Not all the alleged residents were on-site during the search, and it was unclear whether all were still living there. But on a second inspection Tuesday, "a lot of the evidence was still intact," she said.
The evidence consists of furniture, electric wires, microwaves, a refrigerator and a portable toilet. During the first search, investigators also found some of the alleged residents who admitted they were illegal immigrants, Carlson said. The main reason for the second search was to find records that may indicate the storage units had been rented for living purposes.
In response to the health department's allegations, Frazier said that since October a maximum of four men have lived in two storage units. Also, he said there have always been four toilets, a shower and electrical heating available to the workers.
And he was not aware that any of the workers were illegal immigrants because they provided documentation of their legal res-i-dence.
He also maintains that he never asked, encouraged or required any of the employees to stay on the site. The money deducted from their biweekly checks was only to pay for utility bills, Frazier said.
Some workers did not have transportation, and living there enabled them to work early or late shifts. "I thought it would be more convenient for them. I was simply trying to help them," Frazier said.
One reason he never kicked the workers out is that while investigating a storage unit fire in February 1996, he said, police officers told him that it was not illegal to have an on-site construction crew.
Even after the January raid, Frazier said the men came back the next day to ask him if they could still stay on the site.
"I have said no. Those people would be happy to go back there. But I won't let them, and I will never again let anyone live on a construction site. It isn't worth the publicity. It isn't worth the problems. If I have done something wrong, knowingly or unknowingly, I expect to pay for it, but I have not knowingly done anything wrong or illegal," Frazier said.
Carlson said that depending on conclusions drawn from the evidence seized Tuesday, Frazier could be charged with health-code violations. Any illegal immigrants involved in the case could be given temporary working visas to allow them to serve as witnesses.
The health department is working in conjunction with the Mexican Consul, Immigration and Naturalization Services, Community Action Program, Salt Lake City Community Affairs and Salt Lake building and zoning officials to find the individuals adequate housing and to eliminate any unsafe and unsanitary conditions, Carlson said.