
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, September 22, 1995                   TAG: 9509220084
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LORTON                                 LENGTH: Short

VA. CHAIN HAS FREQUENT VIOLATIONS

Several Sunrise retirement communities in Northern Virginia have repeatedly violated state building codes, and one is the subject of a request for an injunction by Fairfax County.

Fairfax officials said they took court action to force Sunrise Gunston home in Lorton, an assisted-living facility, to meet state standards for residents too incapacitated to get out on their own in an emergency.

``Sunrise has demonstrated continuous, flagrant disregard for the laws governing the protection of public health, safety and welfare,'' said a complaint filed Sept. 8 in Fairfax County Circuit Court. The complaint was filed by the Fairfax fire marshal and the county Department of Environmental Management, which enforces state building codes.

Questions about Sunrise facilities arose recently after an 88-year-old resident of the facility in Falls Church fell to his death from a third story window.

Catherine Scott Asplen, vice president for Sunrise's mid-Atlantic region, said the company is confident its buildings are ``fully safe'' and that the Lorton home would be in ``full compliance'' with state regulations this week.

Another Sunrise facility, in Sterling, was temporarily denied a license renewal in December as a result of building code violations but is operating under a provisional license through Dec. 1.

Sunrise officials have said they are working to correct problems at all four company facilities that violated state codes.

by CNB