Zarnstorff takes new post

Scott Zarnstorff, the Village of Spencerport building inspector for the past two-and-a-half years, will become the Village of Brockport building inspector/assessor on October 1.

Zarnstorff, a life-long Spencerport resident, became his home village’s inspector following the death of his father. Curly Zarnstorff, who had been a Spencerport trustee for 25 years, took on the building inspector’s job after his retirement from the construction business.

Scott Zarnstorff said that after his father’s death he felt called to help out his community. Prior to that he had been a building inspector for the Town of Greece for 10 years.

"Dad and I used to sit down at the dinner table and talk about building issues," Zarnstorff said. "We traded stories and learned from each other."

Although the Greece and Spencerport jobs were vastly different – about 6,000 building permits let in Greece per year compared to 120 in Spencerport – the transition was smooth, partly because of Zarnstorff’s years of experience, partly because of his involvement in the Spencerport community, and partly because of those conversations with dad.

"I really appreciated the opportunity to be home for a while," Zarnstorff said.

Now Zarnstorff is leaving the Spencerport post to assume the Brockport position vacated by Bill Weber in July.

The move is mainly predicated by Zarnstorff’s desire for more challenge, although he admits "running a one man show has challenges of its own." He has missed the faster pace of Greece. In Brockport there will be more industrial and commercial work than in Spencerport, more variety, Zarnstorff says.

In Spencerport, Zarnstorff’s job as building inspector/fire marshall encompassed code enforcement, development service and assistance on department of public works utility projects. He believes his role in Brockport won’t include as much work with the department of public works.

One of Zarnstorff’s main focuses in Spencerport has been on education. He firmly believes that if people know what the codes are and why they are in place, they are much more willing to comply voluntarily. To that end, he created brochures, some still in the development stage, that explain various codes.

When ticketing a property owner for a violation, Zarnstorff would send them a copy of the brochure, which went a long way in helping the property owner to understand the situation, he said. An added bonus, Zarnstorff believes, is that the owner might look through the rest of the brochure and learn about other codes, avoiding future violations.

Zarnstorff intends to implement the use of brochures in Brockport.

He realizes that one of the hot issues in Brockport has been student housing maintenance. Zarnstorff said one of his strong areas is existing construction renovation. "It’s tough taking an older building and making it function in a financially feasible way. The key is being willing to look at things in different ways."

Zarnstorff also looks forward to having an assistant inspector in Brockport. "It’ll be nice to have someone else in the department to talk things over with," he said. Brockport’s assistant inspector is Larry Vaughan.

Zarnstorff lives in the Village of Spencerport with his wife, Donna. He is an active member of the Spencerport Fire Department and Ambulance Corps, affiliations he plans to continue. He is also vice-president of the Finger Lakes Building Officials Association.

"I love a village setting," Zarnstorff said, "both to live and work in. Although I’ll be leaving Spencerport during the day, I still have a village heart. I’m glad I’ll be working in a village setting."