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Fire safety ordinances meet with resistance
Sprinkler and key-entry systems are the sticking points.
By MOLLY MOORHEAD, Times Staff Writer
Published September 11, 2007
ZEPHYRHILLS - City Council members considered a pair of ordinances Monday establishing new firesafety standards in some commercial buildings.
The council voted down an ordinance requiring installation of rapid-access entry systems, essentially a $200 box containing a key to the building that firefighters can use to get inside in the event of a fire. It is opened with an identification number known only to the owner and the fire department.
The ordinance would have applied to gated communities, large commercial buildings, strip centers with multiple tenants and apartment buildings. It would not have affected many smaller businesses.
Council members said they heard from numerous business owners concerned about security of the boxes.
"How are they secured to the point where some thief can't hammer it off?" council member Luis Lopez said. "What makes it so secure that it can't be stolen or pried open?"
Fire Chief Keith Williams said the company that makes the systems has never had a breach.
The second ordinance discussed also met resistance.
It would require sprinkler systems to be installed in new commercial buildings of more than 5,000 square feet or with an occupancy of 200 or more, all two-story buildings, all hospitals, nursing homes and jails, and all new apartment buildings.
The sticking point came in requirements for existing buildings. As written, the ordinance required buildings of more than 5,000 square feet be retrofitted with sprinklers when ownership changes hands or the building is renovated.
Williams said that provision would affect very few businesses since most don't meet the size threshold, and he said a grace period could be arranged.
But council members said they worried it could sink some mom-and-pop businesses.
"I've heard a lot from local business owners ... and their main concern is not being able to afford it," council member Danny Burgess said.
The board asked for more details on the specific businesses that would be affected, though it indicated a preference for eliminating the retrofit provision altogether.
Williams and Fire Marshal Kerry Barnett will bring back a new draft of the ordinance for consideration at the Sept. 24 meeting.
"Everyone agrees long-term it's a wonderful thing," Council President Kent Compton said. "It needs to be more user-friendly, more citizen-friendly."
In the end, council members acknowledged the hardship that such new requirements place on business owners.
Lopez chalked it up to growing pains.
"They seem harsh but it is one of those necessary things," he said.
[Last modified September 10, 2007, 21:58:15]
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