To the disappointment of a handful of residents gathered in Portola Valley's Town Council chambers on May 27, the council voted unanimously to adopt tough state fire-safety regulations, known as Chapter 7A, on the use of ignition-resistant construction materials and methods for all new buildings in town.

The vote echoes a unanimous May 14 vote by the full council to "introduce" the ordinance to change the building code. The law's adoption, with Mayor Ann Wengert and Councilman Steve Toben absent, starts the 30-day countdown to when the new rules take effect.

The law specifies that any remodel affecting 50 percent or more of the exterior wall surface or interior floor area is considered a new building. As such, the entire building must then meet Chapter 7A rules. Also required for any new building in this heavily wooded community: an interior sprinkler system.

The mandates are necessary to get Portola Valley up to the 7A standard sooner rather than later, Councilman Richard Merk said. Under the existing rule, a remodel is considered a new building if it exceeds 50 percent of the value of the house.

Added Councilman Ted Driscoll: "I'm afraid we have to set the bar really high. ... We have to get peoples' attention."

The change was a sore point for the home owners present.

Virginia Bacon, a resident and real estate broker, complained that the extra costs would be a hardship and advocated for a 75 percent threshold in defining a remodel as a new building. She said 50 percent was an "arbitrary" number and she chided the council on the mandatory aspect.

"I'd rather use the carrot effect," she said. "I'd like to get people to voluntarily realize that (fire safety) is in their best interests."

Another longtime resident sitting next to Ms. Bacon agreed. The new laws should be advisory and stimulate residents to action, he said. Besides, he added, what good is a sprinkler system in a hillside home vulnerable to reduced water pressure when power for the pumps goes out.

Defending the sprinkler provision, Mr. Merk noted that water pressure may drop in the midst of a wildfire because firefighters are "sucking it out of the (water) mains." But interior sprinklers are critical to prevent that first fire from getting going.

"Every time a fire is suppressed, all the neighbors are protected from the possibility of wildland fire," he said.

"This is deadly serious stuff here, people," Councilwoman Maryann Moise Derwin added. "Yes, it's going to be difficult. It's not a perfect ordinance. We're going to have to struggle through it. ... If you want to remodel more than 50 percent of your home, you have to build the expenses in. That's the price you pay for living in Portola Valley."


Costs increase
The new law means new building materials, or perhaps new versions of them.

A list of 71 approved products at the Web site of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection includes many familiar words, such as pine, fir, hemlock and cedar, as well as some that are trademarked: Cedar Impression, TruWood, HardiePlank and EverGrain.

Deputy Building Official Gary Fitzer reiterated a view he'd expressed earlier to the council, that he was amazed at the number of treated wood products on Cal Fire's list.

Such materials can cost more, he acknowledged, and the ordinance does not have a provision to relax the rules in cases of economic hardship.

Ms. Bacon reiterated her complaint. "It's an economic hardship for a lot of people and I don't think you're dealing with that," she said. "You're going to force new homes. We're going to be in constant construction."

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