Atherton council opts for partial fire sprinkler law Atherton council opts for partial fire sprinkler law (September 22, 2004)

** Only new houses, basements must install sprinkler systems

By Andrea Gemmet
Almanac Staff Writer

When the Menlo Park Fire Protection District first floated the idea of requiring fire-suppressing sprinklers to be installed in new homes, major remodels and basements, they found enthusiastic supporters on the Atherton City Council.

At the September 15 meeting, with the exception of councilmen Alan Carlson and Charles Marsala, the response had changed from flaming enthusiasm to wet blankets.

Initially, Atherton council members encouraged district officials to broaden the scope of the law, reducing the size of the structures that would trigger the sprinkler-installation requirement, and adopted it in February.

Atherton got a chance to revisit the council's previous approval of the fire sprinkler ordinance when fire Chief Paul Wilson brought back a revised version, asking them to pass it and replace the existing ordinance.

The ordinance requires new buildings over 1,000 square feet to be equipped with fire-suppression sprinkler systems. Any new basement construction over 250 square feet would require sprinkler installation throughout the entire building, existing or new.

The fire district's ordinance also requires any remodeling projects over 2,500 square feet to include sprinklers throughout the building, and that's where the law ran into trouble. The majority of Atherton council members balked at requiring an existing house to be retrofitted with sprinklers just because an addition or remodeling project was taking place.

People should strongly consider installing sprinklers, and the building department should suggest it to them, Mayor Kathy McKeithen said.

"As for actually mandating it, I'm not comfortable with it," she said. "I think we're an intelligent community and people make careful decisions regarding their homes."

She proposed passing only the sections of the fire sprinkler ordinance that dealt with new and basement construction, leaving out any requirements for remodeling projects. It passed on a 4-1 vote, with Bill Conwell opposed.

Councilman Carlson had supported passing the ordinance as written.

"I don't think there's a groundswell of residents opposed to it," Mr. Carlson said. "I just built a new home three years ago. If I had it to do over and had even thought of it, I'd put sprinklers in."

Mr. Carlson noted that a council member from another city once voted against putting a traffic signal at an intersection after it seemed that residents were opposed, even though he had supported it. Seven years later, two people were killed at that intersection. Mr. Carlson called the law "a public safety, life safety issue."

"Almost everybody's scraping and building new houses. Not that many are making do with what they have," said Atherton resident Kristi Waldron, who spoke in favor of sprinklers at the meeting. "I understand the threshold for remodeling, but it's a clear-cut no-brainer for new home construction."

The fire protection district covers Atherton, Menlo Park, East Palo Alto and adjacent unincorporated neighborhoods. The fire district board can pass laws on its own, but needs cities to adopt parallel ordinances in order for them to be enforced.

East Palo Alto and county officials passed an ordinance, and Atherton passed a slightly different earlier version of it, but after the Menlo Park City Council rejected it in July, Atherton council members began reconsidering their position.

E-mail a friend a link to this story.