Published: Thursday, May 7, 2009
Snohomish County takes no action on sprinkler ordinance
EVERETT -- Firefighters said sprinklers in new homes would save lives, while home builders said they would cost jobs.
In the end, neither side's impassioned arguments could persuade the Snohomish County Council to act. At a packed public meeting on Wednesday, no two councilmen could agree on whether to pass a sprinkler ordinance, study it further or kill it off.
The inaction leaves the proposal in limbo. Council Chairman Mike Cooper, a retired career firefighter, vowed that it won't go away.
"I'm going to keep pushing forward," Cooper said after the meeting.
The sprinkler rules would have applied to any new development of two or more homes in unincorporated areas. It would not have applied mobile homes or to houses built on existing lots or on lots of at least one acre.
As a trade-off, houses with sprinklers would not have had to comply with other fire-code requirements for water supply.
If passed, the rules would have taken effect Jan. 1.
Washington is among several states considering making sprinklers mandatory on new houses.
The state's building code council is expected to take up the issue in November.
Local home-building and real-estate groups have asked the County Council to wait for the state's decision so that rules are uniform.
About 15 cities in counties in Washington, and others elsewhere, have already made sprinklers required for some single-family homes.
One of them is Redmond, whose assistant fire marshal spoke at the county meeting on behalf of the Washington State Association of Fire Marshals.
"Fire sprinklers not only work, they drastically reduce property damage, fire injuries and fire deaths," Todd Short said during a public-comment period.
Marty Robinett of Everett urged the council to put off its decision until the economy improves, but said, "There are really good people who I respect on both sides of the issue."
Fire sprinklers prevent up to 80 percent of house-fire deaths, National Fire Protection Association figures show. Cost estimates for building them range from $5,000 to well above $10,000.
Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465, nhaglund@heraldnet.com.
In the end, neither side's impassioned arguments could persuade the Snohomish County Council to act. At a packed public meeting on Wednesday, no two councilmen could agree on whether to pass a sprinkler ordinance, study it further or kill it off.
The inaction leaves the proposal in limbo. Council Chairman Mike Cooper, a retired career firefighter, vowed that it won't go away.
"I'm going to keep pushing forward," Cooper said after the meeting.
The sprinkler rules would have applied to any new development of two or more homes in unincorporated areas. It would not have applied mobile homes or to houses built on existing lots or on lots of at least one acre.
As a trade-off, houses with sprinklers would not have had to comply with other fire-code requirements for water supply.
If passed, the rules would have taken effect Jan. 1.
Washington is among several states considering making sprinklers mandatory on new houses.
The state's building code council is expected to take up the issue in November.
Local home-building and real-estate groups have asked the County Council to wait for the state's decision so that rules are uniform.
About 15 cities in counties in Washington, and others elsewhere, have already made sprinklers required for some single-family homes.
One of them is Redmond, whose assistant fire marshal spoke at the county meeting on behalf of the Washington State Association of Fire Marshals.
"Fire sprinklers not only work, they drastically reduce property damage, fire injuries and fire deaths," Todd Short said during a public-comment period.
Marty Robinett of Everett urged the council to put off its decision until the economy improves, but said, "There are really good people who I respect on both sides of the issue."
Fire sprinklers prevent up to 80 percent of house-fire deaths, National Fire Protection Association figures show. Cost estimates for building them range from $5,000 to well above $10,000.
Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465, nhaglund@heraldnet.com.
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