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City Offered Legal Tip on Sprinkler Bill: Just Ignore It

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Times Staff Writer

As Los Angeles officials sought a way to kill a controversial state fire sprinkler bill Friday, City Atty. James K. Hahn advised the city to ignore it, literally.

Hahn said the city should ignore the state measure--should it be signed into law by Gov. George Deukmejian--and instead proceed with enforcement of the city’s stricter sprinkler ordinance.

Hahn and other top city officials have urged the governor to veto a state bill that requires installation of sprinklers in high-rises but allows up to nine years to complete the task.

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The city’s tough new ordinance provides a maximum of four years for installation in commercial high-rises. The state bill would specifically preempt the stricter city ordinance.

“We will not accept the validity of the preemption clause in Senate Bill 2896 because our city ordinance provides for more stringent regulations and consequently provides more protection for the citizens of Los Angeles,” Hahn said in a prepared statement.

The city attorney said it would then be up to a building owner to challenge the city’s action. And Hahn said it is his opinion that the city could win a legal challenge. In similar cases, courts have upheld stringent local ordinances designed to protect the public safety over less-strict state laws, he said.

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But at least one major building owner is exempt from both bills: the state of California. The city is--by law--powerless to enforce a local fire code against state- or county-owned property.

And the state bill only requires sprinkler installation in state-owned buildings if money is specifically appropriated for that purpose in the future.

Joan Jennings, deputy director of the state’s office of the fire marshal, said there are 93 state-owned buildings that would be affected by the bill.

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The City Council, meanwhile, voted 12 to 0 Friday to urge Deukmejian to veto the bill.

Council President John Ferraro, noting that he had signed the local sprinkler ordinance in Mayor Tom Bradley’s absence, said city offi cials had strongly opposed the state bill.

Referring to Bradley’s bitter campaigns against Deukmejian, Ferraro offered a tongue-in-cheek solution to how the city could secure a gubernatorial veto.

“We could ask the mayor to call the governor and ask him to sign it,” said Ferraro.

The governor, who has until Sept. 30 to make a decision, has not indicated how he stands on the bill.

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