COUNTYWIDE : Supervisors Decide to Wait on Sprinklers
In a last-minute move Wednesday, the County Board of Supervisors postponed a decision on whether to require builders to put automatic fire sprinklers in all new single-family homes in unincorporated sections of Orange County.
In a letter to the board, Michael M. Ruane, director of the Environmental Management Agency, asked that a decision be delayed until a staff report can be prepared on the fire-sprinkler issue, possibly in the next 30 to 60 days.
Ruane said that he was concerned that information was being provided to the board piecemeal and that he felt that the board “may not have been provided with a detailed, consistent discussion of alternatives and potential impacts which are involved in the proposed amendments.”
Supervisors had been lobbied heavily by fire officials and builders since the proposed change to the local version of the Uniform Building Code was announced in December. The Uniform Building Code, used throughout the country, provides minimum standards for building construction.
County fire officials claim that sprinklers are essential because they save lives by putting out fires before they spread.
But builders argue that new homes are safe and that the additional cost of fire sprinkler systems could make homes even more unaffordable.
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