Hearing Set on Fire Sprinkler Law

All new homes and commercial buildings built in Palos Verdes Estates would have to be equipped with indoor fire sprinklers under a proposed city ordinance.

Council members Tuesday set a public hearing Sept. 12 at City Hall to discuss the proposed law, which would also apply to remodeled homes in which more than 50% of the structure is altered.

The same ordinance would require all new homes to be fitted with roofing materials that are considered the most fire-resistant, according to City Manager James Hendrickson. Property owners who reroof their homes would also face the same requirement, he said.

The issue of indoor sprinklers recently arose when a resident submitted plans to construct a 30,000-square-foot mansion high in the city’s hills with limited street access for firefighters or other emergency personnel. Before approving the plans, the city required that indoor sprinklers be installed in the house.

Whether the proposed ordinance can muster the needed council votes to become law is uncertain. Councilwoman Ruth Gralow said Wednesday that she doesn’t believe the ordinance is “something that is really needed. . . . It just seems like another bureaucratic requirement that I don’t think is that much of a life-saving benefit.”

Gralow added that she believes property owners face more danger from fires started outside their home. The councilwoman said she would like to see council members study whether wood roofs should be banned citywide.

Hendrickson said that, should the proposed ordinance become law, it is estimated that home builders would face increased costs of about $1 a square foot to install the sprinklers. The cost would be about 50% higher for remodeled homes, he said.

Jay Corbett, county assistant fire chief, who oversees fire services on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, said 200 communities throughout the state have ordinances requiring sprinklers in homes. Such sprinklers provide homeowners with far more protection than they receive from smoke detectors alone, he said.

“In my opinion, any time a personal injury is reduced or any other additional life safety provisions are provided in any occupancy, money is not the issue,” Corbett said.

Corbett said that in December, 1989, Rolling Hills revised an ordinance to require new homes to be built with roofs composed of the most fire-resistant materials available.