PLACENTIA : Townhouse Roofing Rule Called Unsafe

The possibility of sparks jumping from rooftop to rooftop at the Broadmoor Estates townhouse complex has ignited a battle pitting neighbor against neighbor, with the city being drawn into a debate sure to be heated.

After failing to persuade enough members of their homeowners association to allow replacing the existing cedar shake roofs with a more fire-resistant roof, a group of Broadmoor homeowners asked the city to change the building code to require fireproof material to be used when re-roofing.

Ben H. Parker, who has lived in the Broadmoor complex for three years, told the council last week that by allowing homes to re-roof with cedar shingles, the city was perpetuating a hazard.

“Those roofs have a heavy fire potential,” Parker said. “All you have to do is read about fires and cedar roofs in the paper to see that potential.”

The Broadmoor homeowners association requires homeowners to re-roof with cedar shake roofs, which Parker and several other owners say aren’t as safe as other roofing materials. They want to change the required roofing material to a product known as Cal-Shake, which resembles cedar shake but is constructed of synthetic ingredients.

Despite testimony from a fire marshal, who told homeowners that the cedar roofs present a fire hazard, Parker said his attempts to persuade the rest of the association to change the rules regarding roofs failed, and they must now rely on the city as their last hope.

According to Planning Director Joyce Rosenthal, the city’s policy is to deny building permits that violate an association’s regulations.

“Unless the association’s regulations are blatantly illegal, we will honor them,” Rosenthal said.

The city has scheduled a study session on the issue to be held before the next City Council meeting, on Feb. 16. At that meeting, council members and staff will hear from representatives from the Fire Department and the building industry.

The city does ban new homes from using wood shake roofs, but existing homes with wood shake roofs may use the material when re-roofing. A new wood shake roof may not be installed where none previously existed.

In 1985, the city changed the code to require re-roofing to be done with Class A materials. A Class A rating is considered to be effective against severe fire exposure. Cedar and other wood shake roofs are rated Class C, effective against light fire exposure. Chemically treated wood shake roofs are rated Class B, effective against moderate fire exposure.

After several homeowners complained to the council, the code was changed back to allow homeowners to re-roof their wood shake roofs with the same material.

Kenny Smith bought a unit at Broadmoor last year and was immediately faced with replacing his roof. While looking into replacing with Cal-Shake, Smith was informed by the homeowners association that he must install a cedar shake roof.

“If I had my choice, I would have put in a Cal-Shake roof, because it offers better fire protection,” Smith said.

Smith said the cost of the Cal-Shake roof would have been about $1,000 more than the cedar shake roof he eventually installed.

Homeowner Florence Amero has lived in Broadmoor for 15 years. Her unit will need a new roof soon, and she dreads replacing it with a roof she thinks is dangerous.

“I don’t want to put money into a shake roof--it’s messy and dangerous,” Amero said.