GLENDALE / BURBANK : Tower Residents Reject Fire Sprinkler Proposal

A representative for a group of senior citizens Tuesday rejected a proposal that would have made it cheaper to bring their high-rise condominium into compliance with fire safety ordinances.

The continuing impasse between residents of the 11-story, 51-unit Verdugo Towers condominiums and the Fire Department sent the long-standing dispute back into the lap of the City Council.

At issue is a city mandate that older high-rise buildings be retrofitted with fire sprinkler systems.

Residents of Verdugo Towers contend that installing the safety devices in the 30-year-old building would cost them too much money. Fire officials devised an alternate plan that cut the estimated cost of installing sprinklers from $1 million to as low as $200,000, but the residents say they are wary of that plan, too.

“I think there are ways, if the Fire Department is willing to be flexible, that we can reduce the cost and protect the building,” said Glenn Rosten, a consultant for the Verdugo Towers Homeowners Assn. “But we’ve done a lot of research, and we know it is unimaginable that a sprinkler system can be installed in any workmanlike manner for less than $750,000.”

Fire officials were critical of the residents.

“The problems have been resolved, and now it’s come down to a bit of posturing,” said City Fire Marshal Dave Starr. “We felt this was a pretty good opportunity for them, but I think they haven’t looked at it very closely because they’re still in the mode of resistance.”

Rather than install a traditional sprinkler system with pipes routed through the walls, the Fire Department’s latest proposal reduces costs by using pipes covered with plastic moldings suspended from the ceiling.

Rosten said many residents are upset at the prospect of having “ugly plastic pipes that belong in industrial buildings” in their homes. Moreover, the group is concerned that the three contractors’ estimates obtained by the Fire Department, which range from $200,000 to $400,000, fail to include a performance bond or insurance, which could increase the cost of the work, Rosten said.

Rosten said the homeowners also want to discuss other alternatives, such as installing sprinklers only in the hallways or using smoke detectors monitored by the Fire Department instead.

But fire officials, who have steadfastly maintained there is no substitute for sprinklers, said the latest proposals offer the residents a way to comply with the law for a “reasonable cost.”

Fire officials said the estimated cost per homeowner has been reduced to as low as $4,000--down from initial costs of $20,000 to $40,000. All residents age 62 and over will be eligible for low-cost loans of up to $7,500 from the city’s block grant funds, and some low-income seniors are eligible for grants, officials said.

Enacted in 1988, Glendale’s sprinkler ordinance is one of the strictest in the nation, with a retroactive clause affecting all buildings built before 1974, when the city began requiring sprinklers in structures more than three stories high. Verdugo Towers was the only residential high-rise affected by the law.