Aiming to accommodate developers who began projects prior to the adoption of a residential sprinkler requirement, Mayor Robert E. Bruchey II asked the Hagerstown City Council Tuesday to consider amending the city building code to exempt certain developments from the requirement.
In December 2010, the council adopted an amended building code that, starting in February 2011, required sprinklers to be installed in newly constructed, attached single-family and two-family homes.
Attached single-family homes include townhouses and duplexes, according to the code. Detached single-family homes and additions or alterations to existing homes that do not already have sprinklers were not included in the requirement.
Bruchey said Tuesday that the developer of an ongoing project — later identified as the Churchey Group II, LLC, developer of Greenwich Park — requested to be exempt from the sprinkler requirement.
On Aug. 23, Wes Churchey asked the council to exempt his project from the requirement because it is over halfway done, and it was too late to change plans.
Citing information from the city attorney, Bruchey said Tuesday that, as written, the building code does not allow for exemptions to the requirement. He asked the council to consider amending the code in a way that would grandfather developers like Churchey who received site plan approval and began building prior to the adoption of the sprinkler requirement.
Maryland State Fire Marshal William E. Barnard, who was present at the council work session, said studies have shown that some building materials have significantly reduced "flash-over" times — the time it takes for a room to be engulfed in flames — from 30 minutes to three minutes.
Sprinklers are life-safety systems, not property-protection systems, Barnard said.
"It is to allow residents time to escape," he said. "It has a secondary value of property protection."
Bruchey asked the staff to return with information on the grandfathering options for developers.
In December 2010, the council adopted an amended building code that, starting in February 2011, required sprinklers to be installed in newly constructed, attached single-family and two-family homes.
Attached single-family homes include townhouses and duplexes, according to the code. Detached single-family homes and additions or alterations to existing homes that do not already have sprinklers were not included in the requirement.
Bruchey said Tuesday that the developer of an ongoing project — later identified as the Churchey Group II, LLC, developer of Greenwich Park — requested to be exempt from the sprinkler requirement.
On Aug. 23, Wes Churchey asked the council to exempt his project from the requirement because it is over halfway done, and it was too late to change plans.
Citing information from the city attorney, Bruchey said Tuesday that, as written, the building code does not allow for exemptions to the requirement. He asked the council to consider amending the code in a way that would grandfather developers like Churchey who received site plan approval and began building prior to the adoption of the sprinkler requirement.
Maryland State Fire Marshal William E. Barnard, who was present at the council work session, said studies have shown that some building materials have significantly reduced "flash-over" times — the time it takes for a room to be engulfed in flames — from 30 minutes to three minutes.
Sprinklers are life-safety systems, not property-protection systems, Barnard said.
"It is to allow residents time to escape," he said. "It has a secondary value of property protection."
Bruchey asked the staff to return with information on the grandfathering options for developers.
