Board Requires Automatic Sprinklers in Residential Hotels
By Ethen Lieser
AsianWeek Staff Writer
It appears residential hotel owners will have slimmer wallets. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Monday unanimously passed an ordinance that would make all residential hotels install automatic sprinkler systems in rooms, attics and basements by Jan. 31, 2003.
Supervisor Gavin Newsom passed a similar ordinance last year, but few owners have complied.
“We’ve been talking about this for close to two years, and the residential hotel owners … have known about this ordinance,” Newsom said. “Unfortunately, only few have complied with the original deadline.”
Several hotel owners spoke at the meeting, saying that the deadline is unreasonable and the cost to complete the project could be in excess of $25,000. Newsom said the ordinance would affect buildings with 20 or more units. As many as 462 to 474 buildings with an estimated 8,000 rooms fit under this category.
“Extending it beyond six months at this moment would be imprudent because the intent is to get people to upgrade their life safety systems,” Newsom said. “If we continue to extend, then simply [the compliance] will not happen, and people will suffer.”
Hotel owners also complained that only eight to 10 contractors are available in the Bay Area to do the projects. But Newsom and Supervisor Chris Daly seemed confident that the deadlines could be met. In addition to the Jan. 31 deadline, hotel owners must apply for building permits and submit plans to the Department of Building Inspections and the Fire Department by Sept. 1 this year.
“The need for sprinklers cannot be overstated,” Daly said.
Daly and Newsom wanted the ordinance passed immediately because of the city’s pending homeless issue. Last month, Baldwin Hotel on Sixth Street burned to the ground.
“It left far too many San Franciscans homeless,” Daly said. “It is a burden on our Department of Human Services and also on the American Red Cross … [the legislation] is fairly aggressive, but I think given the situation right now, it is a fair piece of legislation.”
Added Newsom: “There has been an enormity of fires the city and county have seen over the last decade that have displaced tenants, and consequently, have increased the number of homeless individuals in the city and county of San Francisco.”
Also on Monday, through the suggestion of Mayor Willie Brown, the Board agreed to continue an ordinance that would charge street fairs where alcoholic beverages are served. The money would be used to offset the full cost of police services at the event. Currently, the street fairs only pay 40 percent of the police cost.
Reach Ethen Lieser at elieser@asianweek.com.
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