CHEYENNE – Today, Cheyenne is the only one of Wyoming’s six largest cities where a developer can build three- and four-family homes without having to put in fire suppression sprinklers, thanks to a treasured exemption in city code.
Last month, the city’s chief building safety and fire officials asked city politicians to change that. But developers came out in force, saying sprinklers are too expensive and that the firewalls they install and designs they use now are enough. The council agreed, voting 6-3 on Nov. 26 to reject the change and leave the alternative option in place. A final vote is set for Monday.
But in statements to council and an email to city leaders obtained by the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, developers and their advocates have indicated they’re not really against the proposal – they’re afraid of what could come next.
While Cheyenne has been debating multifamily units, other cities, including Sheridan, have moved on to considering whether sprinklers should be required in single-family homes and duplexes.
So when Cheyenne Fire Chief Greg Hoggatt stood up to advocate for the new requirement, it was no surprise to hear Councilman Dicky Shanor asking him whether he intended to do the same for one- and two-family homes.
Hoggatt’s reply wasn’t explicit – he said he’d look to educate everyone about the benefits of sprinklers – but the potential threat was clear to builders.
(In a text message Friday, Shanor said he asked the question because he was “curious what his end game is with sprinkler requirements.”)
At last week’s council Public Services Committee meeting, Joe Patterson of Guardian Companies applauded the council’s vote. Then he read a statement from the National Association of Home Builders that opposed sprinklers for single-family homes and duplexes, which aren’t under consideration.
And at the end of an email to Council President Mark Rinne asking the council to consider a compromise, developer Ed Ernste tacked on a blistering addendum.
“My real concern,” he said, “is the fire department is getting to be too big of government/too big for their britches, with too much control, with no one to stop them.”
“If we give them an inch, they will take a mile,” he continued, “and the next thing you know is every small, medium and large commercial building and every single-family residence and multifamily town home project will be required to be sprinkled with the 13R sprinkler system, with multiple water taps from the (Board of Public Utilities). What we currently have is an approved alternate in many inspectors’ and contractors’ eyes, and I agree with them/others when I say it should be well enough left alone (sic).”
Those comments inject the arguments with a hint of the larger fight going on across the country.
The National Association of Home Builders, the industry’s trade association and lobbying arm, boasts on its website about how fire sprinkler mandates for one- and two-family homes have been defeated in more than forty states, including Wyoming.
It also has pages of fact sheets talking about how sprinklers are more expensive than they’re worth and haven’t proven themselves cost-effective at saving lives.
The National Fire Protection Association, on the other side, has studies pushing back. One suggests cost concerns are overrated based on analysis of homes in California, one of two states mandating the sprinklers in one- and two- family homes.
Neither association focuses much on larger multifamily dwellings. (Requests for comment from both groups were not returned by press time.)
Cheyenne Mayor Marian Orr said Patterson’s comments were “disingenuous,” adding several developers have apologized to her for showing up to a meeting in opposition after better understanding the change proposed.
Council members say developers are pretty transparent, though.
“In their opinion, it’s the camel’s nose under the tent,” Rinne said. “And I think the sentiment on the council is that what Mr. Patterson says is correct, that there’s no statistical proof it’s really any safer.”
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