03-26-2007 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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o abycaela MAYOR Bill Blesener COUNCIL Rick Montour Barbara Allan John Keis Michael McGraw 515 Little Canada Road, Little Canada, MN 55117 -1600 ADMINISTRATOR (651) 766 -4029 / FAX: (651) 766 -4048 Joel R. Hanson www.ei.little-canada,mn.us MEMORANDUM DATE: March 1, 2007 FROM: Stephen Westerhaus, Building Official TO: Planning Commission Members RE: 69 -75 Demont Avenue BACKGROUND: The International Building Code, as far as exterior wall protection is concerned, operates on the philosophy that an owner can have no control over what occurs on adjacent properties and therefore the location of buildings on the owners property must be regulated relative to the location to the property line. The property line concept provides a convenient way of protecting one building from another insofar as exposure is concerned. First of all the code requires that every building shall adjoin a public way on at least one side to provide space through which the fire department can gain access to the property to fight a fire. In this instance that requirement is met as this property is next to Demont Avenue on the south. Secondly, rules are in place for exterior wall protection based upon proximity of the building to the property line. Generally the closer to a property line a building is, the higher the fire - protection requirements. SUMMARY: In creating a property line between the two sides of the structure, steps have to be taken to protect one building and its occupants from the other building located on either side of the line. Per Table 602 in the IBC, exterior walls in a residential occupancy which are less than 3 feet to a property line must have a fire- resistance rating of I -hour. The building must have a 1 -hour wall (fire wall) located on either side of the property line and be of sufficient structural stability under fire conditions to allow the collapse of construction on either side without collapse of the wall for the duration of the fire- resistant rating. II: \SteveW \Correspondence \Steve 2007 \LC 65-79 Demont Ave.doe