07-09-1997 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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515 Little Canada Road, Little Canada, MN 55117 -1600 (612) 484 -2177 / FAX: (612) 484 -4538 July 3, 1997 TO: Mayor Fahey and Members of the City Council FROM: Joel R. Hanson, City Administrator RE: Section 1306 and the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints MAYOR Michael I. Fahey COUNCIL Beverly Scalze Jim LaVaile Steve Morelan Bob Pedersen ADMINISTRATOR Joel R. Hanson The City of Bloomington adopted Section 1306 approximately two years ago. In discussing Section 1306 with the City of Bloomington, the Building Official learned that the City's policy in applying Section 1306 requirements to churches is to require that the addition be sprinkled and the water main installed which would serve a fire suppression system for the entire building as an initial phase. The church is then required to enter into a development agreement with the City for phasing in the installation of a sprinkler system for the remainder of the building over a three to five year period. The reason for this phasing -in approach, is that churches are typically working with limited capital improvement funds. The additional time gives the church the opportunity to raise the needed capital. Section 1306 is silent as to the time - period for requiring compliance with the Code. In reviewing the Uniform Building Code, the UBC indicates that adoption of Section 1306 is not mandatory. However, if Section 1306 is adopted, it must be adopted without modification (see attached). Therefore, a city does not have the ability to adopt its own code addressing fire suppression systems. Also, the exemption criteria discussed at the last meeting in Section 1306.0100 (attached) do not apply in this case. This is because the addition does increase the occupant load as measured by the Building Code, and that there are no square footage threshold limits for Group A occupancies. Based on the above information, it would be my recommendation that we follow the policy being used by the City of Bloomington. At this time the small addition proposed by the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints would be required to be sprinkled and the necessary water main brought up to the building. The Church would then enter into a development agreement with the City that would set up a timetable for phasing in a fire suppression system for the remainder of the building. cc: Dale Langfoss Dennis Alsop Page 6