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Planning Commission Meeting Minutes August 16, 2005 Page 12 1 have circle roofs with grills on the balcony. He stated that based on the design it is his belief that 2 it is an appropriate and responsible design for the balconies. 3 4 Fire Chief Malenick stated that suppression only helps to put out a fire and explained that a 5 sprinkler system, by design, is not a suppression system. He further explained that a sprinkler 6 system is meant to slow the fire down until the Fire Department arrives. He stated that any kind 7 of cooking appliance has a hood, which adds to the fire resistibility. 8 9 Commissioner Jensen asked if a tri-chemical system would be more applicable. Fire Chief 10 Malenick explained the differences stating that a water system would provide a continuous flow 11 of water until the fire is out, whereas a dry chemical system requires a storage tank and would 12 only flow until the chemical tank is empty. 13 14 Chair Stromgren clarified that the basic difference would then be whether the line freezes or not. 15 Fire Chief Malenick stated that as long as water is flowing it would not freeze the line. 16 17 Chair Stromgren asked for a brief overview of the local procedures for fire protection systems 18 and the inspection process. 19 20 Fire Chief Malenick explained that an annual inspection is required for all systems and reviewed 21 the procedures with the Commission. He stated that the base root of the State law is to bar all 22 grills from balconies, which is why the City adopted the ordinance. He acknowledged that there 23 are violators noting that if this is allowed and others drive by and see this, they will think that 24 they can do it too, which could become a problem. 25 26 Commissioner Jensen stated that he recently read a State article regarding safety issues with grills 27 on balconies and asked if design exists where a grill on a balcony would be ok. 28 29 Fire Chief Malenick stated that a grill would be ok if the balcony has a two-foot, fire-protected 30 wall. 31 32 Ms. Moore-Sykes clarified that the Fire Chief Y does not have the authority to make these types of 33 decisions in the City of St. Anthony, which is why the applicant is present and requesting a 34 variance to the ordinance. 35 36 Mr. Shardlow expressed his respect for Fire Chief Malenick's concerns regarding fire safety. He 37 stated that in comparing an interior cooking area to an exterior cooking area, he has heard more 38 stories about people leaving the oven on,but not a grill. He stated that given the Fire Chief's 39 experience and the residents' knowledge and understanding of the code, they believe that it 40 would be preferable to establish the safest conditions possible. 41 42 Chair Stromgren closed the public hearing at 8:35 p.m. 43 44 Vice Chair Hanson stated that the only grills he sees around the area are located in open patio 45 areas.