Measures focus on incentives for fire sprinklers in high-rises

The drive to require sprinkler systems in older residential high-rises in the wake of the deadly Marco Polo fire has come down to final City Council votes today that if approved would mean a break on taxes and fees as incentives to defraying what many owners consider unreasonable costs.

But a measure requiring sprinklers in common areas remains in committee as proposals to enact more safety measures have proved to be contentious, with a great number of condominium owners and their representatives arguing that the cost of requiring sprinklers might cause some of them to lose their homes.

While two bills providing incentives for installing sprinkler systems are poised for a final vote, a third — requiring about 150 apartment and condominium towers to install systems at least in their enclosed hallways and other common areas — remains a step behind in committee.

All three bills were introduced in the wake of last summer’s tragic fire at the Marco Polo condominium, which resulted in the deaths of four people.

It’s estimated that condo or apartment owners could end up paying between $8,000 and $22,000 each in a building that is fully retrofitted with sprinklers and between $5,000 and $10,000 each in a building retrofitted with sprinklers in common areas only.

Bill 101 (2017), one of the measures up for a final vote today, would give owners a $2,000 credit on their property tax bill if they install automated fire sprinklers in their own units or pay a share for common-area sprinklers. An earlier version of the bill would have given owners a credit based on the percentage of eligible costs.

The current draft allows only owner-occupants to be eligible for the credit. The credit can be taken for more than one year, and applications must be filed within 24 months of an installation. The credit could not be applied toward common-area sprinklers if the building already has them.

Also up for a final vote today is Bill 102 (2017), which would allow the city to waive fees for condo and apartment owners for plan reviews and building permits tied to the installation of automated sprinkler systems.

Not on today’s agenda is Bill 69 (2017), the measure that condo and apartment owners and their associations are fretting over.

Fire officials say about 360 residential towers don’t have automated sprinklers. All were built before 1975, when the city first required all new residential towers to carry them.

But only 150 of them would be required to retrofit with automated sprinkler systems under the bill, with the rest considered less vulnerable because they are more accessible to firefighters and their equipment.

The latest draft of the bill allows for condominium and apartment associations to opt out of installing sprinklers inside of units — if a majority of the unit owners vote to do so within three years of conducting a required building fire and safety evaluation and the valuation allows for “alternative fire prevention and fire safety systems.”

But the current draft would still require the 150 or so condo and apartment towers to install sprinklers in common areas, Honolulu Fire Department Assistant Chief Socrates Bratakos said.

Those that opt out of installing sprinklers inside units would have to disclose publicly that they chose to do so, through the posting of signs in a building’s public areas.

Mayor Kirk Caldwell has urged that all three bills be passed quickly.

But Council Chairman Ron Menor said the Executive Matters and Legal Affairs Committee, which he chairs, will work on Bill 69 further at its next meeting “with the intent that I will try to have the Council move a bill out in March.”

Menor said he expects the two incentive bills to move out today “because we want to encourage condo owners and associations to voluntarily install fire sprinklers to promote residential high-rise fire safety.”

Bratakos said HFD understands the trepidation being felt by the property owners. But the department will continue to support mandating sprinkler systems throughout all condominium buildings “because there is no substitute to sprinkler systems for fire safety,” he said.