News
Technical Advisory Council ordinance considered by Board of Supervisors Rules Committee and recommended to full Board
On April 6, SF Board of Supervisors members Stephen Sherrill and Danny Sauter presented their proposed ordinance to establish a Fire Code Technical Advisory Council. After a hearing, the committee forwarded the ordinance without change to the full Board.
Details of the hearing, and videos of selected excerpts of the public comments, can be viewed here.
The proposal envisions eleven voting members, including one seat each for:
- a property owner or building manager from a building affected by the sprinkler mandate
- a non-owner tenant of an affected building
- a representative of a HOA of an affected building
- a licensed fire protection contractor
- a construction professional
- a licensed architect
- a representative of the SF Controllers Office
- an employee of the SF Fire Department
- an employee of the SF Department of Building Inspection
- an employee of the Public Utilities Commission
- a member of the Board of Supervisors
The first six members are to be appointed by the Board of Supervisors. The remaining five are appointed by the leadership of their respective organizations.
NBC Bay Area runs story about mandate
On March 3 NBC Bay Area ran a story about the retrofit mandate and resistance to it. Reporter Jaxon Van Derbeken interviewed affected condo owners, as well as the retired SFFD Fire Marshall who crafted the retrofit ordinance.
GrowSF launches online letter writing tool
Organization GrowSF has posted an online tool to send letters to Supervisors and the Mayor. It’s part of an article about the mandate. It says: “The role of safety regulations are not to eliminate risk, but to reduce it where the benefits outweigh the costs. In this situation, it’s unclear if the cost/benefit ratio make sense. SF should not impose a potentially multi-billion-dollar mandate without publishing a real cost/benefit analysis: expected risk reduction, expected fire losses avoided, and a workable permitting + financing plan.
Online pettition from SF Blueprint
Organization SF Blueprint has posted an online petition calling for repeal of the retrofit mandate.
Extensions of interim deadlines for sprinkler mandate passed by Land Use Committee of Board of Supervisors in 2/23 hearing
Hundreds of people turned out to attend and speak at a February 23 hearing of the Land Use Committee of the Board of Supervisors, where it considered approving a revised city Fire Code including extending due dates for interim steps in the fire sprinkler mandate process. The Code was forwarded to the full Board with a recommendation to approve. (It was approved by the full board a week later.) A detailed writeup of the hearing can be viewed here.
Realtor Video about mandate consequences
San Francisco real estate broker Lisa Vukovic has posted a video about the consequences of the retrofit mandate.