The City Council has agreed it will take out a contested part of a fire code ordinance and strictly adhere to already-in-place state regulations.
At a work session Monday, the group discussed Section 5 of the proposed ordinance adopting the 2012 edition of the Arkansas state fire code and supplemental provisions, which include further regulations on sprinkler systems.
Staff attorney Jason Kelley said after meeting with several department heads, including the fire chief and planning director, it has been decided it would be best to "go with the state."
"It will eliminate confusion and won't cause any conflict, and we certainly don't want to reduce the standards," Kelley said.
Currently, the state code states buildings that are more than 12,000 square feet, hold more than 300 people at one time or have a level of exit below the fire floor must be sprinkled, Fire Chief Steve Sims said.
With the part that will be removed from the city's ordinance, "the city wanted to make sure they (the builder) put sprinkling through the whole thing," Kelley said, which would include the existing structure when a building was being added on to.
Alderwoman Becky Morgan at a previous meeting expressed concern with the necessity for Bella Vista businesses and churches to retrofit their existing structures under guidelines of the proposed city ordinance.
In reviewing the wording of both city and state requirements, Kelley said they discovered the state code would be sufficient.
"We don't want to intentionally create confusion," he said. He also added the city's code referred to square footage regulations, and in the state code, this is covered under the term "fire area."
"When it comes time to review a plan or design, I wouldn't be surprised if we try to get some guidance from the state fire marshal's office," Kelley said regarding building additions.
"The (state) code says the same thing we're trying to do," Sims said.
The ordinance also calls for address numbers to be attached to the exterior of houses in order for emergency personnel to properly identify correct residences in case of an emergency.
The ordinance states numbers should be 6 inches in height. At the regular meeting Monday, Aug. 25, Alderwoman Becky Morgan plans to motion to amend the ordinance to state the numbers should be 4 inches in height.
Four inches is what the state code currently requires, Kelley said.
Morgan said the most important thing is to get the unnumbered houses numbered.
The regular meeting, which is open to the public, is set for 6:30 p.m. Aug. 25 at Highlands Crossing Center, 1801 Forest Hills Blvd.
General News on 08/20/2014