Sprinkler cited in Libertyville home construction

Construction on portions of a home being built in unincorporated Lake County has been ordered stopped as a result of a rare action taken by the Libertyville Fire Protection District.

And whether the homeowner is an unwitting victim of government bureaucracy or not following the law are questions likely to be answered in court.

Lake County Associate Judge Mitchell Hoffman recently ordered that no changes or improvements that would interfere with the installation of a residential sprinkler system be made on a home being built in a wooded area at 15497 West Rockland Lane.

The action came after a complaint filed by the fire district against Atkinson Builders LLC, Joseph Atkinson and property owners Richard Clatch and Wendy Ward.

“For us, it's the first time,” said Augie Hock, secretary of the fire district. “Sprinklers are a big issue in a lot of districts and towns now.”

Atkinson declined to comment. But the owner of the $1 million home said he would have included sprinklers had he known it was required when plans were submitted to the county more than a year ago.

“This is clearly a problem between two governmental agencies and I'm caught right in the middle,” Clatch said. “It's important people know. We're doctors it's not exactly like we're out there breaking the law.”

The district said it learned of the construction in August. The area does not have municipal water or a fire hydrant. Atkinson was advised the district required an automatic sprinkler system and appeared at a fire district board meeting Oct. 11, according to the complaint.

At the time, he told board members the owners did not want a sprinkler system because it was expensive and he had not included the cost in his estimate to build the house, according to the complaint.

The fire district is a taxing body that contracts with Libertyville to provide fire and ambulance services in unincorporated areas. It adopted the sprinkler ordinance for new construction in November 2005, shortly after the village did.

Such ordinances are fairly common in the Chicago area. According to the Northern Illinois Fire Sprinker Advisory Board, 70 communities or fire districts have ordinances requiring sprinklers in single-family homes. The first in the area was Long Grove in 1988, according to the group.

In this case, the home is far off a main road and in a difficult-to-reach area, the fire district says. It also said drywall was installed throughout the house after Atkinson had been notified in writing that sprinklers were required.

The district's board authorized the legal action Oct. 18. A hearing on the preliminary injunction is scheduled for Dec. 10.

Building plans in its jurisdiction are submitted to the county, but the county does not enforce the sprinkler provision, Hock said.

Libertyville Fire Chief Rich Carani said that when a contractor or someone else applies for a building permit, they are given information advising them to contact the local fire jurisdiction to determine if there are any rules that might affect construction.

“You're kind of on the honor system to make the phone call,” he said.

Carani estimated a sprinkler system for the Rockland Lane home would cost $23,000 to $25,000.

“This is an 11,000-square-foot house with no water (to fight fires), built on a one lane road. This is the kind of house we passed the ordinance for,” he said.

The fire district has the authority to adopt and enforce a code that requires automatic sprinkler systems be installed as a result of a 2005 Illinois Supreme Court decision, according to the complaint.

That case involved the Wauconda Fire Protection District and Stonewall Orchards LLC, which operates a golf course near Grayslake.

“It was a case that had an affect statewide,” said David Dato, chief of the Wauconda district.

In that case, the pipes for the system in the clubhouse had been installed but the county refused to issue an occupancy permit unless a generator was installed as well, Dato said.

The district brought suit against the developers and the county. Ultimately, the system was installed and the requirement for the generator dropped.