Libertyville sprinkler suit settled

A rare enforcement action taken by the Libertyville Fire Protection District against a contractor and homeowner has been settled.

Fire district officials on Wednesday voted 3-0 to accept the agreement with homeowners Richard Clatch and Wendy Ward, and their builder, Joseph Atkinson, regarding the installation of a fire suppression system.

“I think it's a positive thing the district and the parties have come to an agreement,” rather than spend time and money in court, said Linda E. Spring, the attorney representing the district.

The complaint filed in late October contended an 11,000-square-foot home on West Rockland Lane east of Libertyville was being built without an automatic sprinkler system, which is required by district ordinance in new residential structures.

By that time, drywall had been installed throughout the house, despite notification the sprinklers were required, the district charged in its complaint.

As a result, construction on parts of the home that might interfere with the installation of sprinklers was ordered stopped by Lake County Associate Judge Mitchell Hoffman.

The homeowners and builder still had to sign off on the measure, Spring said Wednesday, but they previously had agreed in principle.

“I think it actually all worked out reasonably well,” Clatch said Wednesday.

The agreement calls for a sprinkler system to be installed in the basement but not in finished portions of the home above that level, he added.

The fire district has authority to adopt and enforce the sprinkler code as a result of a 2005 Illinois Supreme Court ruling involving the Wauconda Fire Protection District and developers of the Stonewall Orchard Golf Club.

Building plans in unincorporated areas are submitted to Lake County, but the county does not enforce the provision.

Spring said the county advises builders that property in the fire protection district may have other rules to consider. She said the district is working with the county on a “smoother notification” process.

“It would be best if the fire protection district and the county could kind of get their act together so this type of thing doesn't happen to other citizens,” Clatch said.