Batavia fire code discussion smoldering again

Debate about Batavia's building codes for fire safety has rekindled with a proposal to add apartments to a downtown store.

Batavia Enterprises would like to build nine apartments on top of the Prairie Path Cycles store at 122 W. Wilson St.

But it is not as interested in doing so if it has to stick to current Batavia building code that calls for a concrete floor/ceiling between the stories for fire safety.

The current building could not support such a floor without adding steel supports, said Austin Dempsey, vice president of Batavia Enterprises. Although he doesn't know the cost yet of doing so because the structural engineering isn't complete, "it would be very limiting," he said Wednesday.

Dempsey spoke to the city services committee Tuesday night, which voted 6-1 to have the city draw up an ordinance that would eliminate the concrete floor/ceiling requirement. It will likely vote on the ordinance next month, sending it to the full city council for a final vote.

In 2002 a developer withdrew plans to build an apartment complex on the east side of Kirk Road, south of Fermilab, saying the masonry requirement would make the project too expensive.

In 2006, the city granted a variance on vertical masonry firewalls between units for the expansion of the Holmstad retirement center because the building would have sprinklers.

But the council declined in 2006 to permanently change the building code, with Mayor Jeff Schielke, a former firefighter, casting a tiebreaking "no" vote. Of the seven aldermen who favored the change, three remain on the council; on the "nay" side, six are still on the council.

Batavia's requirement is one of the strictest in the area, requiring a concrete floor/ceiling that can resist a fire for two hours. Other towns adhere to the provisions of the International Building Code that call for firewalls and floor separators to be built of any material, including drywall, that can resist a fire for two hours in buildings without sprinklers, less time if there are sprinklers. A two-hour resistance means the wall or ceiling can sustain its load and prevent the passage of heat, gasses or flames.

Masonry walls and floors may withstand fire even longer than two hours.

The bicycle store is in a former hardware store. The major portion of the store was built in 1956.

A memo from the city on the proposal says the masonry requirement raised the price of condominiums in the Quarry Stone building on North Water Street, causing slow sales and leading to foreclosure.

"The developer of that project has stated it is unlikely that we will see any other multifamily residential development in the community under our current code," wrote community development Director Jerry Swanson.

Alderman Jim Volk, chairman of the city services committee, voted against the changes in 2006 and voted "nay" again Tuesday.

"I'm absolutely opposed to weakening any safety code in this city," he said Wednesday, explaining he believes materials other than masonry can fail, such as if occupants start drilling holes to run wires. Sprinkler pipes can break, he said, and alarms can fail. "It (masonry) is expensive. But when the real problem occurs, you'd be glad to have it."

Dempsey disagreed concrete is necessary. "It's (like having) both suspenders and paying someone to hold up your pants at the same time," he said.