The Board of Supervisors has approved a five-year pause on the requirement for pre-1974 residential buildings to install sprinklers in each unit.
More than 100 condo owners attended and spoke at a hearing on February 23rd, many of whom reside at one of the 126 buildings in the north end of town that would be impacted. Under the new legislation, these buildings would have until 2032 to obtain permits for the sprinkler work.
This is somewhat of a reprieve, but it doesn’t remove the anxiety around this mandate. Potential buyers for condos in these buildings will still be concerned about purchasing a home that may end up costing them hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay for sprinkler installations.
So the permit deadline is no longer imminent. But the jury is out on whether this requirement will truly come to pass.