Stricter Fire Standards Urged For Capital's Historic District

The Annapolis City Council is moving toward toughening fire standards for the second time this year after two holiday-season fires in the downtown historic district in as many years.

Alderman Richard E. Israel (D-Ward 1) introduced legislation this month that would require the owners of buildings in the historic district to install sprinklers when performing relatively minor construction or renovations -- work that amounts to 10 percent or more of the building's value. The ordinance also calls for tax credits for owners who install a fire-suppression system.

The move comes seven months after a Dec. 18 fire at the Chesapeake Trading Co., about a block from the scene of the December 2005 fire that destroyed a historic building housing a jewelry store and damaged two other buildings.

City officials think that because many of the historic buildings were constructed with old, dry wood, Annapolis could lose much of its downtown if fire strikes on a windy day, not uncommon in a city near the Chesapeake Bay.

"With wind conditions, we could have lost a whole block," Israel said.

This year, the council passed a law requiring all commercial buildings in the city to install sprinklers with any change of use or during major renovations, a standard that had been in place for the historic district. However, the existing law doesn't require downtown businesses to install sprinklers unless renovations constitute "at least 50 percent of the assessed value," Israel said.

"I think there needs to be something focused on the historic district with a lower threshold," Israel said.

Other council members have been pushing for stricter standards as well. Not long after the first set of revamped standards was introduced Jan. 8, Alderman Julie Stankivic (I-Ward 6) said she would push to make sprinklers mandatory in all commercial businesses in the historic district. Stankivic, who had also hoped to include tax credits to help business owners install the sprinklers, said she wanted to tie that legislation to a wider initiative to upgrade water mains and other infrastructure in that part of the city.

Annapolis Mayor Ellen O. Moyer (D), a proponent of the sprinkler law introduced Jan. 8, has urged that fire safety standards be upgraded in a way that does not drive away businesses, particularly as the city faces increased competition from retail developments on its outskirts. Moyer pointed out that when the city offered low-interest loans to businesses to install sprinklers, few took up the offer.

That proposal came after a 1997 fire that destroyed two century-old buildings and took almost eight hours to extinguish. Business owners objected to spending tens of thousands of dollars to install sprinklers that can require digging up the streets to upgrade water lines. Israel's proposal will give business owners more of an incentive to perform the work.

"I think that's okay if the tax incentives are there," said Larry Vincent, owner of Laurance Clothing at 232 Main St. "What was missing was the tax incentive. You can't take a merchant who's trying to feed a family and say you have to do this."

Vincent said business owners know that a historic building is "irreplaceable" and that "with each little building we lose, we lose some of our marketing appeal." But Vincent said that he has been holding off renovating his building because he received an estimate that it would cost him $35,000 to put in sprinklers.

"That's a lot for a small retailer," he said. "If we get some tax benefits, all of a sudden it becomes practical."

Under the proposed ordinance, owners could get an income tax break equal to 75 percent of the value of the sprinkler installation. Israel's ordinance hinges on state or federal legislation that would be necessary to give business owners a tax break.

Ron George, a state delegate from Arnold and an Annapolis business owner, said he "would be happy to draft the legislation."

"I think over the course of the next 10 years, we would have another good half of the buildings on Main Street sprinkled," he said.

George said that business owners who install sprinklers will also realize added resale value -- as he discovered during the pending sale of his Statehouse Inn.

"I know that was a great selling point for my building," George said.

State legislators have helped Annapolis improve fire safety in the past. After the 2005 downtown fire, the General Assembly allocated $1.8 million to the city over three years toward a $4.3 million project to help bury the low-hanging power lines that impede firefighters on two streets. Allowing a tax credit might be a less-expensive way for legislators to help the city that is their second home.