THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 25, 1997 TAG: 9701250288
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL REED AND TONY WHARTON, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 122 lines
Even if local innkeepers get a six-month extension of the state's mandate to install fire sprinklers by March 1, there's no assurance the job will get done before the new deadline, industry spokesmen said Friday.
Some hotel owners say that although they've had seven years to complete the work, a dearth of funds, a series of soft business years, overloaded local contractors specializing in sprinkler installations, and a looming 1997 tourist season have combined to set them behind schedule.
On Friday, the head of the state sprinkler contractors association asked that the innkeepers be given up to one year to comply.
George M. Wagner, chairman of the Virginia chapter of the American Fire Sprinkler Association, asked state Sen. Kenneth W. Stolle, R-Virginia Beach, to push the deadline to March 1, 1998.
Stolle introduced a bill Thursday that would give Virginia Beach hotel owners until Sept. 1 to install sprinkler systems. The existing state building code mandates that they be in place by March 1 of this year.
In a letter Friday to Stolle, Wagner argued that the bulk of the retrofitting work would take place during the summer, when the Beach tourist season is at its height.
``I would like for you to consider allowing owners to enter into a contract with a licensed sprinkler contractor by Sept. 1, 1997, and then give owners until March 1, 1998, to complete the installation,'' he wrote.
Stolle responded in an interview by saying that a yearlong extension might be a hard sell in the General Assembly.
``The hotel owners asked for this extension and said it was all they needed,'' Stolle said. ``If they can't convince the General Assembly that they expect to be in compliance by then, it won't only jeopardize their chance of getting more than six months, it would jeopardize getting anything at all.
``There's no reason why they can't go under contract immediately, as far as I'm concerned.''
Caught in a particular bind in the retrofitting crisis is Dawson Sterling, owner of the Princess Anne Inn at 25th Street, whose family has been in the resort motel business in Virginia Beach since 1921.
Sterling said he had planned to raze the 60-room, four-story hotel in the spring and begin building a new one on the property next fall. In the summer months, he had planned to derive some revenue from the property by using it as a pay-for-use parking lot.
The looming March 1 deadline, however, changed those plans.
``I feel I'm between a rock and a hard place,'' he said, then announced his plans to go ahead with installing a new sprinkler system at an estimated cost of $100,000. ``I will comply,'' he said. ``I've taken steps to comply.''
He said he'll go ahead and raze his hotel in a year to make way for a new one despite the hefty cash outlay.
Sterling said a soft tourism economy in 1990 and 1991 and a series of hurricane scares in the past three years have ``killed the hospitality business'' at the Beach. Those factors also deprived him of a cash reserve to cover the costs. The reluctance of some local banks to provide loans to inn keepers like him, also has created an undue financial burden on him, Sterling added.
The Princess Anne Inn is among more than 20 resort hotels facing penalties and even closure if they fail to be fitted with sprinklers by the March 1 deadline. A list of 29 resort hotels compiled by the Virginia Beach Hotel and Motel Association indicates that only four properties have completed installation.
One problem hotel owners face in trying to comply with the state law is the limited number of contractors in Hampton Roads to do the work.
Even with emergency legislation pending before the General Assembly to extend the deadline to Sept. 1, it is highly unlikely all resort hotels could be brought into compliance on time. That's the opinion of local contractors Michael F. Meehan of Virginia Sprinkler Co., Richard L. Zecca of Worsham Sprinkler Co. and Dwayne Schults of Williams Fire Sprinkler Co. - all interstate companies with nearby regional offices.
``You're not going to do the work when the hotel is full of tourists,'' said Zecca, who has two Beach properties under contract.
``The work needs to be done during the off-season,'' added Meehan, who is now working on six Oceanfront jobs.
One of them involves the Days Inn at the Beach at 10th Street and Atlantic Avenue, which is owned by City Councilman Linwood O. Branch III. The elected leader said he is confident he'll comply with the law by March 1.
``I'm in good shape,'' he said Friday. ``I'm going to comply. The guy (contractor) assures me we're going to meet the deadline.''
Meehan, Zecca and other local contractors say they are overloaded with retrofitting work, which is piled on top of their regular new construction contracts.
Some hotel owners and managers, who had installed sprinklers already, said Friday that they resent the proposed deadline extension.
``It really is unfair to those of us who got the work done on time,'' said Craig Mulderrig, who's overseeing the renovation of the Econolodge at 31st Street and Atlantic Avenue into a Ramada Limited.
The owners have installed the sprinklers as part of the renovations and hope to open for business March 1.
``I don't understand how an extension will help,'' he said. ``Are owners really going to have this work done during the season, while they have guests?''
Don Jewell, general manager of the five-story Royal Clipper at 36th Street and Atlantic Avenue, said his hotel needs the extension.
``I don't know of any way we'd get the work done in time,'' he said. ``We're hoping the General Assembly will help us out.''
He said the hotel management found out about the sprinkler requirement only two years ago and couldn't afford to do the work until now. Blueprints for the retrofitting have been drawn, but construction hasn't started.
``I don't agree with that seven years' notice they're saying we had to get this done,'' he said.
In his five years at the hotel, Jewell said, he had never heard of the requirement from fire officials, and found out from an inspector for the Automobile Association of America's travelers' guidebooks.
Virginia Beach Deputy Fire Marshal L.G. Knott, however, said in an interview that local innkeepers had been sent written reminders throughout the seven years since the building code had been changed.
The fire marshal's office is charged with inspecting properties as well as enforcement. The penalties for not complying, Knott said, range from a fine of $2,500 per room to shutting down a hotel until the work is done.
That action, however, would be delayed if innkeepers get a reprieve from the General Assembly. MEMO: Staff writer Robert Little contributed to this report. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
DAVID B. HOLLINGSWORTH
The Virginian-Pilot
The owner of the Princess Anne Inn on Atlantic Avenue will install
state-required sprinklers, he says, even though he'd planned to raze
the hotel and build a new one. Renovation will have to wait.