THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 24, 1997 TAG: 9701240534
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL REED AND ROBERT LITTLE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 137 lines
More than 20 Oceanfront hotels remain without fire sprinkler systems and face fines to possible closure if they fail to meet the state's March 1 building code deadline for installing them.
Innkeepers have had seven years to comply with the code change enacted in 1990 and have been notified of the requirement repeatedly through the years.
A list of 29 resort hotels compiled this week by the Virginia Beach Hotel and Motel Association indicates that only four properties have completed installation.
However, they may be given a reprieve if the General Assembly passes a bill submitted Thursday by state Sen. Kenneth W. Stolle, R-Virginia Beach, to extend the deadline until Sept. 1.
``We basically want to see a safe community - that's the target,'' said Virginia Beach Deputy Fire Marshall L.G. Knott. ``We want . . . a safe spot for people coming to Virginia Beach to stay.''
Among those scrambling to meet the deadline are City Councilman Linwood O. Branch III and Planning Commission chairman Robert H. Vakos, both Oceanfront hotel owners.
Both say they already have contracted for installation work for sprinkler systems.
Knott said Thursday that his office, which is charged with enforcing the code, said it's too early to determine exactly how many hotels will be unable to meet the deadline.
``We haven't inspected or done anything visually to see where we are.
``Come March 1 - that's the deadline according to the code - at that point we'll be able to know who's in compliance.''
The code is very specific, Knott said. The penalties for non-compliance, however, remain discretionary.
The fire marshal's office has a ``tremendous number of options,'' Knott said, ranging from a fine of $2,500 per room to shutting down a hotel until the work is done.
He said any penalties would be determined by building code officials, fire officials, the city attorney's office and possibly the state's attorney general.
``We'll look for a lot of assistance in what direction we take,'' Knott said.
That action could be delayed, though, if innkeepers get a six-month reprieve from the General Assembly.
Stolle introduced a bill Thursday that would give the Beach's high-rise hotels until Sept. 1 to install automatic sprinkler systems. An emergency clause on the bill means it would take effect as soon as it passes.
``Without it, we've been told under no uncertain terms by the city and the fire marshal that the hotels would be forced to shut down,'' Stolle said.
``That seems a little calamitous, given they're only asking for six months,'' said Del. Glenn R. Croshaw, a Democrat who also represents the Oceanfront. ``This isn't an attempt to ignore the safety concerns, but I don't think it would be good for the Beach for those hotels to close.''
Stolle said he expects the hotels will meet the new deadline, and that most will have contracted for the installation by the end of the winter.
One difficulty that hotels have had in trying to comply with the law is the limited number of contractors in Virginia Beach who can do the work, Stolle said. Most of the hotels without sprinklers have either begun installation or signed contracts for it.
Vakos, who owns the Tradewinds Resort Hotel on 16th Street, said work on his 25-year-old, six-story hotel began in December, but he conceded that work might not be completed by the deadline.
``In all honesty, like everybody else, we put it off until the last minute,'' he said.
Branch, whose family owns the Days Inn on Atlantic Avenue at 10th Street, said he has a signed contract with a local sprinkler system company and expects work to start anytime now. ``I'm going to do what I have to do,'' he said.
Rick Anoia, president of the Resort Leadership Council and part-owner of the Windjammer Motel on Atlantic Avenue at 19th Street, is also among the resort innkeepers hustling to meet the March 1 deadline.
Workmen were busy at his Oceanfront motel Thursday working to install a sprinkler system, which Anoia estimated will cost him $61,000.
``There's no way everybody can come into compliance by March 1,'' he said. ``There are not enough companies to service the problems.''
Michael J. Meehan, general manager of Virginia Sprinkler Co., a statewide corporation with headquarters in Richmond, confirmed Anoia's statement.
Meehan said his company has its hands full right now - five contracts under way - and is making every effort to get the work done on time. There are seven competing sprinkler companies in the area and they, too, are basically booked up, he said.
Installation work in a hotel can range from three weeks to a year, said Meehan, depending on the state of preparedness of the property. ``For properties that already have a fire pump and stand pipes in place, all we have to do is add the sprinkler system,'' he said. ``If they have nothing, we have to put in the ground-work system, plus the fire pumps and stand pipes.''
Sherry Haner, of the city's Permits and Inspections Bureau, said city officials have yet to decide how to handle those who fail to meet the deadline.
``There are several options, but we haven't decided yet,'' she said. ``We're going to meet with the (city) Fire Prevention Bureau to decide on a course of action.''
Norfolk and Chesapeake officials say all of their hotels are in compliance. Portsmouth and Suffolk officials could not be reached for comment Thursday night.
The legislation to extend the compliance deadline proposed by Stolle would apply only to Virginia Beach. The bill would effect ``any existing hotel or motel in any city with a population greater than 350,000,'' and Virginia Beach is the only city in the state that large.
Legislative help surfaced this week after lawmakers and representatives of the Virginia Beach Hotel and Motel Association gathered at a Richmond reception sponsored by the Virginia Hospitality and Travel Association.
Mary Pat Fortier, executive director of the Virginia Beach group, said she and local innkeepers president James H. Capps met with Virginia Beach legislators to explain the problem.
Stolle said he wasn't even approached by hoteliers about making the change until Tuesday - the day after the General Assembly's informal deadline for submitting the year's legislation.
But legislative rules permit bills to be submitted past the deadline if other members allow it.
Other Beach legislators said Thursday that if the the bill does pass, it will be the only deadline extension that resort innkeepers will get.
``I don't think there are too many good excuses for dragging your feet seven years,'' said Del. Robert F. McDonnell, R-Virginia Beach. ``I don't see anything wrong with a one-shot extension, but they better comply after that.''
``They better get it done in six months,'' said Frank W. Wagner, another Republican delegate from Virginia Beach. ``Because if they don't, we won't be around in September to give them another extension.'' MEMO: Staff writers Paul Clancy and Kevin Armstrong contributed to this
report. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
DAVID B. HOLLINGSWORTH
The Virginian-Pilot
DAVID B. HOLLINGSWORTH
The Virginian-Pilot
Installing sprinklers at the Windjammer Motel on Atlantic Avenue
will cost $61,000, said part owner Rick Anoia. ``There's no way
everybody can come into compliance by March 1,'' he said of the
current state deadline for the safety devices. ``There are not
enough companies to service the problems.''
KEYWORDS: HOTELS SPRINKLERS GENERAL ASSEMBLY