City Council Stands Up to Fire Marshal?

[PonderInc]

Everyone says that Tulsa's fire code is oppressive, with requirements that go beyond the standards of any other city in the nation.  This often makes it financially infeasible to restore older buildings and repurpose them for new uses. 

Essentially, our Fire Marshal (instead of simply serving the public interest) appears to function as an anti-economic development director for the City of Tulsa.  (Stalling critical revitalization efforts in their tracks...especially in downtown and other historic areas of the city, where redevelopment of older buildings is imperative.)

Although I don't have all the details, I heard that the City Council voted in favor of the Philtower Lofts in their appeal of a decision by the Building, Housing, and Fire Prevention Appeals Board.

I hope this will serve as both a precedent and a wake-up call.  Draconian fire codes don't add to public safety, and they don't serve the public interest.  They DO serve as an obstacle to the development of otherwise financially feasible projects in Tulsa.

Anyone have more details?  What does this mean for other owners of historic buildings?

[DowntownNow]

Im interested to hear more about this too.  I had heard that the cost to Jim Hawkins was considerable to update to the FM's requirements and could have negatively impacted the continued success of the Philtower Lofts.  

Having toured plenty of old buildings downtown with other potential redevelopers and analyizing them for adaptive reuse, the biggest concern/consideration is compliance with Tulsa's code (even the Existing Building Code) and the City Ordinances that concern sprinkling.  With most existing buildings downtown, once numbers are done there is a significant feasability gap.  Tulsa's codes and ordinances require so much more than other urban centers in places like NY and CA that the requirements become stiffling and the numbers even shorter to make the venture worthwhile...therefore our older buildings continue to sit.  

In some cases, where historic tax credits are available for redevelopment, the existing code requires often a second fire escape where only one existed for the building.  With historic credits, you can not place a fire escape on the exterior where there wasnt one so you have to decrease interior floor space for a second stairwell...a significant cost that could impact the operating proforma...particularly if you are looking at providing affordable housing in an existing structure.

Tulsa and the Council need to sit down and order a comprehensive review of the fire safety Ordinances and Codes while attempting to accomodate developers that they really want to come into downtown and adapt the vacant existing structures.  A review of this nature that embraces the existing structures and the costs can go a long way towards revitalizing downtown.