Lewes considers requiring fire suppression in new homes
Lewes Mayor and City Council will hold a public hearing Monday, Aug. 23, regarding a proposal to require fire-suppression systems in new construction.
The meeting will begin at 6 p.m., at the Rollins Community Center. It will also be livestreamed via Zoom.
When Lewes officials adopted the most recent building code, they excluded a section regarding fire suppression; however, they are now reconsidering it. If approved, Lewes would be the first municipality in southern Delaware to require fire suppression in new construction, and only the second in the state after Newark.
“This is a trend that’s moving throughout the country, and one that saves lives and prevents property damage in the long run,” said Mayor Ted Becker. “When you look at health and safety, this warrants our consideration.”
Becker acknowledges fire-suppression systems add to the cost of a new home, but, he said, the health and safety issues outweigh the additional cost.
The issue of fire suppression came up when mayor and city council voted to approve the Lewes Waterfront Preserve townhouse project. Deputy Mayor Andrew Williams expressed concerns about the layout and density of the 89-unit community and how those features would affect the response efforts of the fire department. At that July meeting, he urged council to attach a condition to require fire-suppression systems in each unit, which it did.
City Solicitor Glenn Mandalas said the pending ordinance doctrine would not apply to individual homeowners who seek a building permit prior to any change to the fire-suppression ordinance, but developers seeking to build larger communities would be put on notice that it will be required by the time they seek permits to begin construction.
Lewes Board of Public Works General Manager Austin Calaman and City Engineer Charlie O’Donnell plan to attend the Aug. 23 hearing to discuss how fire suppression would affect homeowners who winterize and the impact a system would have on the city’s water distribution system as a whole.
A link to the meeting can be found on the agenda at lewes.civicweb.net.
