Council updates building code

Stanwood City Council voted to amend the building codes Thursday evening.

The revisions were in response to the updated 2009 International Building Codes, which took effect July 1, and bring Stanwood into compliance with statewide measures.

Permits are no longer required for platforms (including slabs) less than 30 inches above grade, siding and window replacement that doesn’t require structural modification, and re-roofing or roofing overlays that don’t require new sheathing.

Another change has to do with the permits themselves. Once a permit application is approved, the permit must be picked up within 18 months and completed within two years of issuance.

All permits granted before July 1 are exempted from the new requirements.

Finally, the international code calls for single-family residences and duplexes to be equipped with fire sprinkler systems.

However, Washington state code moved the sprinkler requirement to the appendices, which means the it is optional and can be decided upon at a local level.

Stanwood officials recommended the 3,000-square-feet as a threshold, with homes larger than that being re- quired to have sprinkler systems.

Councilman Arne Wenerberg said he’d like to discuss the sprinklers further before voting on them. He questioned the cost of such systems, and moved to adopt the ordinance with the exception of the requirement for sprinklers.

Councilman Timothy Loney seconded, and said the requirement had originated in upstate New York, where rural areas experience long response times.

Mike Ganz, chief of Camano Island Fire and Rescue, cautioned that although Stanwood’s average response time is only five and a half minutes, that figure represents ideal conditions.

“As a general rule, a structure fire doubles in size every five minutes,” he added. “If a fire starts in a bedroom, it will have engulfed that room by the time we get there.”

Ganz said sprinklers would increase safety and cut down on damage.

In the end, council felt there wasn’t enough information about the cost to homeowners and builders, or the logistics, of implementing the sprinkler requirement. They exempted the sprinkler systems from the building code updates and passed the rest of the ordinance unanimously.

Council members Andy Chapel, Timothy Pearce and Conrad Ryer were absent.

In other council news, Conrad Ryer has resigned from city council.

Mayor Dianne White told council that Ryer called her last week with the news. White said he had accepted a job with the IRS.

Staff Reporter Jeremiah O’Hagan: 629-8066 ext. 125 or ohagan@scnews. com.