Fire code driving small businesses toward closing

Katie Dyer

07/09/2011

To Sen. President M. Teresa Paiva Weed and Speaker Gordon D. Fox:
On behalf of a number of Newport-area small businesses, we would like to focus your attention on the impact that the state fire code has had, and continues to have, on the small-business community. Specifically, we are concerned with the current fire-code requirements for mercantile businesses and offices that are located in small, mixed-use buildings, many of which are historically significant, and of which there are many in Newport as well as across Rhode Island. In fact, the code has placed overly burdensome and unnecessary requirements that have forced many businesses into debt, into hiding or into closure.
Mixed-use buildings under the current code are required to have extensive and expensive alarm systems, which include such extreme measures as horn/strobe combinations in the residential rental bathrooms and bedrooms. These requirements strike us as unreasonable and unnecessary.
This type of alarm system is not required in either single-family homes of this size or two-unit multifamily homes of this size. Statistically, 83 percent of all civilian fire deaths occur in the home, while 79 percent of civilian fire injuries occur in the home as well. In addition, between 2004 and 2008 there were only 13 deaths nationwide in mercantile establishments.
As business owners and Rhode Island residents, we all place the safety of our customers and citizens above all else. However, it does not make sense that an occupancy group responsible for only 1.1 percent of all fires nationwide be held to such an extreme standard by the state. This is not an issue of fire safety, but rather one of placing unnecessarily harsh requirements that continue to cause an extreme financial burden on business in what we know is a difficult economic climate. As business owners, we have been told that the state fire board will work with us to approve variances that address individual property characteristics and help arrive at reasonable solutions. Unfortunately, to date we have found that has not been the case. The only “solution” we have been given is a minimum of six months time to comply in installing alarm systems that cost a minimum of $10,000. This is not a solution.
We as business owners feel that fire-code officials are not interested in practical solutions or in the financial hardship and negative financial impact on small businesses that are so important to the economic well-being of Rhode Island. It is the opinion of many small businesses in Newport County and throughout Rhode Island that the state fire code is onerous for small businesses and needs to be reviewed and enforced logically, ethically and consistently.
What started with the best of intentions to prevent future tragedies like The Station fire by changing the state’s fire code, is now, eight years later, hurting the Rhode Island business community. Additionally, many hard-working Rhode Island business owners have had to close their doors, either unable or unwilling to assume additional debt.
To remedy this situation, we believe that if an alarm system is not required for a single-family or a two-unit multifamily use, then it should not be required for low-hazard mercantile or office use.
The future health and sustainability of the Rhode Island small-business community is at stake, and as our state leaders and representatives, we are asking you for your help in addressing this matter on behalf of the business community. &#8226

Katie Dyer is the managing partner of Cadeaux du Monde in Newport.

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