Politics & Government
Locals React to New Flossmoor Building Codes
A series of new building codes were implemented during last Monday's Flossmoor Village Board meeting, but one of them in particular has been generating some controversy.
A minor tiff broke out during Monday night's meeting over the implementation of new building codes—specifically the requirement of all new residential construction to include a sprinkler system.
The cost of doing so is estimated to be an extra $2 per square foot, according to Flossmoor Assistant Fire Chief Keith Damm. Damm compared this to the price of home flooring at $4 per square foot.
Additionally, Damm mentioned that fire sprinklers statistically save 80 percent of people in a fire.
Trustees Minga and Mitros disagreed over the right of the village to set such a requirement. Mitros' concern over the price of requiring sprinkler systems in all new homes was met with Minga's conviction that making a decision for the safety of residents is concurrent with the village's mission.
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The argument carried over to our Facebook page. Here's what some of our readers think:
- Justin Wills:"You want to keep the prestige of Flossmoor and keep home prices high? Make the sacrifice."
- Caitlin Archer-Helke:"The sprinkler requirement makes a LOT of sense, from a safety standpoint."
- Heidi Hawkins Gardiner:"Sorry that's nuts!!! Really??? How many fires has there been, that this is necessary???"
- Steve Burke:"I'd put one in if I were building new. My family's worth the premium."
- Jessica Plummer O'Malley:"Yes, it is the perfect time to discourage people from building residential property in Flossmoor. They've done all they can to discourage any business that's not a medical facility, so it just makes sense to move on to something new. For someone who really values sprinklers, they could have them installed without it being a village code."
- Rick Thomas: "The home builders’ association estimates the cost to install a sprinkler system in a roughly 2,200-square-foot home at $5,573. When factoring in financing costs it comes in around $6700."
Find out what's happening in Homewood-Flossmoorwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
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