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Commerce City council keeps residential fire‑sprinkler requirement after weeks of debate
Summary
After hours of public comment from builders, realtors and fire officials, the council voted 5–4 to retain a mandatory residential sprinkler requirement in new single‑family homes on first reading, continuing a contentious local fight over safety and housing costs.
Commerce City Council voted 5–4 on first reading to retain the city’s residential fire‑sprinkler requirement instead of making sprinklers optional in new single‑family homes.
Supporters of keeping the code in place said sprinklers save lives and reduce property loss; opponents including several local builders and home‑building trade groups urged the council to make sprinklers optional because of added unit costs and impacts on housing affordability.
The council’s decision follows more than two hours of public comment in which builders and trade representatives described added construction costs and permitting delays they say threaten home affordability. Mark Armstrong of KB Home told the council the 2023 sprinkler rule increased per‑home costs by “upwards of $12,000 a door in just material and labor,” and that increased costs have forced plan redesigns and pauses in some building operations. Several builders and representatives of the…
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