Committee B advances edits to Edmonds fire code to standardize fire-lane striping and alarm systems

The Edmonds City Council Committee B reviewed an ordinance to amend ECDC 19.25 that would standardize fire-lane striping and tighten fire-alarm requirements. Staff said the changes seek clearer, more enforceable markings and safer alarm systems.

Committee B members heard that the proposed amendments would change fire-lane stripes from yellow to red, increase stripe width, and permit a 4-inch white stencil on the curb stripe to improve visibility. Ted Corey, Edmonds building official, said the red stripe is intended to be visually clearer to the public: "Yellow is more advisory...we feel red is more clear." Corey also said the change would be applied to new work going forward and not retroactive: existing yellow markings would remain until they are restriped.

The proposal also adds language to prohibit “dedicated” alarm panels — small alarm systems that serve only a portion of a building (for example, an elevator) rather than integrating detection and notification into a buildingwide system. Deputy Fire Marshal Chris Burt said the change responds to older buildings that have limited, standalone panels: "A dedicated panel just doesn't allow for...notification to the occupants that live in that building. We're trying to increase that safety and get them out of that building quicker." Staff said dedicated panels are often abandoned because each panel carries a separate monitoring fee.

Committee members asked how the change would be enforced and who would restripe faded markings; Corey said maintenance is typically performed by the same contractors who restripe parking lots and that the city can notify property owners when striping is too faded. Corey noted that crews frequently prompt restriping after repeated parking problems and that such notifications would include the new red requirement. He also said some jurisdictions have found red markings help uphold parking citations: "...in other jurisdictions, parking tickets are getting thrown out because it's not red. So that's sort of a legal way to assess red's more effective."

Councilmember Olsen suggested adding language about the orientation of stencil lettering; Corey said that suggestion would likely be included in the final draft before the ordinance goes to the full council. Committee members did not take an individual roll-call vote during the discussion; staff said they expect the ordinance to be placed on the council agenda for a future meeting (staff referenced a planned council hearing on the ninth).

The committee discussion distinguished between policy direction (including Olsen's requested wording and the nonretroactivity for existing striping), technical clarifications on alarm system scope, and the next procedural step of forwarding a final ordinance draft to the full council for action.

What happens next: staff will incorporate the orientation language and present a final ordinance to the full City Council for consideration.