Statesboro council pauses Unified Development Ordinance changes after debate on sprinklers, tiny homes

Statesboro City Council on April 15 took no action on proposed amendments to the city's Unified Development Ordinance (UDO), including a newly proposed requirement that multiunit townhomes install automatic sprinkler systems and language creating a pathway for tiny-home developments.

The council deferred the items after developers and the fire department clashed over cost and safety trade-offs and members asked staff to consult further with local builders before a second reading. The council directed staff to schedule a work session and return with revisions in May.

The UDO package presented in the meeting included several technical edits and one substantive addition, cited in the draft as section 2.5.0.9, "multi-unit fire protection," that would apply a sprinkler requirement to multi-household dwellings and townhomes. Staff said the amendment could be applied going forward at council's discretion and that midstream projects could be grandfathered.

Steve Rushing, an attorney representing a local homebuilder identified in the record as Verizon Home Builders, told the council the firm is already well into construction on a townhome subdivision and learned of the proposed amendment that afternoon. "We have already permitted and framed and even 57 of those have received certificate of occupancy," Rushing said. He said adding sprinklers now would require new engineering, delay projects and substantially raise costs; he estimated the retrofit could add roughly $5 per square foot pending engineering. Rushing asked the council to consider the proposal's timing and its impact on projects already under way.

Fire Chief Tim (first name given in the meeting) said the proposal was a proactive safety measure aimed at reducing fire risk where townhomes are being used as rental housing for young adults, including students. He told the council his office had local pricing that put the addition closer to $3.50 per square foot and said sprinklers control smoke and fire in ways firewalls and detectors do not. "Apartment buildings are required to be sprinkled," he said. "This is more about being proactive."

City staff and developers also debated the technical distinction between townhomes and apartment buildings. Rushing described the townhomes in his development as individually platted single-family units with separate utilities; staff said the draft language applied to multi-household dwellings and townhomes and that state limits affect how the city can set requirements.

The UDO amendments also address tiny-home developments. Under the draft language read at the meeting, a tiny home would be defined as a building between 407 and 749 square feet intended for dwelling and could be permitted inside medium- and high-density multifamily districts with a special-use permit; tiny homes on wheels would not qualify. Staff emphasized that tiny-home developments must meet building codes adopted by the city and additional site requirements in section 2.4.0.2.

Council members expressed concern about the financial impact and the timing of applying a sprinkler rule to projects already permitted. Several members asked staff to consult further with local developers and return with clearer grandfathering language and an assessment of the pipeline of projects that could be affected.

Mayor Cooney and council members agreed to take no action at the first reading and to place the package on a work session agenda for more discussion. Staff said the item will return for a subsequent first reading and that adjustments identified in the work session will be reflected when the council resumes consideration.

The council did not adopt the UDO changes at the April meeting; no ordinance was enacted and staff was directed to continue stakeholder outreach and prepare a revised draft for the council's work session and a later reading.