Committee advances emergency safety-plan regulation for multifamily buildings to full council

The Planning, Housing and Parks Committee voted without objection on Feb. 11 to forward Executive Regulation ER 2‑125 to the full Montgomery County Council. The regulation implements portions of Bill 7‑24 and requires landlords of multifamily rental housing to prepare and submit emergency fire‑safety plans to the Department of Fire/Rescue Services (DPS) for review and approval.

Council staff summarized the regulation, noting that plans must be updated and resubmitted every three years and should be included in tenant lease agreements. The regulation establishes a $95 filing fee per submission for the plan review. Patsy Warnecke, the county fire marshal, told the committee DPS has published a template, a user guide and a web page, and has piloted submissions through the ePlans system.

Warnecke described implementation details and resource needs: DPS will require additional staff to manage outreach, review submittals and align periodic inspections with the three‑year plan cycle. The regulation includes an addendum requirement for buildings with operational issues — if a multifamily property receives 10 or more fire calls in a rolling 12‑month period, the landlord must submit an addendum describing mitigation measures (for example, repairing malfunctioning alarm systems or addressing malicious alarm activity).

Councilmember Stewart, who led the legislation that produced the regulation, thanked the Diaz family and public safety staff for their work and noted the regulation responds to gaps identified after a fatal fire. The committee asked about timing and Warnecke said the website, templates and ePlans submission process are live and some buildings have already submitted draft plans; committee members expressed readiness to forward the regulation to the full council.