Key alderman firm on sprinkler measure

Stone opposes office exemptions

From the Chicago Tribune

Published February 6, 2004

By Gary Washburn, Staff Reporter

The influential head of the City Council's Buildings Committee said Thursday he is unwilling to exempt any office high-rises from a requirement to install fire sprinklers.

In a separate action at City Hall, meanwhile, officials said they will seek daily fines against RCN Corp. until the cable television operator complies with an agreement that the city alleges it has breached. The Building Owners and Managers Association has contended that a sprinkler mandate would hurt owners of older office high-rises with low rents and high vacancy rates.

But Ald. Bernard Stone (50th), chairman of the Buildings Committee, said commercial real estate investors are better able to afford sprinklers than condominium owners are. "I think [the association has] a good argument, but it is coming from people with a loaf of bread under their arm," Stone said.

"When I see people who have their life savings invested in a condo unit coming to me and saying, `This is too expensive and I can't afford any more,' and I see a guy who owns a 30-story commercial building saying, `This costs too much,' who do you think I am going to listen to more?"

Stone said he favors an alternative to scaling back safety requirements for office buildings. "What I would like to try to do is see where we can help them get financing to cover the costs," he said.

After an Oct. 17 fire in a Loop high-rise killed six people, Mayor Richard Daley proposed an ordinance that would require sprinklers in all high-rise office buildings, but would allow owners of residential towers to make other fire-safety improvements. A competing measure sponsored by Ald. Edward Burke (14th) would mandate sprinklers in all high-rises, both commercial and residential.

Stone said his committee favors Daley's proposal, but he added the ordinance may be fine-tuned as more information is gathered. "All the facts are not in," he said. "I have people asking me every day to testify." The committee is expected to vote on a final ordinance in late February, Stone said.

On the cable television front, Consumer Services Commissioner Caroline Shoenberger said Thursday that RCN has failed to meet installation deadlines in Area 2, one of five cable zones in the city, covering parts of the West, Near West and Northwest Sides.

The firm also has not paid $19,000 it owes the city and $215,000 it owes CAN TV, Chicago's public access network, Shoenberger said. "In the business world, your word is your bond, and RCN has made a habit of breaking its word," she said. "RCN has not lived up to its obligations to the city, the people of Chicago or to ... CAN TV and we intend to hold them accountable."

Shoenberger said she will ask the Chicago Cable Commission to find that RCN has violated its franchise, opening the door to damages of up to $750 a day until the firm complies. If necessary, the city can collect on an RCN bond and letter of credit totaling $3.35 million, officials said.

Mike Angi, general manager of RCN's Chicago operation, cited hard times in the telecommunications industry and financial constraints for the firm's failure to complete construction in Area 2. The company has filed a formal request to halt installation in that zone and give up franchises for Areas 3 and 4, where there has been no construction work, Angi said.

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