A Development Lacking

[x635 4,066]

Last night, during a rather unusually quiet night at work, spent some time looking at developments in the North Castle area.

I drove through one development in particular recently hit by a fire. In this development, there are $3 million dollar homes, with intricate stonework, inground pools, all the amenties of the mansions they are. This development is still under construction.

One thing I noticed missing started my mind going. This was touched on in the other thread. There were NO hydrants, dry hydrants (despite a retention pond on the property that contained water and despite a lake across the street) nor were there any storage tanks. I also recall being in one of these houses, and there being no sprinkler system. I'm not sure if these houses are municipal or well, I think municipal.

Now, if you are paying this much for these houses and development, shouldn't there be some form of a water source on the property? It bothers me quite a bit that this seems overlooked.

I'm wondering if the local goverment or Fire Department has any authority or ethical responsibility to obligate such things when approving a development?

[PVFD113 6]

We actually require storage tanks and usually chargable systems before we give our approval to the town--no approval--no CO

[Guest]

What is CO?

[PVFD113 6]

Certificate of Occupancy

[TRUCK6018 50]

Now, if you are paying this much for these houses and development, shouldn't there be some form of a water source on the property? It bothers me quite a bit that this seems overlooked.

Wouldn't you think so?

I'm wondering if the local goverment or Fire Department has any authority or ethical responsibility to obligate such things when approving a development?

That is dependant on the municipality. In some towns, the fire department has no say. Many towns have fire advisory boards which only make recommendations. The planning board is the ones that make the desisions. If it's not required by state codes, then it could be a moot issue.

New developments are only required to have hydrants if its exceeds a certain number of houses (I forget the exact #). Many times, to avoid the expence they will plan one house less than the amount. Even worse, I've seen developers plan construction in phases, under different names, with each phase under the amount specified.

We actually require storage tanks and usually chargable systems before we give our approval to the town--no approval--no CO

PVFD113, just out of curiosity, what is the size of the tanks required, and who is responsible to initially fill and the upkeep of them?

[PVFD113 6]

Mainly 10,000 gallon. The size of the development dictates how many of them and where they get placed. We fill the tanks--we make it a multi functional drill. As for the up keep--it was a gray area for a while but now we take care of them--another drill night. It saves alot of hose laying haveing the chargable hydrant system there--works really well. We have yet to use them for the real deal (not a bad thing though) but as a chief--knowing we have some supply of water nearby is a relief.We respond with 6,000 gallons. If we need more than that --oh boy!! But it is there if ya need it!!!