La Cholla Airpark is more than just airplanes.
The upscale, 108-lot community is built around a 4,500-foot runway. Here, homeowners can taxi their planes down their driveways and through the streets to take off.
But after the community was annexed by Oro Valley last summer, town officials began to realize that town building regulations may need some tweaking to meet the special needs of airpark property owners.
"It's an extremely unique area, and we want to be able to protect that uniqueness and that lifestyle," said Town Manager Chuck Sweet.
At least two residents have applied for building permits for aircraft hangars since the annexation, Sweet said.
The task of reviewing their plans is something the town was admittedly unprepared for, and it ran up against some concerns from airpark residents.
People are also reading…
"Prior to airpark annexation, I'm pretty sure we never reviewed plans for an airplane hangar, ever," Sweet said. "We didn't anticipate that need."
The condition of the fire-hydrant system, low water flow in the area, the type of construction and proposed building size of the hangars brought forth a requirement that is new to airpark residents: Sprinkler systems must be installed per the town's fire and building codes, according to a Town Council memo.
"The town of Oro Valley as well as the fire district operate under International Fire Code," said John Sullivan, Golder Ranch Fire District battalion chief. "That code speaks to the parts and pieces needed for the safety of people living, working and using the building as well as the safety of the firefighters that would respond in an emergency."
Before the annexation, La Cholla Airpark was operating under Pima County regulations, different from the International Fire Code, Sullivan said.
"Pima County doesn't enforce a code," said John Fink, Golder Ranch fire chief. "There's no countywide fire department to take care of that and it usually falls to the State Fire Marshal's Office."
The county has no fire code, so it is up to the individual fire districts to enforce a code, said County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry.
Airpark residents did not anticipate Oro Valley's sprinkler requirement, said Douglas Gratzer, who has lived at the airpark since 1988.
"The primary issue is that Pima County didn't enforce any fire code and Oro Valley is much more involved," he said. "This was an additional requirement we hadn't had before."
Airpark residents are working with town and Golder Ranch Fire District staffers to find a solution meeting the intent of the town's code and making the hangars safe.
Last week the Town Council voted to change regulations on residential airplane hangars addressing specifically the size, parking and lighting requirements that were more suited for commercial hangars, Community Development Director Brent Sinclair said during the meeting.
But the sprinkler system requirement for hangars wasn't included in that change. What is appropriate for fire suppression is still up in the air, Fink said.
"It was a big step when the town changed the commercial requirements," Gratzer said. "The next part is going to be handled with the fire district chief."
Fire officials said options being considered include requiring sprinkler systems only in the portion of the hangar where people have offices, requiring a 30-foot space around the hangar to contain a potential fire, or requiring a monitored fire alarm system.
The partnership is taking cues from other fire districts on how to handle the situation.
"This is the first airpark for the fire district, but we aren't going into it blindly. We're looking at other districts to see what they are doing," Sullivan said. "We want to see something financially feasible for them but ensuring safety for everyone in the area."
The main issue with residents is cost, Fink said, noting that commercial sprinkler systems, which are required by the code, are expensive. So is fixing the area water-flow issues which would require replacing the current waterlines with 8- to 12-inch waterlines and connecting hydrants to the system every 500 feet, Fink said.
Fire and town officials could not provide a cost estimate for commercial sprinklers because of the variable size of the hangars.
Bringing the water flow, which is at 600 gallons per minute, up to a minimum of 1,500 gallons per minute is cost-prohibitive, Fink said.
"It would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars," he said. "We're working with the residents because of their low-water-flow system."
Under the International Fire Code, the fire marshal is able to allow reduced flow requirements if the cost of bringing it up to standard makes it impractical, Fink said.
If low flow affected residential construction, Fink said, fire officials would not allow the problem to remain. It would have to be fixed, he said.
"What we're looking at here is protecting property versus life safety," he said.
Whatever outcome is reached, requirements would be applied to new construction, because completed construction is grandfathered in under the old regulations, Fink said.
Gratzer is hopeful the cooperative effort will resolve the community's concerns. He said he thinks the group is heading in the right direction.
"We're looking for the best solution for the most reasonable price," Sullivan said.
