Following the Marco Polo Condominium fire, City Council adopted Resolution 17-341 to establish a permitted interaction group composed of Councilmembers Ann Kobayashi, Carol Fukunaga, and Trevor Ozawa as they have the highest number of high-rise residential condominiums in their district.
The group held a community meeting on December 18 to gather input from community stakeholders, State legislators, and the general public on measures to improve fire safety in residential buildings, the financial impacts of such measures, and measures that may mitigate those financial impacts.
More than 100 people representing 47 condominium projects from Aiea to Kahala attended the forum. Additionally, written or oral testimony was received by 52 people. A majority of the testimony opposed any mandatory retrofit of sprinkler systems due to the financial burden to residents even with low-interest loans. A number of condominium residents are on fixed incomes and cannot afford the additional cost and many commented on the relatively low occurrence of high-rise fires and fatalities since 2000.
The Councilmembers will be presenting their report findings at the City Council meeting on Wednesday, January 31. Click here to view a copy of their report.
