December 2003

O Tannenbaum

As the holidays approach, many owners and managers are eager to spruce up the entryways of their buildings with festive decorations for the season. However, special attention is necessary when selecting the type of trees for placement in a lobby. San Francisco Fire Code regulates the placement of Christmas trees, garlands and wreaths in the common areas of apartment buildings. Treated with flame retardant material, “red-tagged” trees bear the State Fire Marshall’s tag and are available at most tree lots around the city. The following is the city’s fire code regarding Christmas trees:

Appendix IV-B – Christmas Trees
Section 1 - Scope
The use of natural or resin-bearing cut trees in public buildings shall be in accordance with Appendix IV-B and Title 19, California Code of Regulations, Division 1, Chapter 8.

Section 4 - Tags
Trees shall bear a tag stating the following:

1. Date of placement in the public building;
2. Type of flame-retardant treatment used;
3. Name and address of the person who applied the flame retardant
4. Date of application of the flame retardant;
5. Name of the person affixing the tag;
6. Notice that use of the tree in a public building is prohibited after 30 days from the date of application of the flame retardant.
7. No person shall remove, alter or deface the tag during the time the tree is located in a public building.

Section 12 - Location
Trees shall be located so that they do not conceal or obstruct any exit or fire protection system or equipment when upright and so that if they tip over they will not obstruct any exit.

Section 13 - Clearance From Combustibles
Any materials, including decorations and furniture, located on or within 4 feet (1,219 mm) of a tree shall be noncombustible or properly treated with a flame retardant approved by the chief.

Section 14 - Garlands
The use of garlands made of vegetation is prohibited in public buildings.

Section 15 - Wreaths
Wreaths constructed of resin-bearing tree parts and located in public buildings shall be in accordance with the following:

1. Wreaths shall be properly treated with a flame retardant approved by the chief;
2. No part of any wreath shall be within 4 feet (1219 mm) of other combustible material.

Musical Chairs with Rent Control

Last month, just as Supervisor Gonzalez pulled his amendments to the Rent Ordinance indefinitely from the Board of Supervisor’s calendar, Supervisor Peskin proposed his own set of changes to the Ordinance. The Gonzalez Amendments, as they came to be known, apparently are gone for now. Supervisor Peskin, facing reelection next year, appears eager to add some new ingredients to San Francisco’s “housing” stew. The first ingredient is to tinker with the Operating and Maintenance Section of the Rent Ordinance. The proposed legislation stipulates that a landlord “…shall not be granted more than a total seven percent (7%) rent increase for any unit in any five (5) year period due to increases in operating and maintenance costs.” The second new item is an attempt to overturn the California Supreme Court’s controversial free-speech decision Golden Gateway Center v. Golden Gateway Tenants Association. In that 4-3 ruling, the court prohibited a tenant organization from distributing literature in a privately owned apartment complex. Golden Gateway is located in District 3, the supervisor’s home district. Stay tuned for further developments.

Drinking Water Disinfection Change in February 2004

The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission will change its residual drinking water disinfectant from chlorine to chloramine in February 2004. The planned conversion date has been changed from November 2003 to February 2, 2004, which was determined to be an optimal date, offering the least potential impact on water users. Chloramine is a combination of chlorine and ammonia that is considered a more effective disinfectant. Chloraminated water is safe for people and animals to drink, and for all other general uses. As with chlorine, sensitive users such as kidney dialysis patients, fish and amphibian owners and businesses using highly processed water, need to take precautions before using the water. For more information about the chloramine conversion, please visit better.sfwater.org, or call 415-351-4200.

Correction
In our October issue, we published an article entitled “Tree Dispute Resolution.” Unfortunately, we misspelled the author’s name; the correct spelling is Roy C. Leggitt, III. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.