Less than a week after more than 250 residents complained their condominium association fees would skyrocket because of the cost of complying with a fire sprinkler requirement, Mayor William McLeod said village officials should consider amending the ordinance.
Retrofitting sprinklers in the 460-unit Moon Lake Village complex would cost about $3.7 million, resulting in a 40 to 66 percent increase in association fees for homeowners.
McLeod said village officials who passed the ordinance in 1996 never envisioned the expense of installing the sprinklers.
“No one wants to put in something that will cause people to lose their homes,” he said.All multifamily homes in Hoffman Estates are affected by the ordinance, but the condominium association of Moon Lake Village, 1885 Bonnie Lane, is the first to address the details of the installation process, village officials said.
Mark Friedman, president of the complex’s management company, said the association received notification of the ordinance in June 1996. Association officers delayed installing the sprinklers, preferring to see whether the ordinance would be enforced, he said.
The estimated four-year installation project does not need to be completed until 2010, he said.
Fire inspectors last fall notified the complex’s property manager that the village was serious about enforcing the ordinance, Friedman said.
Residents of the 352-unit complex of four story buildings would have to pay an another $62 to $103 a month in association fees for 10 years, roughly a 40 percent increase compared with the current $181 to $236, Friedman said.
Residents of the other 108 units in the two-story buildings would have to pay an estimated 66 percent increase.