By Annie Hamilton – York Weekly

HAMPTON — Review of the plan to demolish the Riviera Motel and residential buildings to make way for a condominium complex was continued to the Planning Board meeting on Aug. 20.

The applicant presented the fire safety specifications of the proposed building at the board’s meeting on Wednesday, July 16. Bob Cummings of Fire Protection Engineers has worked with Hampton Fire Prevention Officer Jonathan True on fire safety elements to the proposal for the condominiums at 431-435 Ocean Blvd.

Improvements within the building include a sprinkler system, smoke vents in the ceilings of the two stairwells and a fire alarm system that connects directly to a central station, which then could notify the Hampton Fire Department.

True’s exterior recommendations include non-combustible siding rather than vinyl due to the fact there is not enough space for a fire truck to get to the back of the building. True also asked for escape ladders from the fourth and fifth floors, because a standard rescue ladder is only 34 feet long and will only reach to the third floor.

Attorney Steve Ells, representing applicant Kier Family Entrepreneurs Inc., said the developer would respond to the recommendations.

Kier Family Entrepreneurs Inc. initially brought the proposal before the Planning Board on March 5. At that meeting, the board took jurisdiction of the plan and sent it out for a department review to be revisited at the April 16 meeting. At the April 16 meeting, the applicant requested a continuance to the May 21 meeting and at that meeting, the applicant requested a continuance to the June 18 meeting.

It was at that meeting that Ells noted there were fire protection issues with the plan. They recruited Cummings of Fire Protection Engineers and Mike Wicher of Wicher engineers to address those issues.

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