City Commission votes 5-0 to release fire sprinkler covenant for Overlook Estates homes

The Salina City Commission voted 5-0 to approve the release of a recorded restrictive covenant that required automatic fire sprinklers in all new homes built in the Overlook Estates Edition, after city staff said the subdivision now meets fire access requirements under the city’s updated fire code.

The request, filed by Derek Lee on behalf of Overlook Estates LLC, involved a 52.9-acre residential subdivision south of River Run Addition and west of GreatLIFE Golf and Fitness at the south end of Overlook Drive. The subdivision is a planned development district with underlying single-family residential zoning.

Planning Manager Dustin Michaelson told commissioners the sprinkler covenant was originally recorded on Nov. 9, 2023, after the developer voluntarily agreed to install automatic fire sprinklers in all dwellings. That agreement was made because the subdivision’s secondary emergency access road did not meet the remoteness requirement under the 2012 International Fire Code, which was in effect when the plat was approved.

Michaelson said that changed when the city adopted the 2018 International Fire Code through Ordinance 25-11266, which took effect Jan. 1, 2026. Under that update, the previous diagonal distance formula was replaced with a flat minimum requirement of 300 feet between primary and secondary fire access roads.

According to Michaelson, the existing secondary emergency access on Lot 11 connects across GreatLIFE Golf and Fitness to Marymount Road and provides approximately 1,130 feet of separation from the primary entrance at River Run Parkway, exceeding the current 300-foot minimum. He said the fire marshal reviewed the route and confirmed it meets the physical requirements of the 2018 fire code.

During the meeting, commissioners asked whether the secondary access route had already been improved. Michaelson said it had.

“It has already been improved,” Michaelson said. “Overlook Estates has already done those improvements, and fire marshal has already confirmed that it meets all the standards.”

Commissioners also asked who would be responsible for maintaining the access route once the development is complete. Michaelson said that responsibility would remain with the property owners.

“Those are the responsibility of the property owners to maintain those,” he said.

Michaelson added that one of the approval conditions clarifies that maintenance of the access route must be handled by Overlook Estates and GreatLIFE, including keeping the easement clear.

He also told commissioners the Planning Commission held a public hearing on the request on March 17 and voted 6-0 to recommend approval after adding a fifth condition requiring a Knox Box padlock on the fire access gate.

Michaelson said the request did not involve any zoning changes, land-use changes, density changes, setbacks or other modifications to the planned development district. He said the only change was a revised finding that the subdivision now satisfies subdivision regulations through the existing secondary emergency access under the currently adopted fire code.

Following discussion, commissioners approved the release of the covenant requiring automatic fire sprinklers in new homes within the development.

The motion passed by a 5-0 vote.