AUBURN – City Councilor Daniel Herrick, a building contractor, said Tuesday he had no conflict of interest when he proposed changing the city’s fire sprinkler rules for warehouses.

“The only reason I’m behind this, the only reason, is to level the playing field with our neighboring city,” Herrick said. “We’ve had this on our books for long time, and they haven’t, and I think it’s hurt us.”

Councilors voted Monday to no longer require developers to install automatic fire sprinklers when they build warehouses. Herrick argued that the requirement was a hardship on developers, especially those working in rural areas that do not have city water service.

“It’s an ongoing cost, and not only do you have to install the system but you need to keep water on hand, and keep it heated,” he said.

Herrick said he had heard complaints about the ordinance from fellow contractors for years, and he suspected that it had convinced some builders to avoid Auburn.

Herrick, however, did not reveal in November when he brought the issue before councilors that he was working on a project that could benefit from the rule change, nor did he recuse himself from any vote on the matter.

The new rule will effect him, he said. He’s working as a contractor redeveloping a barn at 963 Riverside Drive that would have needed sprinklers under the old ordinance. Herrick said he did not know what owners Frank Sherkenbach and Kimberly McGovern of Gloucester, Mass., have planned for the old barn.

“But if they wanted to find a way to reuse it, they would have had to install water tanks, a new pump and everything,” Herrick said. “It would have been a big mess.”

Herrick also said he would like to build a warehouse or barn on his Hatch Road property for his equipment and livestock someday.

“But my decision has nothing to do with that,” he said. “I didn’t do it because of my own interest. I did it because it wasn’t fair to start with.”

The city has required some buildings to have automatic fire sprinklers since 1982. The new rule removes the restriction for buildings larger than 200,000 cubic feet but still requires sprinklers for three-story buildings, those 40 feet tall or taller, and apartments with five dwelling units or more.

Fire Chief Wayne Werts said many Maine communities have stricter rules. Gorham, Scarborough and Ellsworth require sprinklers in warehouses smaller than 200,000 cubic feet. Werts argued against changing the city ordinance Monday, saying that sprinklered buildings are safer for workers and for fire crews called to put out a blaze. He referred to a fire in a sprinklered building in Andover last month which ended up causing $200,000 in damage.

“I spoke to the chief in Andover and asked him how much that damage would have been without the sprinklers,” Werts said. “He said it would have been in the millions. It would have gutted that building and ruined that business.”

Lewiston, Bangor and Portland don’t have those restrictions, however, relying on the discretion of fire prevention officers.

“What we do depends on the size of the building and what’s going to go in there,” said Deputy Chief Robert Wassick of the Portland Fire Department. “If there is going to be something combustible inside, or the wall is more than 150 feet from where we need to bring a hose in, we’ll talk to them.”

Auburn City Manager Glenn Aho provided a list of eight warehouse projects that would have been affected by the city’s ordinance. Of the eight, one installed a sprinkler. The other seven changed their designs, reduced their size or added walls to break up the storage space.

But Herrick said the old ordinance has been enough to convince other prospective developers to bypass Auburn. Monday’s change gives them discretion.

“Besides, we’re not stopping warehouses from having sprinklers,” Herrick said. “If they want to have a sprinkler, they can. It’s their choice.”

Herrick said he had spoken privately with some developers who said it was a problem, but he wouldn’t say which developers.

“We just wanted to level the playing field with our largest neighbor,” Herrick said. “I think this has been a stumbling-stone for Auburn’s development for some time. If the word starts to get out that Auburn doesn’t have this requirement any more, maybe some of the prospects can start coming my way. That’s why I did this.”