So, wait: the whole legal argument aside, [though I am not dismissing it, as it is crucial to whether or not the code change is reasonable and enforceable] did everyone miss this nugget?

Philip Ragaway, the owner of [a building containing] the now-defunct Alhambra Theatre… spent about $173,000 to install sprinklers in [two] buildings [he owned.]

NOTE: that's an average cost of about $86,000 per building.

[Ragaway] says the cost of the new sprinklers forced him to raise the rent at the Alhambra Theatre from about $4,000 to about $7,000 a month—which caused the club to go out of business.

NOTE: the owner is attempting to recover the cost of improving his building in less than three years here, at some $36,000 per year, despite a far longer recoverable time period defined in tax codes. Hmm… it seems as though greed on the part of the owner largely triggered the demise of the Alhambra Theatre, doesn't it?