I think it would probably help a lot if you sat down with the chairman and asked what his thinking was, why he was pursuing this course of action and then explain your personal problems with it.
It may well be, for instance, that the fire inspectors have told him that while hard-wired smoke alarms aren’t mandatory, they could be what prevents you from getting an order to install a sprinkler system (a scenario I have encountered elsewhere).
There’s clearly a lack of communication here – and that may well be the only problem.
So remember the Flat Chat credo – never ascribe to malice anything that can just as easily be explained by stupidity.