Sleeping space rules cause tension

DOVER - At the North Branch Fire District Prudential Committee’s meeting on May 17, real estate broker Rich Caplan expressed concerns about realtors’ involvement in enforcing the district’s “sleeping space” rules.  
“I think it’s very unfair that North Branch has put the realtors and attorneys in the position that we’re in,” said Caplan. “That we have to act in a way where we have to advise our clients and customers in what to do given sleeping spaces. We don’t get paid for that.” Caplan said he’d like the committee to take real estate agents out of the equation entirely. “Be proactive and audit the properties so we don’t have to deal with it,” said Caplan. 
Caplan was referring to the district’s “sleeping space” rules. The North Branch Fire District charges hookup fees based on sleeping spaces.  If, when a house is sold, it has more sleeping spaces than the homeowner has previously paid hookup fees for, the homeowner is charged for those additional sleeping spaces. According to Caplan, that can be $1,800 to $2,000 per sleeping space. A double bed would be two sleeping spaces; a twin bed would be one. Per the district’s most recent ordinance, which was adopted January 11, a bedroom is assumed to contain two sleeping spaces and a loft considered to contain one. 
“It seems a lot of people are paying the price for this right now,” said Caplan, noting that sofa beds and futons have been considered sleeping spaces even if they were not in bedrooms. “When I have to tell a homeowner that if they’ve got extra beds or they have a 30-year-old pull-out sofa filled with mouse turds, it’s going to cost $4,000, it’s pretty simple. Get rid of it, go to Bob’s Discount Furniture, and get a $500 sofa.”
Chair Cyndee Frere said it had “never been based on furniture, it’s based on the space,” but committee vice chair Tom Ferrazza said that was incorrect.
“It was based on furniture, but we have changed that,” said Ferrazza. “No more sofa beds, you don’t get charged for that. No more futons, you don’t get charged for it. Your loft is now one sleeping space. We have made changes based on what (the real estate) community wanted.”
Committee member Karl Braunbach said that description wasn’t fair. “If the furniture count is above the spaces, you still get dinged,” said Braunbach. “If you have one sleeping space in a loft but you have a double bed in there, that’s two sleeping spaces, and you will get dinged on that. They didn’t make that clear and that’s not fair.”  
Section 2.02 of the ordinance, which is available on the district’s website, defines a bedroom as “any room in a residential structure that is susceptible to present or future use as a private sleeping area, and that has at least: one window; one closet; and one interior method of entry and exit, including closets and bathrooms, allowing the room to be closed off from the remainder of the residence for privacy or any room within a building or structure that actually serves primarily as sleeping quarters.” 
The ordinance goes on to say that the committee may determine that a room not fitting that description be deemed a bedroom after consideration of additional criteria, including whether the room has been, or could be, marketed as a bedroom. The ordinance says that at a minimum, a bedroom is assumed to have two sleeping spaces and a loft is assumed to have one. “Any sleeping spaces over and above what is described in this paragraph will be considered additional sleeping spaces,” says the ordinance. “Final sleeping space count is determined by an actual inspection of the North Branch Fire District #1.”
Braunbach said if it were up to him, the sleeping space rule would be forgotten altogether. 
“Alleviate us from this whole sleeping space nightmare at the time of closing and say it’s a meter,” said Braunbach. “If you want to have 15 people in your condo and flush the toilet every 15 minutes, have at it. The meter’s running. A hookup fee would have to be worked out, but once the hookup fee is paid, this whole sleeping spaces resale inspection where you go in and say, look, he’s got seven beds in there? Who gives a crap? This is like coming in someone’s house and saying, geez, this guy’s heat is at 75. That’s none of my business. Green Mountain Power’s meter is running.”
“Do you have the authority to make that change?” asked resident Paul Fisher. 
Braunbach said he wasn’t sure that the rest of the committee agreed with him, and that the push for change would need to come from voters. Caplan noted that he’s not a voter in the district, and Braunbach said Caplan should find interested voters and encourage them to come to meetings to forge change. 
“I wish you would guide us in that direction,” said Braunbach. “We’re guided by the voters.”
Ferrazza expressed frustration with real estate agents who may advise clients on how to not pay for sleeping spaces, noting a remark from a real estate agent at a recent meeting.
“We were talking about dens, trying to figure out what definition for a den we would use, because in the ordinance it says we’re not going to charge for dens as sleeping spaces,” said Ferrazza. “And the realtor said, ‘So if I tell my client to tear off the closet and take the door off the hinges, then it becomes a den.’ See, that’s a problem for me. If you want to build a den, build a den. Don’t try to turn a bedroom into a den and then say it’s not a bedroom.”
“But there can be a room with a closet in it that’s never been used as a bedroom,” said Caplan. 
Braunbach said he got himself elected to the board because of the sleeping space issue and to try to mitigate some of the tension between the committee and the real estate community. 
“I’ve said it more than one time,” said Braunbach. “Make this a more friendly and consumer-related organization.” 
“In my opinion it’s never been a friendly relationship,” said Caplan. “It’s always been adversarial. And you should be doing everything possible to encourage the development of business, because when there’s turds flowing down there, it’s heads in beds, it’s people eating in restaurants, and it’s the economic engine working.” 
Frere asked Caplan if it would be helpful if the committee held a public meeting specifically for realtors. Caplan said it would and offered to host it sometime after Labor Day. Frere said she would get in touch with Caplan about coordinating a meeting.