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Builders and their advocates pleaded with East Hampton Town Board members last week to hold back on banning the creation of bedrooms in underground cellars or basements.
“My wife and I raised our children in a three-bedroom ranch and, when it came time, we finished our basement, and it helped us keep our kids comfortable,” Roy Dalene, a builder, told the board at a public hearing on the issue on Thursday night, August 20.
“Basement bedrooms can be part of the efficiency of a home by design,” builder Michael Forst, speaking on behalf of the Long Island Builders Institute, told the board. “A legal basement bedroom provides an opportunity for young adults to remain with their parents while they work and contribute to the local economy. You do not need a bedroom to sleep in a basement. I think we should be promoting safe sleeping in East Hampton.”
Although such rooms have been prohibited in the town code since at least 1985, the Town Board is currently considering new legislation to “affirm” the ban, since its enforcement has slipped in recent years.
The original law primarily noted safety concerns as the reason behind the prohibition. Several years ago, building inspectors stopped blocking basement bedrooms if they were outfitted with escape passages that met state fire safety codes. That came after former public safety director Pat Gunn issued a directive to building inspectors that the town should not enforce the requirement if the safety considerations were met. That stance was also supported by some former members of the Town Board.
“Theresa [Quigley] had insisted that we had to allow for it, because it’s allowed under the state code,” Councilman Peter Van Scoyoc said this week, referring to bedrooms in basements under certain circumstances. “But if you carried that forward, then we would also have to allow high-rise buildings in the town. So it’s really a zoning issue.”
After Springs residents discovered earlier this summer that two new houses under construction were to be used by the Ross School as dormitories for as many as 20 students each—including in underground bedrooms—outcry over the allowance reached a fever pitch.
The new legislation nods to concerns about overcrowding and various zoning considerations as the rationale for barring basement bedrooms. But builders said overcrowding issues are code enforcement concerns, not zoning issues, and that bedrooms are a reasonable convenience that would not cause problems if the rules are enforced properly.
Britton Bistrian, a development consultant from Amagansett, said that some people are going to convert basement space into bedrooms whether they are legal or not, and that keeping them legal will make it more likely they will be constructed with safety in mind. “Being inspected and permitted in the light of day saves lives,” she said.
Some residents disagreed. They said that allowing bedrooms in basements would cause overcrowding, whether legal or illegal.
“Why are we allowing three levels of living space?” architect Judy Freeman said. “As an architect, I think finishing basement space is a good idea for many reasons. I would hate to not be able to use a basement for living. But we should allow no more than two floors [with bedrooms] in a residence.”
Sagaponack Village Building Inspector John Woudsma, who is also a builder, said that his village chose to limit bedrooms by requiring that a house have commensurate parking spaces for each bedroom within the building envelope, but allows the bedrooms to be located anywhere in the house, as long as safety standards are met.
Mr. Van Scoyoc said that the board plans to have further discussions about the law before adopting anything. “With the density issue, do you want 25 people living in a house? Of course not—but there may be a way to tailor this to help people who are in need of an inexpensive expansion,” he added. “There is some nuance here, and we’re going to work on it some more.”
The matter will be the subject of a work session meeting on September 1.
on Aug 25, 2015