La Plata County homebuilders are battling a proposal to enact a building code that would require sprinklers in all newly constructed homes.
Firefighting agencies are lobbying for the new requirements, which must be approved by the Board of County Commissioners. Builders have expressed skepticism that sprinklers are worth the added expense, which they say will make new homes in unincorporated parts of the county even costlier.
The issue boils down to a classic debate of safety versus cost and regulation versus business interests.
“I’m not against giving the customer what they want,” said Janet Enge, executive officer of the Home Builders Association of Southwest Colorado. “I’m against a regulation that is mandated.”
Firefighters said sprinklers are extremely effective, almost always enabling residents to leave their home safely before it is consumed by fire.
“We don’t have fatalities in fully sprinklered homes. It just doesn’t happen,” said Tom Kaufman, a former Durango firefighter who now serves as fire marshal for Upper Pine River Fire Protection District. Kaufman also works as a fire investigator for a private firm.
Chief Dan Noonan of the Durango Fire Protection District said he would not insist on the sprinkler rules if the public is staunchly opposed to them.
“At the end of the day, I work for you,” he said. “If this community doesn’t want to embrace residential sprinkler systems, that’s your choice. But we don’t want you to do that based on faulty information.”
Jerry Pope, a longtime local builder who is co-owner of Timberline Group, said he worries about the cost of installing sprinklers in rural La Plata County homes. His own home, on Missionary Ridge Road, is served by a well that produces only 2.5 gallons of water per minute.
To install a sprinkler system, Pope said he would need a 300-gallon tank and a hard pipe system. He also has vaulted ceilings, making the job more difficult. “It would cost me $15,000 to $20,000,” he said.
The debate was sparked by a proposal to adopt the 2015 International Residential Code. Builders have been meeting weekly with firefighting agencies and county officials to air their concerns before the Building Board of Appeals. The appeals board will make a recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners.
The regulations would apply only to the unincorporated areas of La Plata County. The city of Durango has its own set of residential codes.
Pope said he worries the sprinkler requirement will push local home prices even higher. The median sales price of county homes rose to $342,500 during the first three months of the year.
“I’m extremely passionate about attainable housing for this area,” he said. “How many people that can’t afford a home is OK? It keeps going up and up, and it will not stop.”
The sprinkler debate comes against a backdrop of rising fees and new regulations, including requirements for rural driveways. Building permits now cost nearly $15,000 in the city of Durango, and $3,000 to $4,000 in the county, Pope said.
La Plata County would be the first jurisdiction in Southwest Colorado to adopt the updated code. Scottsdale, Arizona, may be the nearest city that has adopted the code.
Emil Wanatka, also with Timberline Group, said homes in Scottsdale can cost $60 per square foot to build.
“Smoke detectors don’t cost very much,” he said. “This costs a lot.”
Shane Ferris of Ferris Woodwork said small firms like his have only recently regained their footing after the Great Recession, which hit the building industry particularly hard.
“I have a very small company, and it’s been tough the last four or five years,” he said. “All those incremental things are brutal on us.”
cslothower@durangoherald.com
