The people that perished have some responsibility in this.
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Is it realistic that we can protect everyone by doing inspections. Last month, I got a call that the aisles were blocked and that the stores a mess. So I tighten up my rope belt and put on my straw hat and went to investigate. The main thing that caught my glass eye was the required back exit was blocked with a step ladder and merchandise boxes.
Oh.. manager! "What's going on here I asked!" She said, I'll take care of it!
Three weeks later, went back to re-inspect, (note I said three weeks later). A box of mops was in front of the exit. Oh..manager!, what are we going to do? How many times will I have to deal with this outfit?
At least you could still get out and grab a mop to help clean up afterwards. Wonder if my salary will get posted in the news, you guys would laugh.![]()
if building permits cost zero dollars we would still have many who would not get them (or build appropriately) just to avoid government influence. Money makers would squeeze everything from all they could get by packing them in if regulations were not in place to provide some level of control. The nature of people is that they think nothing ever will come of a building code violation after all we were all raised up in buildings that did not have the strict standards we now have. Everyone wants the low bid because they believe it to be the best when it is not.
I personally would like to hear more about the inspections done by fire departments and when illegal or dangerous findings are made how effective can they be at getting compliance. I have little problems here but I could sure wake some people up if I could write them up with an immediate fine or load them up in my trusty rig and haul them off to jail. I would proudly wear a straw hat and the rope belt could come in handy - there is no way I would give up my super salary if I could keep my town clean.
East Bay Times said:OAKLAND — In the wake of Friday’s catastrophic three-alarm fire that ripped through an unpermitted live-work space and killed 36 people, artists living in similarly nonconforming spaces feared a backlash from city inspectors and rent-seeking property owners who would force them from their homes.
With some tenants already receiving eviction notices, those fears are indeed coming to fruition, and sooner than many imagined.
But even with Sarriugarte’s legal support to stall an eviction, residents of the converted machine shop in West Oakland have little hope a lawyer could help. Their space is not zoned for residential habitation, and now they are no longer welcome. There is not much a lawyer could do without rezoning the land or receiving a variance — a process that is costly and could take months or even years, they said, adding that they need the city’s help to create a less costly path toward compliance.
At a news conference Wednesday, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf did not offer specific plans to help artists currently facing evictions but said she would reconvene and expand a task force to address affordable living and working spaces for artists. She promised the arts community would be part of the discussions as the city addresses code compliance and other issues.
For smaller spaces, the cost of bringing a building up to code can be insurmountable, said Cheryl Edison, a consultant who works with cities to help them revamp older properties. Many Bay Area cities have outdated zoning restrictions that make it both time-consuming and incredibly costly to rezone properties, meaning only well-heeled developers can afford to do it, she said.
“Every effort that individuals make to ask for permission gets one very short answer — ‘No,'” Edison said. “People want to do the right thing, but the level of collaboration is not there.”
“These places are not made by real estate developers or land owners. They don’t exist because someone is looking to make a profit; they are not profitable,” said Tanya, an architect and “flow artist” (or dancer), who lives in the former machine shop in West Oakland. “We need to be able to make them exist, and the Oakland planning (department) needs to … allow spaces like this to exist safely.”¹
The debate has shifted from safety to where are these people going to go:
¹ http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2016/12...t-ships-wake-artists-worst-fears-coming-true/
Yeah we have to that here too, the problem is that most homeless come back they like that lifestyle, this is particularly true within the artist community, they want to live where they "work", they are all anticapitalists of some persuasion, socialists, communists, or something, they don't believe in working to survive, they believe society owes them a free living so they can pursue their "art", most are also druggies and don't want to be anywhere near authority figures.Here, if "we" put them out, "we" put them up. And we lien the property for whatever it costs....Giant problem on a worthless property you don't want to own...Not sure if that would hold on illegal dwelling units....
Have they?Society has not agreed on the laws...politicians have....
Society has not agreed on the laws...politicians have....