Why We Have Regulations for Building Safety

[jar546]

Take it from Russia:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/shoppi...ia-kemerovo-kills-dozens-leaves-many-missing/

 

[JBI]

Similar stories to be found regarding factory disasters in other parts of the world.
When business owners talk about leaving this country due to 'burdensome regulations', these are exactly the type of regulations they seek to avoid... building safety and worker safety regulations.
Plenty of places in the world you can kill a thousand people in one industrial accident and walk away scott free.

 

[conarb]

The problem is that codes, like zoning and building, have gone too far making building very difficult, our average 7 year permit time is ridiculous, our state has several bills in the legislature trying to address this issue:

Making it easier for developers to build
Housing advocates and academics cite burdensome regulations, including some local governments’ lengthy approval processes, as a problem limiting the state’s housing growth.

A trio of measures aims to whittle down some of those rules. Senate Bill 35 forces cities to approve projects that comply with existing zoning if not enough housing has been built to keep pace with their state home-building targets. Such projects must also reserve a certain percentage of homes for low-income residents and pay construction workers union-level wages and abide by union-standard hiring rules.¹

The way I read Chapter 17 the owner has to pay for Special Inspections, I recently had an owner ask: "Why all these levels of inspection?" as he paid bill after bill for special Inspections. Personally I have no problem with most codes that deal with health and safety (but residential sprinklers are an example fo codes gone too far), but I have a huge problem with political codes. With people sleeping on the streets the issue is now on the table in the legislature.


¹ http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-housing-legislation-signed-20170929-htmlstory.html

 

[conarb]

This in the paper today:

Efforts under way to reform the RHNA planning process in Sacramento could force towns, cities and counties to address long-neglected or dismissed housing needs and give state lawmakers and courts a bigger stick against local boards unwilling to approve new developments.

But lobbyists for counties and cities are resisting more reforms, saying state laws can’t address an issue central to the housing shortage — the high cost of new construction. Some local elected leaders also fear losing the ability to shape their communities and respond to residents.

RHNA requires jurisdictions to plan for future housing in 8-year cycles. Counties and cities must identify specific properties for housing expansion. Sometimes the land is vacant, but often the parcels have long-standing businesses, apartments or other buildings requiring redevelopment.

State, regional and local officials review and revise the plans, and the state gives jurisdictions specific goals to build a range of housing.

Then, critics say, local governments simply ignore the recommendations.

“For the most part, cities don’t care,” said Russell Hancock, president and CEO of Joint Venture Silicon Valley. “It’s purely advisory.”

State lawmakers established RHNA in 1969 to ensure local governments planned for the housing needs of their entire community. It requires cities and towns to include housing growth in their general land-use plans.

Although municipalities plan for housing, it often hasn’t been built. In February, the state housing department found that 97 percent of jurisdictions failed to keep pace with population growth. Alameda, San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties failed to meet all of their housing targets, while San Jose and Santa Clara County are among the jurisdictions falling short in building affordable housing.

“Clearly, the requirements are not being met, and there’s not enough enforcement being done,” said Heather Bromfield, a housing research analyst at UC Berkeley.

Between 2007 and 2014, the state found that the Bay Area met its goals for building homes for households earning more than 120 percent of the region’s median income but permitted less than 30 percent of the recommended units for residents of middle-income or less. The median income for a four-person family in the San Jose metro area was $113,000 in 2017, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

A Berkeley study also found racial disparities in the housing assessment. Cities with a higher percentage of white residents usually received lower targets for building affordable housing.

Low targets for affluent communities sparked a Twitter feud between Wiener and former Beverly Hills Mayor John Mirisch. Beverly Hills was the rare city to meet its goal for low and moderate-income housing — three units. “No city should get a RHNA allocation of three,” Wiener said. “It’s absurd.”

Under a new law this year, local governments that fail to meet their goals must fast-track certain types of development in their communities. But cities and developers say the law will affect only a handful of projects around the Bay Area and is unlikely to spark new construction. Developers say a lack of funds for affordable housing stalls development, even if a project wins a fast-track designation.

A package of bills has been introduced this year to attack the state’s deepening housing shortage, including measures to increase housing density around transit hubs. One bill, SB 828 by Wiener, attempts to put more truth and teeth into RHNA numbers.

Wiener’s bill calls for a statewide re-assessment of housing needs and sets higher goals for lagging cities. It mandates that communities with high income growth — such as the Bay Area — plan for a higher rate of development and provide for all income levels, particularly for poor and moderate-income families.

It would double the amount of low and very low-income housing included in a plan to encourage cities to build more.

Bay Area governments have badly under-developed in recent years, according to local planning studies. The Silicon Valley Leadership Group estimates that the region added more than six times as many jobs as homes between 2010 and 2015.

The League of California Cities has not taken a position on SB 828 but opposes other proposals to reform planning guidelines. Jason Rhine, a lobbyist for the league, said cities are still adjusting to last year’s housing reform package.

Rhine said most jurisdictions “are doing a pretty good job” reaching RHNA goals for market-rate housing. “At the end of the day, cities have identified many, many sites to develop on.”

He doubted the measures in Wiener’s bill would lead to more housing. “Just because you have more sites,” Rhine said, “doesn’t mean you’re going to have more development.”

Developers agree that expensive land and construction costs in the Bay Area force builders to develop high-end properties to make a profit.

Paul Campos, a lobbyist for the Building Industry Association of the Bay Area, said change is necessary. Builders want well-planned developments to face less red tape from local boards. “Cities and counties have been given monopolies on what land is available,” he said. “The last 40 years have shown, especially in the Bay Area, those monopoly powers have been abused.”¹

Whether it's zoning or building codes the access and timing is through the building departments' doors.


¹ https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/03...housing-law-almost-everyone-wants-to-fix/amp/

 

[OverpricedEverything]

The problem is that codes, like zoning and building, have gone too far making building very difficult, our average 7 year permit time is ridiculous, our state has several bills in the legislature trying to address this issue:



The way I read Chapter 17 the owner has to pay for Special Inspections, I recently had an owner ask: "Why all these levels of inspection?" as he paid bill after bill for special Inspections. Personally I have no problem with most codes that deal with health and safety (but residential sprinklers are an example fo codes gone too far), but I have a huge problem with political codes. With people sleeping on the streets the issue is now on the table in the legislature.


¹ http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-housing-legislation-signed-20170929-htmlstory.html

Yes. Sometimes it does go too far. A little too much capitalism ?

 

[Mark K]

Ultimately a major part of the problem is that we have too many people wanting to live in areas such as the SF Bay Area.

 

[OverpricedEverything]

Off topic: Can someone help me find another site similar to this. I can't edit or delete what I post here and I have to get a URL image site to show how something I've drawn is designed. I know my browser is outdated but other sites work fine. Thanks,
AR

 

[jar546]

Off topic: Can someone help me find another site similar to this. I can't edit or delete what I post here and I have to get a URL image site to show how something I've drawn is designed. I know my browser is outdated but other sites work fine. Thanks,
AR

Like all sites, we have issues with spammers so there are controls in place and you are a new poster with very few posts, therefore limited. We have to have them in place. There is more to it but that is the gist of it