What if it would be wiser to ease new construction outside wildfire zones?
Reposted from
Ian James
Newsom suspends environmental laws to ease rebuilding of homes and businesses in zones destroyed by the fires www.latimes.com/california/s...
Comments
But yeah, they're not gonna do even a forward looking and soft "move people away from LA metro" policy
Rebuilding the Palisades = extremely risky.
Building a condo building in Hancock Park = much less risky.
(Two take two roughly equivalently priced options).
- be attractive to rich displaced people
- be no more expensive per SF that the (likely low) price Redfin estimates
- generate a lot more prop tax than the 50% discounted 1 story there now
- be far better for the climate and far safer
That would take some chutzpah, but I’m here for that.
And yes I do know about physical access requirements (& personal engagement in CA & HI to enforce them)
Build better.
“No. No infill, only exurbs”
There are still degrees of risk.
Rebuilding the Palisades = extremely risky.
Building a condo building in Hancock Park = much less risky.
(Two take two roughly equivalently priced options).
https://bsky.app/profile/holz-bau.bsky.social/post/3lfjovbwi722t
The gov't should step in, as it did with the SVB failure, and backstop wealth. But in doing should take title to the land; study, plan, rezone, and build for future.
This is a long haul, reasonable to think what should be.
Paradise (CA) is ~1/3 rebuilt after 6 years.
Marshall Fire (CO) is ~2/3 rebuilt in 3 years (1,105 structures), also suburban - insurance gaps ~$100k.
National average is 25% in 5 years, but this will stress local capacity.
Where I live (not in CA), most housing is in the Wildland Urban Interface.
Most of the county is in a potential wildfire zone.
People are here. They have to live somewhere.
What?
Maybe slow your roll drawing conclusions here.
Maybe it's just not feasible having people live in these places as before?
We can and should do better, but it isnt clear that anything could have protected homes from a wildfire being driven by 80 mph winds.
Sadly, it can also depend on how the bldg was insured, as owners will want to maximize the work if insurance is paying, minimize it if not. A broken system.
"provide a report to me with recommendations regarding any provision of the Building Standards Code, Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations, that should be suspended."
Thing is, each local code, esp LA City has its own amendments to be reviewed as well.
The exec order includes the State Fire Marshall making additional suggested suspensions within 60 days, which suggests to me that modern fireproofing exemptions are TBD.
It’s unclear tho.
https://www.hcd.ca.gov/building-standards/state-housing-law/wildland-urban-interface/docs/2010-part-2-cbc-ch7a.pdf
And all structures would have to be concrete or something
And do away with palms in general, they’re torches
But not now, not here.