By Toraun McKinney
Governor Gavin Newsom
1021 O Street, Suite 9000
Sacramento, CA 95814
re: Residential building permit reformation
Dear Governor Newsom,
Thank you for your significant efforts to remove obstacles to residential building.
More help is needed.
I am writing to ask for help for me and others who struggle to renovate existing homes.
In our county, Santa Cruz County, we have complex, inconsistent, contradictory, and zealously over-restrictive building codes, especially when compared with other counties and/or with state requirements.
Specifically: “bringing to code” mechanics.
More specifically:
• Overly restrictive requirements for geotechnical reports for existing residential homes. How many lives have been negatively impacted by these requirements? Ask the hundreds of survivors of the CZU fires.
• Archeological reports (even if the subject property has been occupied its entire life).
• Hydrology reports. If the municipality needs more data on parcels, its in-house hydrologists can do this far less expensively than private consultants.
• “Enhanced” septic systems. Even if the subject property has a non-fouling, healthy, fully functional system in place.
• Giant on-site water tanks for fire suppression. For a remote parcel on a well, I can understand this. But when a parcel has 500 p.s.i, easy access, and professional-grade fire hoses? Tanks at $40,000-plus?
FYI, there are not enough hydrants on the North Coast of the county, and this is by design: for the express purpose of limiting growth. Santa Cruz Municipal Utilities has had a moratorium on new hydrants since the ’80s. (You can ask them; they freely admit this.)
The county will blame other entities (other state, or federal agencies) when there is a costly and confusing permitting requirement. But the Santa Cruz County permitting process is a money-draining nightmare of its own making. Other municipalities in California issue permits without the applicant needing to hire a consultant to wade through the permitting quagmire.
The county will claim fear of exposure to litigation regarding permitting reformation. But this, too, makes little sense because they are expressly protected by municipal immunity.
Our county Board of Supervisors has thus far been unable or unwilling to address this issue that is at the heart of the current housing crisis. The more difficult you make anything, the fewer people can participate.
CEQA abuse has been outed. Now, all of the other “death by a thousand slices” impediments to residential home improvement (not new construction; existing homes that need repair) must be addressed.
The “bringing to code” machinery is being abused, (intentionally or not) just like CEQA was abused to intentionally limit growth.
These results: County revenues stay high while the permitting departments appear perpetually overworked and understaffed. Unpermitted construction is unquestionably the rational economic decision.
When restoration of existing housing is impeded, housing costs stay high, and rents climb accordingly.
Sincerely yours,
Toraun McKinney
Toraun McKinney is a Santa Cruz resident.