Battling Zoning Codes to Live Green
By James Donahue
There was a time not long ago when local building and zoning codes were considered a boon to safe and modern living. I was keenly aware of the need for safe building, plumbing and electrical codes during the years I served as a volunteer fire fighter and when I entertained a hobby of buying and restoring neglected old homes.
I can’t count the times I discovered badly spliced wiring work within the walls that were so far out of code that I marveled the building was still standing. We found old lead plumbing that had been poisoning the users of those water lines for many years. And then there was the time we opened walls to find them supported by two-inch by two-inch timbers set farther than the standard twelve-inch center; suggesting the entire structure had never been designed to last.
Indeed, it was because of the unscrupulous work of some building contractors that state and federal building codes came on the books. Then as the years passed, and young couples like my wife and I began buying homes on the cheap and spending our spare time refurbishing them, that city, county and state building inspectors were needed to make sure we knew what we were doing.
Thus it was that local governments began strict enforcement of these codes. Along with it came the zoning ordinances, often adopted by local zoning boards with utopian communities on their minds. The rules started getting so tough, and the cost of building materials got so expensive, we found that fixing up old houses was no longer worth the effort. That was the point when we realized it was going to be cheaper for us to rent rather than buy repairable property any longer.
But rentals have now become a problem, especially for people who struggle to make ends meet. And under today’s financial conditions, there are a lot of us. Instead of paying a quarter of our income for rent, many of us are paying more than we can afford, just for a modest home. At last count, at the end of 2018, the average cost of rent in the U.S. was $1,495 a month. In California where we currently live, modest rentals are going for $2,000 to $3,000. Consequently people are doubling up and shifting to communal living to share the cost.
People who can’t manage rent are living in the street. To give you an idea just how serious this problem has become, Los Angeles County just revealed a dramatic hike in the homeless occupants; rising 12 percent to 58,936 individuals. They are living in cars, tents, abandoned buildings or just in the open.
Couple this problem of high rent with a desire to shift to green energy as well as low cost living and we begin to run smack into building and zoning codes and ordinances. Not surprisingly there has been a major influx of younger adults moving into the Southwestern United States where they can still find less costly rural properties that are not encumbered by those tough codes. They are interested in buying low-cost mini-homes that offer an off-grid lifestyle. But as their numbers in these once quiet neighborhoods soar, local governments are quickly adapting. County and local boards are adopting ordinances designed to regulate and license that dream of an off-grid lifestyle into oblivion.
Consequently there is no escape from the high cost of staying alive. Not only is the price of housing beyond the reach of the average middle-class workers, but the cost of being on the grid is climbing as well. Even folks resorting to living in tents are facing problems with over-zealous building and zoning inspectors. Even pitching a tent on land owned by the camper is now requiring a permit to do so. And these permits establish time-limits of perhaps one week to 90 days.
As one news report noted, the laws affecting mini-homes and camping are designed to force the off-grid homesteaders back onto the grid. And we know, of course, the force behind the passage and existence of these laws. They are the big electric, gas, oil and other utility companies that lobby heavily to maintain control of the people.
In most areas today residents must acquire a camping permit to live in an RV, tiny house, tent or other “camp-style” home, even on property they personally own.
By James Donahue
There was a time not long ago when local building and zoning codes were considered a boon to safe and modern living. I was keenly aware of the need for safe building, plumbing and electrical codes during the years I served as a volunteer fire fighter and when I entertained a hobby of buying and restoring neglected old homes.
I can’t count the times I discovered badly spliced wiring work within the walls that were so far out of code that I marveled the building was still standing. We found old lead plumbing that had been poisoning the users of those water lines for many years. And then there was the time we opened walls to find them supported by two-inch by two-inch timbers set farther than the standard twelve-inch center; suggesting the entire structure had never been designed to last.
Indeed, it was because of the unscrupulous work of some building contractors that state and federal building codes came on the books. Then as the years passed, and young couples like my wife and I began buying homes on the cheap and spending our spare time refurbishing them, that city, county and state building inspectors were needed to make sure we knew what we were doing.
Thus it was that local governments began strict enforcement of these codes. Along with it came the zoning ordinances, often adopted by local zoning boards with utopian communities on their minds. The rules started getting so tough, and the cost of building materials got so expensive, we found that fixing up old houses was no longer worth the effort. That was the point when we realized it was going to be cheaper for us to rent rather than buy repairable property any longer.
But rentals have now become a problem, especially for people who struggle to make ends meet. And under today’s financial conditions, there are a lot of us. Instead of paying a quarter of our income for rent, many of us are paying more than we can afford, just for a modest home. At last count, at the end of 2018, the average cost of rent in the U.S. was $1,495 a month. In California where we currently live, modest rentals are going for $2,000 to $3,000. Consequently people are doubling up and shifting to communal living to share the cost.
People who can’t manage rent are living in the street. To give you an idea just how serious this problem has become, Los Angeles County just revealed a dramatic hike in the homeless occupants; rising 12 percent to 58,936 individuals. They are living in cars, tents, abandoned buildings or just in the open.
Couple this problem of high rent with a desire to shift to green energy as well as low cost living and we begin to run smack into building and zoning codes and ordinances. Not surprisingly there has been a major influx of younger adults moving into the Southwestern United States where they can still find less costly rural properties that are not encumbered by those tough codes. They are interested in buying low-cost mini-homes that offer an off-grid lifestyle. But as their numbers in these once quiet neighborhoods soar, local governments are quickly adapting. County and local boards are adopting ordinances designed to regulate and license that dream of an off-grid lifestyle into oblivion.
Consequently there is no escape from the high cost of staying alive. Not only is the price of housing beyond the reach of the average middle-class workers, but the cost of being on the grid is climbing as well. Even folks resorting to living in tents are facing problems with over-zealous building and zoning inspectors. Even pitching a tent on land owned by the camper is now requiring a permit to do so. And these permits establish time-limits of perhaps one week to 90 days.
As one news report noted, the laws affecting mini-homes and camping are designed to force the off-grid homesteaders back onto the grid. And we know, of course, the force behind the passage and existence of these laws. They are the big electric, gas, oil and other utility companies that lobby heavily to maintain control of the people.
In most areas today residents must acquire a camping permit to live in an RV, tiny house, tent or other “camp-style” home, even on property they personally own.