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| Image: Chico 2030? The city has a General Plan Housing Element staff report on its ftp site. The report is 212 pages long (roughly 16MEG pdf file). Download at your own peril (here it is). The report has adjustments to the housing element of the General Plan update requested by the Department of Housing and Community Development (an arm of some California bureacracy). This is in attachment "B" starting on page 14 of the PDF. Some of the revisions requested are interesting. For example, there is a suggestion that the plan address energy audits on private homes offered for resale. On one hand this bothers me because it's presented as necessary to prevent climate change. It could certainly drive up the cost of housing but wouldn't necessarily reduce energy use. However, I don't see anywhere where it's mandated by this agency or in the city report. There is just a suggestion that the city could promote retrofits and energy audits on existing housing stock. On the positive side of things, a significant ongoing cost of home ownership can be energy costs. It would be useful to buyers if a home came with an energy audit that was similar to a MPG rating on cars. I might go for the pool/hot-tub/floodlit yard because I've got the big-bucks to pay for it. Or I might decide to buy the thatched hut with the single 12VDC outlet powered off solar. That would keep my monthly cash flow in the black. Then again, who is going to do the audit, and how will it be ensured to be genuine? When would the government start giving credits for social changes, once again directing how people live. Would you have to buy carbon credits to offset your historical energy use before a sale is allowed? These things are just plain creepy. Also, did you ever notice that house appraisers can generally appraise a house for exactly what the owner wants to sell it for? Very convenient. Government requirements tend to just be another expensive service that gets in the middle of private transactions. They rarely serve their purpose, except to introduce new costs. What's really kind of funny is that at the end of the Department of Housing and Community Development's suggested changes to Chico's housing plan is... The housing element should contain programs which "address, and where appropriate and legally possible, remove government constraints to the maintenance, improvement, and development of housing" (Section 65583(c)(3). I'll have to read through the report to see where that last suggestion is addressed. But seriously, this report and attachements have a wealth of information, so I'll likely be blogging about its contents for a few days. |
House Rules
Lon
About Me: Fasten your seatbelts for an exhilarating trip through Chico's public policy; I guarantee it's marginally better than public access TV.
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