Oaklanders Complain About Missing Live-Work Building Codes At Oakland City Council Part 2
ONN – Oaklanders Complain About Missing Live-Work Building Codes At Oakland City Council Part 2
This is completely outrageous. The City of Oakland somehow managed to allow someone – and no one knows who – take out the set of local building laws that allow what are called live-work spaces to exist legally.
According to the words of the City of Oakland Planning Director William Gilchrist (who was not working in Oakland when this happened), this did occur just after The Ghost Ship Fire. If that’s the case, the question has to be asked, why?
The planning director presented the possible reason: “They weren’t removed, just not replaced.” In other words, he speculated the live-work building codes were simply not updated. But that explanation did not fly with Oakland City Council President Rebecca Kaplan, who simply pointed out that “the codes are not there” – it’s not that they’re old; they’re gone.
The words of the legendary Oakland landscape architect and activist Naomi Schiff spell out the problem, here:
The Oakland City Council approved a motion to bring the entire matter back to a new hearing in January. The exact date will be determined in Rules Committee. The City of Oakland Planning Director has to meet with the Oakland City Attorney and the building codes officials as well.
But, the City Council should pass some kind of resolution that says people in live-work homes are not living illegally. That was not done.
I can’t help but wonder if this was deliberate: something done as a prelude to getting rid of “Ghost Ship” warehouse living situations in Oakland. If that’s the case, then it’s a massive scandal: the Oakland City Administration was supposed to be helping people in those warehouse living situations, not plotting to jail them.
Stay tuned.
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