California YIMBY issued on Wednesday the following statement on the issuance of Executive Order N-2-24 from the office of Governor Gavin Newsom:
“We applaud Governor Newsom’s focus on fixing elements of our housing regulations and funding formulas to accelerate home building in urban areas,” said Brian Hanlon, President and CEO of California YIMBY. “We’d also urge the Governor to focus these efforts in a few specific areas that could lead to transformative change – specifically, building codes and climate funding.”
Hanlon said that nascent efforts to reform outdated building codes could unleash a wave of more affordable, family-sized apartments across the state of California. These reforms include a policy known as “single stair,” which would bring California’s building and fire codes in line with international standards and best practices.
Additional changes to elevator code requirements would allow for similar improvements in the affordability, accessibility, and availability of multi-family homes.
“Our building codes don’t reflect the tremendous progress we’ve made in building science and technology in recent decades,” Hanlon said. “We used to know how to build family-sized apartments in our cities – some simple changes would put us back on track, and lead to more affordable homes across our state.”
In addition, Hanlon said that the Governor’s focus on state funding for housing could take advantage of the conclusive evidence that infill, multi-family housing in urban areas reduces climate impacts.
“Our state climate funds could do a lot more to reduce climate pollution by more closely targeting the primary sources of pollution in our state,” Hanlon said. “By directing more of these funds to be used for infill housing and supportive infrastructure, the Governor can address our affordability crisis while also slashing pollution from the building and transportation sectors. It’s a win-win.”
