San Andreas, CA…A few minutes ago the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance that will provide significant savings and flexibility for those wanting to build their own home on rural properties. This is only for homes that the owners are willing to live in for at least three years. The goal is to put affordable housing within reach of more people. This ordinance has been a career goal for Doug Oliver, Chief Building Official to make home ownership a realistic goal for many young families.

It will allow for alternative building methods and even alternative buildings possibly including yurts etc as long as the owners and residents know and acknowledge that the home they plan to live in does not meet traditional building codes.

The stringent building codes in California while well meaning and necessary in densely populated urban settings have had the unintended consequences of making the permits and regulations at times the most expensive portion of a new home. In some jurisdictions the building permits, utility hook ups etc are more than the actual cost of the entire materials cost for a home.

As an example often cited are the internal fire sprinkler requirements in new homes. The cost of this system would be more that the entire cost small owner built structure or yurt on their own property. It was even stated that in rural settings external or roof sprinklers might actually provide better protection.

This is a great ordinance that will put an affordable home within reach of many people who are willing to build and take responsibility for their homes. There are limits on where owner builders could reasonably expect to take advantage of this ordinance. Most existing HOAs for example would probably be off limits as they have their own requirements on home size etc. So putting a small rammed earth, log or yurt in Greenhorn Creek or Blue Lake Springs would be off the table.

The Ordinance Chapter 15.12 – “Limited Density Owner-Built Rural Dwellings” of the Calaveras County Code will go into effect the end of October.