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Policy Development | ||
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Natural Building: Workshops & Events Natural
Builders: »The California Sustainable Healthy Homes Strategy«
NBN
Fine Print |
Legalizing Sustainable Housing in California March 05, 2008 UPDATE: Quail Springs Learning Oasis and Permaculture Farm has submitted engineered plans to the County of Ventura which have been rejected with concerns about many proven and established natural building methods. The Natural Building Network has received a $1000 matching grant from Quail Springs to compile data, anecdotal evidence and examples of existing codes to support the re-filing of the plans in May. All collected documentation will be made available to the rest of the Natural Building community through this website and the Natural Building Network. If you would like to contribute to the matching grant, please contact Jack Stephens at jack@nbnetwork.org or call 805-850-9751. Funds can be sent to NBN, PO Box 23631, Eugene, Oregon 97402. Please note "Quail Springs Research" on the memo line of your check or money order. Please check back here regularly for an update of needed information. VENTURA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA - At the inception of the Natural Building Network, the co-founders agreed that one of our key missions would be to gather and share the informational resources needed to shift public policy and change existing building, planning and land use codes and regulations in favor of natural building practices. At our board retreat last June we all agreed and supported that intention by creating the committee we now call the Information Resource Committee. Quail Springs Learning Oasis and Permaculture Farm, in Ventura County, California, has asked for our assistance on a project that, I believe, enhances the opportunity for the Natural Building Network to fulfill this part of our mission, while supporting one of our members in addressing a very present challenge with their local county building officials. Quail Springs is a non-profit teaching farm that hosts the Wilderness Youth Project, Trees For Children, Mentoring for Peace and other organizations supporting ways of being that are nearly perfectly in alignment with our mission. On their property they have improved an existing steel structure that once served as an open-air airplane hangar by completing a straw bale wall system, using reclaimed materials and lumber harvested from their land. They have a cob structure large enough for a family of three or four awaiting a roof. These improvements were made without the involvement of local regulatory authorities. Very briefly, the Ventura County regulatory authorities are now involved in determining where and how Quail Springs will address the completion of the existing buildings. Warren was informed by the county that if they were willing to submit engineered plans for the steel building and build a new conventional building, following the protocol of the county, the property could come into compliance and the moratorium on future building would be lifted. Quail Springs proceeded to hire and complete the engineering for the steel/straw-bale building, and to hire EcoNest to build a timberframe and straw-clay building. Bruce King of the Ecological Building Network, recently told Warren in an email copied to me and others, “you’re stuck in one of the most brutal jurisdictions anywhere; it ain’t gonna be easy.” It hasn’t been. When David Eisenberg of the Development Center for Appropriate Technology looked at the plans for the EcoNest after they returned from the county he remarked that there was so much red ink they looked like a chicken had been killed on them. These are plans that have been approved by a structural engineer. Similarly engineered models have been built in seventeen other jurisdictions in the U.S. including several in California. That red ink is essentially a long list of questions about the capabilities of the materials. These questions are what we seek to address. The missions of Quail Springs and the other non-profits that call Quail Springs home do not include improving the building codes, or operating as a natural building advocacy organization. They do fit within the mission of the Natural Building Network. So Warren has asked if NBN would be willing to put more time into gathering the information necessary to address the questions of Ventura County. This will include office time in tracking down and gathering a broad range of data, anecdotes, existing codes that support natural building materials and practices and then sorting through the information to give to Quail Springs what supports their immediate needs. In support of this effort, the board of directors of Quail Springs has given NBN a $1000 matching grant to fund associate director, Carrie Campbell and me at $20 per hour to complete 50 hours of research and compilation. They are asking that this $1000 be matched by in kind donations of either time or money. A donation of time could come from NBN board members, members of the organization, or members of the public who would be working in concert with Carrie and me and under our direction. We would be working closely with Dafyd Rawlings as this work falls under the purview of the Information Resource Committee. Accepting
this offer will help us meet our mission in several ways: Ventura County needs to have a response to its concerns by May 18th or the plans must be resubmitted. Quail Springs can ask for an extension, but it would be best if we get as much information as possible before this deadline. A few days ago I received a copy of the plans so that we can have all the detail we need to determine the facets of the building that need our attention. As we draw up the list of needed resources, I’ll post them on here. In Community, Jack
Stephens
SONOMA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA - On November 20-22, 2006 twenty-five leaders working in sustainability, natural building and ecological living gathered to develop a strategy for integrating these healthy practices into the existing regulatory structure. This project, initiated by Warren Brush of Quail Springs Learning Oasis and Permaculture Farm in Ventura County, with strong support from Jack Stephens of the Natural Building Network, is a very possible solution to the legal challenges faced by people who wish to live on the land sustainably. Delegates included: David Eisenberg, Dafyd Rawlings, Art Ludwig, Penny Livingston-Stark, Brock Dolman, Dave Henson, Betty Seaman, Joe Jenkins, David Fortson, Derek Roff , Ianto Evans, Michael Smith, Hannah Eckberg, Chris McClellan, Jack Stephens, Carolyn Hernandez, Warren Brush, Ken Rose, Benjamin Fahrer, Mark Lakeman, SunRay Kelley, Jeff Conant and Kristen Gardner. Legal and bureaucratic obstacles exist in most jurisdictions in the United States for people who wish to apply sustainable solutions to land use and building construction. From rainwater harvesting to permaculture, water storage to strawbale building the onus is heavy on the owner builder to reinvent the wheel one jurisdiction at a time; acting as educator and advocate for a way of living that is often far superior to the status quo. What we are developing in California is the design of a strategy to best legalize sustainable human habitat in cooperation with communities, architects, code officials, legislators and other stakeholders. Information about the development of this project will be available through the Natural Building Network at www.naturalbuildingnetwork.org. Please email us with your contact information to stay current on the developments of the November gathering and the work that will continue following it (info [at] naturalbuildingnetwork.org). Thank you for your interest and support. Organizing and maintaining this work requires much time, energy and love. Please consider making a donation to the project through the Natural Building Network. |
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