Coast Property Owners Association of Big Sur (CPOA)
Big Sur Workforce Housing Advisory Committee (BSWHAC)
DRAFT

CPOA Recommendations for the Rebuilding of Homes and Water Systems lost in the Big Sur Fire of June-July 2008

07.15. 08


Committee:
Ned Callihan, Architect; Director of CPOA; member of BSWHAC
Mike Gilson, Co-Owner of Big Sur Bakery; Vice President of Board of CPOA;
Chair of BSWHAC
Kim Stemler, Executive director-Monterey County Housing, Inc.;
Advisor to BSWHAC
Aengus Jeffers, Attorney – Horan, Lloyd, Karachale, Dyer
Arden Handshy, Land Use Planning and Permitting Facilitator
Robert Carver, Principal-Carver+Schicketanz Architects; Director of CPOA;
Secretary of BSWHAC

Agenda:
Submit our ideas to Joe Sidor – county coastal team planner writing Planning
Dept’s Report to the Board re: Rebuilding Big Sur for presentation to Board of Supervisors 7/22/08.
Board of Supervisors should present approved Rebuilding Big Sur Plan to CCC to gain administrative support for the overall concept.

Process:
1. Needs Assessment - County OES Emergency Services Planner Robert Clyburn is believed to be assembling a Needs Assessment. This should include Owner’s contact info; AP#; sf of buildings lost; urgency (primary or second home; caretaker?; # of people displaced); Insurance status: coverage and company contact info.

This initial Needs Assessment should be completed no later than July 31, 2008.

2. County should develop a check box approach to separate those owners who just want a CDP Exemption from those who are looking for an expedited Coastal Administrative/Development Permit ("CAP/CDP").
Owners who just want to rebuild their lost home (not exceeding 110% of
the prior floor area, height, or bulk of the lost structure) should be
able to get a CDP Exemption determination (its actually a "Determination
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of Permit Requirement" which confirms no CDP is required) within a few
days. Note, someone who is rebuilding a lost home should not need to
worry about Viewshed, Slope, Consultant reports, etc. The same may not be true if an owner wants to rebuild and exceed the 110% limitation. In that case, it would be good to develop a process for expedited review (or break up the project into an exempt phase and a non-exempt phase if that is beneficial to the property owner). It will also be important to work out what documentation the County will require to prove the existence of lost structures, and their dimensions, location, year of construction, etc.


3. In conjunction with the Big Sur LUAC, member(s) of the County Planning’s Coastal Team, and the Environmental Health Dept. should visit each site w/owner or owner’s representative, in order that the owner will understand the requirements specifically applicable to their site and their rebuilding project. CPOA will provide a group of qualified professionals (architects, attorneys and permit processors) who are willing to work pro bono during this initial site visit, and who will accompany and advise the owners. We may also be able to secure the donated services of a soils engineer and a forester, or fund (through CPOA ) the costs of their joining us on the site visits. The LUAC format of consecutive site visits and then one meeting at the MAF should work well for everyone. It may take several days to complete the initial review and assessment. Homes were sometimes lost in groups, so it makes sense to review them as grouped by neighborhood.

These site visits should be conducted and completed during August 2008.

4. Conceptual package of drawings and application submitted to county.
Fees waived.
5. Inter-departmental review of submittal.
6. Permits or waivers issued. Maximum time frame for waivers
 to be issued =14 calendar days from date of submittal.
7. Working Drawings prepared.
8. Working Drawings submitted to Building Department. Fees waived.
9. Building permits processed on fast track. Permits issued.
10. Construction and Building Inspection.

Rebuilding Homes - determining vintage and legality:
The Board should confirm that any rebuilding (including an up to 10% increase in square footage (or better yet, our group recommends: up to 10% increase in footprint), should get a written CDP exemption and should not be required to conduct consultant reports (Biological, Archaeological, etc) with the possible exception of soils and geological + reports, if site conditions warrant.

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Un-permitted structures built after 1976 are a tricky issue. This may require a Board determination or Board direction for discretion to be exercised by the County Planning Department. If the County suspects un-permitted situations, the County should be required to provide proof within a specified time frame. We know of property owners who have been stalled for months/years because County will not declare an application complete until the applicant proves when the house was built, shows the permit, etc., even though the County can come up with no proof.  Guilty until proved innocent should not be the standard. It may take Board policy to change this treatment.
 
With regards to pre-1976 structures:

a) Structures built before 1954 are grandfathered and do not need to
show evidence of Building Permits to get a CDP exemption.
b) Post 1954 structures that do not have Building Permits are entitled
to be rebuilt with a CDP pursuant to Section 20.68.050 of the Monterey
County Code.
c) Post 1954 structures that do have Building Permit are entitled to a
CDP exemption.

Note: The County's records on Building Permits are a bit sketchy so County staff may have to show some discretion with regards to any Building Permit decisions.
Ultimately, it would be a good idea if the County published standards and procedures for obtaining a CDP Exemption Determination. They should confirm this process so that the process does not become ad hoc.
It would be a good idea to extend the 12 month deadline for rebuilding lost structures to 24 months. Once a permit or exemption determination request is filed, the deadline should be deemed as having been met.

Property Taxes:
We need to confirm whether the Assessor's Office will reassess properties for rebuilt homes. Ordinarily, New Construction requires the Assessor to increase a property's assessable value by the value of the new construction. However, reconstruction resulting from a Governor declared disaster only allows the Assessor to increase the property's assessable value by the difference between the value of the old structure and new structure.     
There is a lot of discretion here and we would hope the Assessor would simply state that he won't increase anyone's assessable value. A partial or complete grace period for property taxes for a year would be a great relief to fire victims while they are unable to occupy their property.


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Water Systems:
If surface water- should be allowed to use w/o treatment-perhaps w/”Boil Order” until up to treatment standards. Waiver of permits and fees for repairs.
A distinction should be made between water systems (2 or more connections) and individual private connections.  It was not long ago that an individual well did not require a pump test, 0.5 gpm would pass muster for CDP, and no quality testing was required.  Fire victims should not be subject to regulations that did not apply when they originally built their water system, whether on well, spring, or creek.

Reality Check:
While the County may be able to issue over-the-counter Planning waivers, people will not be able to pull over-the-counter Building Permits.
Owners will need to prepare plans, or have them prepared, to meet the current California Building Code and the design will need to be engineered and plan checked.
It is important that citizens are not under the impression that there is any way that these steps can be bypassed. The building design and permit process s will take many months, not a few days to complete.
Determine through Congressman Farr’s office, the chances of the Federal Emergency status being upgraded to Federal Disaster, and therefore Federal Assistance being available to fire victims.

Temporary Housing:
Members of our group are currently serving on a subcommittee of the CPOA Board, working to alleviate the community workforce housing shortage in Big Sur. The fire has significantly increased the number of persons without adequate housing in Big Sur. Our group (BSWHAC) has, on an interim basis, shifted its mission to work to help provide temporary housing for those displaced by the fire.
It is clear that the replacement of lost homes will take a minimum of 9-12 months.
Our group will research existing and new alternatives and propose a package for a Big Sur- an appropriate temporary house which could be pre-approved by the county building department and purchased by property owners. This has the potential to create a short term solution and provide housing before the end of the year. We will work with Monterey County Housing, Inc. to source funding which might be available to offset some or all of the cost of these units.
We have attached and highlighted a few relevant Code sections with
regards to the above items.

Respectfully submitted for the committee by,

DRAFT

Robert M. Carver , AIA                         
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