The Oakland City Council this week adopted the Construction Innovation Ordinance.
Annie Sciacca reports for The Mercury News on the Oakland (California) City Council's adoption this week of a "package of ordinances that allow RVs, mobile homes, manufactured homes and tiny houses to occupy residential properties throughout the city."
The change effects a change to the city's zoning and building codes that required all residential units to be built on a permanent foundation, according to Sciacca. The code changes now allow "vehicular residential facilities" and expands rent control to RV and mobile home units in the city.
Sciacca provides more detail on the ordinance, relaying information included in a city memo:
The amendments to city codes will allow people to legally park their RVs and mobile homes on private properties in all residential areas if they comply with tenancy and habitability codes, including a requirement that the units be “structurally sound, protect occupants against the weather, include permanent provisions for living and sleeping, include heating and lighting, and provide occupants with 24-hour on-site access to potable water, a kitchen, and clean, lighted, code-compliant toilet, bathing facilities, and lavatory sink under the occupants’ control,” according to a city memo.
A press release published by Mayor Libby Schaaf and Council President Pro Tem Shang Thao on November 2 refers to the package as the Construction Innovation ordinance. The press release claims the CIO was necessary in light of housing construction costs more than doubling in the last decade in the city.
"Today’s approval embraces cost-saving innovative construction practices, updates outdated regulations and redefines what literally makes a 'home' which, ultimately, will bring down the cost of housing for our residents," the press release adds.
The source article, linked below, provides more detail on the CIO, in addition to soundbites from the politicians behind the CIO and describes state of the housing market in the city and region. Mobile home parks have proven a flashpoint for housing policy controversy in Oakland, as exemplified by an article picked up by Planetizen in April 2021.
FULL STORY: Oakland to allow RVs, mobile homes on private property under new ordinances
Battle of the Bay: Oakland Ahead of San Francisco in Housing Construction
Call it a role reversal: Oakland is building far more apartments and housing units than San Francisco—a reversal of the history of development in the Bay Area.
Op-Ed: Oakland Needs Better Housing Policy to Lead Relief of the Bay Area's Housing Crunch
Robert Selna, a land use and real estate attorney, pens a letter to the editor arguing for Oakland to develop specific and aggressive housing development policies.
Study: Maui’s Plan to Convert Vacation Rentals to Long-Term Housing Could Cause Nearly $1 Billion Economic Loss
The plan would reduce visitor accommodation by 25% resulting in 1,900 jobs lost.
Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage
Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees
More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?
In Both Crashes and Crime, Public Transportation is Far Safer than Driving
Contrary to popular assumptions, public transportation has far lower crash and crime rates than automobile travel. For safer communities, improve and encourage transit travel.
Report: Zoning Reforms Should Complement Nashville’s Ambitious Transit Plan
Without reform, restrictive zoning codes will limit the impact of the city’s planned transit expansion and could exclude some of the residents who depend on transit the most.
Judge Orders Release of Frozen IRA, IIJA Funding
The decision is a victory for environmental groups who charged that freezing funds for critical infrastructure and disaster response programs caused “real and irreparable harm” to communities.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Clanton & Associates, Inc.
Jessamine County Fiscal Court
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service