June 19, 2008
Extra Extra
- A wall at Rice University campus collapsed this afternoon, trapping four people.
- Millions of pounds of toxins from Mexico may soon be headed for incineration in Port Arthur if the EPA approves an exemption.
- Gov. Perry agrees with his buddy in the White House about lifting the ban on offshore exploration.
- "This is likely not the finest moment for DPS," Texas Public Safety Commission chairman admits after an internal investigation into how an arsonist was able to bypass security and set fire to the Governor's Mansion.
- Worst exit in Texas at southbound IH35 and MLK, second worst at northbound IH35 and Riverside. Or so this study says, anyway.
- Cyclist hit by a white Ford Taurus at S. Congress on Saturday morning; she's okay, but the driver fled the scene.
- The City Council passed a couple visitability building standards last night.
- Houston's Continental Airlines teaming up with United.
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The two new rules will require the following:
At least one first floor bathroom door to be 30 inches wide;
Said bathroom must have reinforced walls to allow grab bars.
I would love to know why the city thinks they should have any say in how people people their PRIVATELY owned homes. What if I don't want the first floor bathroom door to have that large of a door? Why should I have to pay for reinforced walls for bars? It is MY home, not the cities. If anyone buys it later and needs those things gov't money ends up paying for it anyways not the person moving in.
Incredibly stupid city. Keep Austin weird should be renamed to Keep Austin Filled with Stupid Rules.
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As much as you hate it, Rick Perry and his 'buddy' are RIGHT about drilling.
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Somehow, they overlooked the entrance ramp onto southbound 35 between Riverside and Oltorf.
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Mr.Michael, typical doors are 3'-0". A mandatory door of 2'-6" isn't going to kill you. Nor is reinforcing your bathroom walls. These are simple improvemnets to your home which will add value. Or I guess you would rather live in a shack.
Franktex- there is an estimated 5 billion barrels of oil off the shores of the US. The US consumes around 7 billion a year. It will take 5-7 years just to get the oil. Do the math, its not worth it.
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Mr. Michael,
You don't believe in any building codes for new buildings?
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ratz - 5 billion? The Chevron/Devon jack well alone is estimated to be in the 3-15 billion barrel range.
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I have no problems with building codes based around safety. I have no problem with accessibility codes for public buildings. But private buildings are a different story. These 2 things are not safety related, it is accessibility issues. I'm not handicapped nor is anyone that is in my house so why again should I cater to those that will never be living in my household?
It won't help or hurt the home value. The only thing it does is cost the home builder more money to make it happen. What is next? Having to put braille signs on the front door to tell blind people what the address is? Having to have a ramp at the front door so it is easier for a wheelchair to roll in? My private building is my private building built for me, not for someone that may or may not ever step foot in it.
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All this talk about private buildings brings back fond memories of the WalMart issue. People wanted to be able to tell WM what to do with their private property, but god forbid anyone tell a homeowner what they should have to do. If someone can't figure out why building codes are necessary then there is some general lacking of common sense somewhere.
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I'm with Grape Ape.
I'd also point out that it is a safety issue -- knock on wood I'm not handicapped, but as we all know, this could change at any time, by a fluke of nature (ask AG Greg Abbott). If I'm in my home, confined to a wheelchair or the like, and a fire breaks out, the ability to move around becomes a safety issue fairly quickly.
Let's keep this in perspective -- the home building industry is one of the most (if not the most) prolific and generous contributors to political campaigns in Texas and nationally. I think they can afford to make some modest accommodations for the disabled.
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Building codes are fine. Some of the stuff in there, though, kind of went again common sense. Austin Contrarian covered the issue pretty well here:
http://austinzoning.typepad.com/austincontrarian/2008/06/visitability.html