Overregulation is costly 

Editor:

The most common building code is the International Building Code  (IBC). The less restrictive code is the International Residential Code (IRC) . Different states can adopt the codes and modify them accordingly to fit the region. The national housing supply gap has widened to an estimated 4.03 million homes in 2025. Overregulation at the local level is the single biggest hindrance to homebuilding. The National Association of Home Builders estimates that regulation adds over $130,000 to the cost of a newly built home, making up over 26% of the final price tag.

Gunnison has recently adopted a code that would require a fire sprinkler system in any new home over 3600 square feet, including the garage.  This sprinkler code was included in the IBC and contested by home builders across the nation, as cost prohibitive, and many states withdrew the requirement.  These fire sprinklers are a possible source of excess damage to a home if they malfunction. Without the mandated sprinklers, Gunnison requires the garage to be separated from the house by 6 feet. Connecting the two structures by a roof is also prohibited. This is harsh in Gunnison where the snow can be deep and temperatures reach 30 below. How safe is it if people are loaded down with groceries, children, or are elderly or disabled to traverse between the two structures?

These unelected bureaucrats would tell us, it is for our safety, but are they solving one perceived problem while creating others? Two new builds in Lost Miner Ranch are subject to this new rule. Now instead of one adjoining fire wall between the garage and the living area, they must provide the more expensive exterior finish to two separate wall structures. The overregulation cost to business is preventing many upgrades in a town that needs to be regentrified. Blighted storefronts do not help a town to flourish. Why is there not more public input on all these rules and regulations? Overregulation of housing has made affordability impossible for many of our young people who are now being groomed with the idea that socialism is better than what they have. While many people are complaining about the cost of housing, the county seems to be leaning in with even more regulations without regard for the countless lives they are affecting. 

We need to know our county commissioners are not letting the departments they oversee, guide the ship onto the reef.

As Ronald Reagan once said: "Government is not the solution. Government is the problem." 

Pam Randall

Gunnison