"City staff recently told us that we cannot have the Telegraph Holiday Fair or the Juneteenth Festival at their usual locations because of the fire code's 26-foot rule, which says streets with buildings more than 30 feet high must have at least 26 feet of clear roadway to accommodate emergency vehicles. Berkeley's Juneteenth Festival and a popular holiday market on Telegraph Avenue must move from their longtime homes, as the city mulls big fee increases and steps up fire code enforcement."
"Some city staff members have said that state law requires us to move these craft fairs, but this is untrue. The 26-foot rule is in Appendix D of the state fire code, which is optional. Oakland, San Francisco and Emeryville all with taller buildings than Berkeley have chosen to not adopt it. It does not work in older cities with narrow streets, like these nearby cities and Berkeley. Berkeley has an opportunity to replace the 26-foot rule with guidelines that work for our city."
City staff say the Telegraph Holiday Fair and Berkeley Juneteenth Festival must move because a 26-foot rule requires at least 26 feet of clear roadway next to buildings over 30 feet for emergency vehicles. The rule has been in the code for years but was largely ignored until recent, inconsistent enforcement. Appendix D of the state fire code contains the 26-foot requirement and is optional; nearby cities with taller buildings chose not to adopt it. The rule is impractical for older, narrow-street cities. City Council consideration of the optional rule is upcoming; referral to local commissions could create workable Berkeley-specific guidelines to preserve street events.
Read at www.berkeleyside.org
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]