County Weighs Eliminating 8 Building Rules

County officials have identified eight building and safety regulations that can be eliminated as part of the county’s effort to streamline government and stimulate the local economy.

The Board of Supervisors, which already modified or eliminated eight land-use regulations in April, will consider a proposal that these newly identified regulations be rescinded at next week’s meeting.

The deregulation program was proposed last year by Supervisor Don Saltarelli, who said the effort would complement a similar survey of state laws requested by Gov. Pete Wilson.

County officials said they examined more than 1,000 building and safety codes and produced eight they felt could be cut without jeopardizing public safety.

Under the plan, permits would no longer be required to replace dishwashers, sink and laundry faucets, garbage disposals, water filter/softening systems, exhaust fans and dryer vents. The changes would apply only to the 180,000 residents living in unincorporated areas of the county.

“We went through the regulations with the idea of deregulating when it was reasonable,” said Ronald J. Novello, director of building and development services.

Other county departments are expected to submit deregulation ideas to the board in the coming months.

In April, the planning department submitted 18 regulations that could be amended, eight by county action and 10 by state or federal action. The changes reduced the number of permits and paperwork required for certain types of construction work.