Multiple Fires in Berkeley, Drayage Standoff Continues
The Daily Cal has word on two recent Berkeley fires. There is this article, about “A three-alarm fire [that] destroyed a Berkeley Repertory Theatre warehouse Wednesday night, injuring two firefighters and causing an estimated $2 million in damage.” and another article about “The second multi-alarm fire in three days engulfed a West Berkeley warehouse used by a cooling systems manufacturer Friday night, causing an estimated $2.1 million in damages.” There were no injuries in the second fire.
These fires provide some context to the ongoing standoff involving residents of the Drayage building. Back in March, the Daily Cal first reported on the Drayage building, “The city is ordering more than 30 West Berkeley residents to vacate their warehouse home because of fire hazards, a decision that has resulted in an outcry from long-time tenants.”
The most recent report from the Daily Cal, in late June, contained word that a demolition permit has been granted for the building, and the tenants will face eviction. Seeing as how this is Berkeley, at least one resident has stated (last paragraph) that he is refusing to leave. I’m normally a big fan of protesting, but in an instance like this, people who continue to inhabit the Drayage building are putting firefighters at risk by inhabiting that building.
If there was a way that they could waive their right to be rescued in the event of a fire, I would support them staying put (not because I agree with their position, but because I support their right to hold their protest). If a fire does occur, it won’t just be a building on fire, but a rescue operation for those people. This creates a substantially greater risk for the fire department, and for that reason I fully support those tenants being evicted, by force if necessary.
Andy,
I totally respect your concern for the tenants and the neighbors.
However, what the Daily Cal or Planet did not get into was the legitimacy of some of the code violations.
Two independent code inspectors visited the building and reported that many of the violations that the Fire Marshall suggested are inaccurate.
While I think that housing must be safe and habitable, I find the process suspect. The City did not begin inspecting the Drayage until a developer expressed interest in turning it into condos. Additionally, the City is inspecting lots of other buildings in the area.
The Planning Director has not been secret about his plans to redevelop West Berkeley. This would put artists, who already face a scarce supply of housing, as well as tenants at the risk of eviction.
While normally I would also be concerned about the safety of tenants, in this case I think the process has been bogus and I think the tenants are doing the right thing.
Also on the demolition permit, the permit can only be granted by the City Zoning Board, so staff illegally applied the law.
These are just some thoughts since I have been involved in the process closely.
Comment by Jesse Arreguin — July 6, 2005 @ 1:31 am
Very interesting Jesse. Maybe this will become a moot point, as a recent Supreme Court decision basically allows cities to use the power of eminent domain to do whatever they damn well please.
On the other hand, if there are real fire code violations, I’m in favor of people living in unsafe housing if that’s where they choose to live (as long as they take care of their own fire fighting, as Andy suggested).
Comment by patr — July 6, 2005 @ 2:22 am
I was under the impression that the housing itself was illegal, and thus the permit process was different. Then again, following the details of zoning permits just doesn’t quite appeal to me, so I may have misread something.
Comment by B.A.D. — July 6, 2005 @ 12:08 pm