[Cob] OT - concrete, zoning, impervious surface area etc.

[Veronica Macphereson]

Ok - out of lurkdom I come.

1.  Studies about increased impervious surface area
(which pretty much covers everything we build,
including cob) increases the temperature of water that
does reach streams and lakes has been around for a few
years now.  This is because the water is not
percolating through the soil.  Building any structure
will creat this effect.  This is why the "modern"
zoning code requires something called NURP ponds. 
Places where water is stored and allowed to percolate
into the groundwater table.  The also hold overflow
from storms.

The key word here is "impervious."  In other words,
water that comes down in the form of rain or snow is
not reaching the water table but is running sideways
into gutters, sewers, rivers, streams or lakes.  

2. A few years ago a large Builder's Association in a
mid to large size metro area commissioned a study on
zoning.  They spent a fair amount of money on
engineers and legal research and numbers for the
minimum lot size.  I don't know if most of you are
aware but many cities have zoning codes that require a
"MINIMUM PAD SIZE"  This means that you cannot build a
house smaller than say 750 square feet.  Yes, you are
reading that correctly.  If you want to build
something smaller than that you will need to go to the
planning and zoning commissions, pay money, maybe hire
a lawyer, and then get something called a "variance" 
This means that they will allow an exception to the
law because otherwise it would cause you a hardship as
an owner.  Trust me - this is difficult to get if you
want a smaller house.

The next thing the Builder's Association study
discovered was that you need to have setbacks - areas
between the edge of the lot line and the edge of the
house.  Those "setbacks" are somewhere between 5-20
feet depending upon the city.

So basically the zoning in many cities require you to
install so much concrete sidewalk, a minimum concrete
foundation, and a minimum number of people living on
each lot.

The people involved in the study talked about suing. 
You see - over the last 50 years or so the average
housing density in teh average city in North America
has decreased from about 6-8/acre (a t are talking
Tokyo highrises) to about 2-4/acre.  This means
impervious surface area per person.


The Builder's, those "nasty, mean, planet damaging
people" discovered that the zoning was affecting their
business and many of them wanted to sue.  You see, how
do you sue a city for discriminatory zoning when you
have to go back to the planning department the next
day becaues you continue to build in that city.  It
became a political hot potato and the study was "spin
spin spin" and hidden, buried.

The people writing the zoning codes for the cities,
well, they have discovered that a larger lot = a
larger house = less people/children.  This equation
means higher tax revenues with lower education and
service costs (police, fire etc.)  It is to the
advantage of every city to zone like this.  

And you want to build a 450 sqare foot house out of
cob?  It's a frustrating uphill battle.  I love cob,
and wish everyon on this list a very very good luck
building in line with code inside a city or suburb. 
That would be a dream come true.

Just as a side note - impervious surface area is not
the only ecological indicator out there.  The solution
is to capture your rainwater and use it for your
garden - this makes up for your house being an
impervious surface.  which, by the way, I think is a
good thing as I don't like to sleep in a wet bed or
have a wet computer!

and no you can't "quote me on this information"

cob on!


		
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