Section 17958.11 Of Chapter 4. Application And Scope From California Health And Safety Code >> Division 13. >> Part 1.5. >> Chapter 4.
17958.11
. (a) Any city or county may adopt alternative building
regulations for the conversion of commercial or industrial buildings,
or portions thereof, to joint living and work quarters. As used in
this section, "joint living and work quarters" means residential
occupancy by a family maintaining a common household, or by not more
than four unrelated persons, of one or more rooms or floors in a
building originally designed for industrial or commercial occupancy
which include (1) cooking space and sanitary facilities in
conformance with local building standards adopted pursuant to Section
17958 or 17958.5 and (2) adequate working space reserved for, and
regularly used by, one or more persons residing therein.
The alternative building regulations adopted pursuant to this
section shall be applicable in those geographic areas specifically
designated for such occupancy, or as expressly permitted by a
redevelopment plan with respect to a redevelopment project area. The
alternative building regulations need not impose the same
requirements as regulations adopted pursuant to Section 17922, except
as otherwise provided in this section, but in permitting repairs,
alterations, and additions necessary to accommodate joint living and
work quarters, the alternative building regulations shall impose such
requirements as will, in the determination of the local governing
body, protect the public health, safety, and welfare.
(b) The Legislature hereby finds and declares that a substantial
number of manufacturing and commercial buildings in urban areas have
lost manufacturing and commercial tenants to more modern
manufacturing and commercial premises, and that the untenanted
portions of such buildings constitute a potential resource capable,
when appropriately altered, of accommodating joint living and work
quarters which would be physically and economically suitable
particularly for use by artists, artisans, and similarly-situated
individuals. The Legislature further finds that the public will
benefit by making such buildings available for joint living and work
quarters for artists, artisans, and similarly-situated individuals
because (1) conversion of space to joint living and work quarters
provides a new use for such buildings contributing to the
revitalization of central city areas, (2) such conversion results in
building improvements and rehabilitation, and (3) the cultural life
of cities and of the state as a whole is enhanced by the residence in
such cities of large numbers of persons regularly engaged in the
arts.
(c) The Legislature further finds and declares that (1) persons
regularly engaged in the arts require larger amounts of space for the
pursuit of their artistic endeavors and for the storage of materials
therefor, and of the products thereof, than are regularly found in
dwellings, (2) the financial remunerations to be obtained from a
career in the arts are generally small, (3) persons regularly engaged
in the arts generally find it financially difficult to maintain
quarters for their artistic endeavors separate and apart from their
places of residence, (4) high property values and resulting rental
costs make it particularly difficult for persons regularly engaged in
the arts to obtain the use of the amount of space required for their
work, and (5) the residential use of such space is accessory to the
primary use of such space as a place of work.
It is the intent of the Legislature that local governments have
discretion to define geographic areas which may be utilized for joint
living and work quarters and to establish standards for such
occupancy, consistent with the needs and conditions peculiar to the
local environment. The Legislature recognizes that building code
regulations applicable to residential housing may have to be relaxed
to provide joint living and work quarters in buildings previously
used for commercial or industrial purposes.