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General University Area Updates and Rumours
(03-13-2018, 10:14 PM)KingandWeber Wrote:
(03-13-2018, 04:19 PM)ijmorlan Wrote: Wouldn’t it be more accurate to say that the unit occupants would be violating fire code and skirting parking requirements? It’s really not the developer’s fault if people do either of those.

To be clear, as to fire code, I actually think there is something to discuss. Fire code assumes that the building designer knows where people will be sleeping, which implies either knowledge they cannot have about how people will use the space, or an implicit intrusion of the state into the bedrooms of the nation to forbid sleeping in certain parts of ones house. On the other hand, the purpose of fire code is to keep people alive rather than dying due to fire. Modern fire codes have been very successful at this and this is clearly a legitimate societal interest, so it’s not appropriate to dismiss fire codes as an unwarranted intrusion on personal liberty.

By contrast, as to parking minima, this just illustrates one of many reasons why parking minima should not exist. They assume we know how people are going to use their space, and/or they require people to use it in the prescribed fashion, which is hardly appropriate in a free country. And the result of parking minima isn’t to keep people alive but rather to entrench a car-centric urban form, which is not a legitimate societal interest.

Oh yes, I agree it's ultimately on the occupant's shoulders. That being said, I would be incredulous if the developer doesn't expect some (or even many) people to use these bedroom-sized rooms (with doors in many cases) and accompanying full bathrooms to house an extra roommate, especially in a student area like this.

As to the fire code, I was just saying I'm not sure about how important the window-in-bedroom rule is in buildings like this where I assume there are sprinkler systems. Obviously it's less safe, I just don't know much in the general scheme of fire safety. But the rule must be there for a reason.

I believe all these new units have required fire protection systems (sprinklers). Does that make any difference?  I know very little about the technical requirements.
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RE: General University Area Updates and Rumours - by MacBerry - 03-15-2018, 09:53 PM

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