Sunday, August 28, 2016
Historical preservation = murder 2
From VOA:
Italian officials have opened an investigation to focus on different structures that collapsed after Wednesday’s powerful quake, devastating four towns in the mountainous heartland of the country and rattling the central agricultural regions. Regional public prosecutors say they will not only investigate why recently constructed public buildings, including a schoolhouse renovated in 2012, failed to withstand the quake’s force, but they are threatening also to file charges against private-property owners who may have altered their houses — most very ancient — in ways that breached current building codes and anti-seismic engineering regulations.If a public building was badly built, the government should be punishing itself for allowing it. With the private builders and remodelers, this is EXACTLY THE WRONG TIME to punish them. They were following existing DE FACTO rules, which included lots of winks and nods and money under the table. Instead you should start looking at OTHER "historically preserved" towns that haven't yet been destroyed. Check all structures. Give builders a time limit and a subsidy, and loosen up the lethal "historical" rules so the people can FUCKING DO IT. ¶ 4:12 PM
