Developer Explains Why It’s Nearly Impossible to Build New Homes in Santa Cruz County

Our guest today is Tom Decker, who has been a builder and real estate developer in California’s Santa Cruz County for 40 years. He talks about the difficulties of building a new home in the county and how government regulations are making it worse, as well as the impact on its residents.

4 years after the August 2020 CZU fire that destroyed about 1,100 homes in the area, only 37 have been rebuilt, according to Mr. Decker. The permitting process is so difficult that people are giving up on building new homes.

On July 17, 1891, there was a big fire in Boulder Creek, Santa Cruz County, with pretty much all the structures being burnt down. At that time—and with much less technology and equipment than we have today—it took 2 years to rebuild the whole city, which is the city that can be seen there today, according to Mr. Decker. “But they did not have the government restrictions we have now,” he added.

Mr. Decker also talks about the San Lorenzo river’s containing feces, possibly from the 100-plus homeless people living on its banks. However, the response of the county has been to mandate every one of the 14,000 homes in the catchment area that have a septic tank to install an enhanced unit—which can cost up to $150,000 with a $500-per-month monitoring fee—just so no gray water makes it to the river. Included in this mandate is a house that is 6 miles from the river, and that you have to go up and down 2 sets of mountains to reach.

Join us to understand why building in this county has become so difficult.

Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and guests, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.