California Nightmaring

Layne Marceau, president of the Northern California Division of Shea Homes and chairman of the California Building Industry Association recently offered the perspective of builders and developers in California, one of the most heavily regulated states in the country.

"It has gotten to the point that more than 20% of the cost of new housing is regulatory costs," Marceau said. "Some of these are hidden regulatory costs and some are very direct costs."

Marceau pointed to an example of *NIMBY-ism and ill-conceived land-use regulation in Livermore, Calif., where impact fees and regulatory costs now add $120,000 to the cost of every new home built.

* NIMBY = NOT IN MY BACK YARD