San Jose has taken its first tentative steps to soften longstanding building rules requiring all new apartment buildings — even relatively small ones — to include at least two stairways.
Housing advocates have campaigned for years to scrap such requirements for mid-rise residential buildings, arguing they significantly add to the cost of constructing new homes. But this reform push has run headlong into a century-old consensus among U.S. firefighters who say a single stairway is not sufficient to safely evacuate a building during a fire emergency.
San Jose officials are hoping to sort through the debate with the help of a newly commissioned study on the issue. Under the plan, city staff have been tasked with evaluating the possible consequences that might come from allowing developers to construct single-staircase apartments up to six stories high…