The Bakersfield Department of Development Services is a department of the city of

Bakersfield Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of the ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. The department enforces the city's

building codes A building code (also building control or building regulations) is a set of rules that specify the standards for construction objects such as buildings and non-building structures. Buildings must conform to the code to obtain planning permissi ...

and

land use Land use is an umbrella term to describe what happens on a parcel of land. It concerns the benefits derived from using the land, and also the land management actions that humans carry out there. The following categories are used for land use: fo ...

policies. It also issues building permits, and give approval for new land development. It also provides inspections of new and existing buildings. The department was formed from the consolidation of the Building Department and the Planning Department (which became the Building Division and Planning Division). It is headquartered in the Development Services Building at the intersection of 17th Street and Chester Ave, in the

Civic Center A civic center or civic centre is a prominent land area within a community that is constructed to be its focal point or center. It usually contains of one or more dominant public buildings, which may also include a government building. Recently, ...

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

History

Building Division

Bakersfield's building code has seen large changes as a result of two major disasters. They would also drastically change the look of the city. The first was the Great Fire of 1889. Prior to the fire, most of the city was constructed out of wood. This allowed the fire to spread quickly from building to building. After the fire, it was decided the buildings in the central business district would be constructed of non flammable materials. This also changed the look of the city from a "frontier town" to a "metropolitan city". The second event was the 1952 earthquake. Similar to the great fire, a lot of the city was destroyed. When examined, most of the buildings that survived were reinforced structures (primarily reinforced concrete). Many of the buildings that fell were built with non-reinforced brick. When the city was rebuilt, it was required that large structures be constructed with reinforced materials.Maynard, John. ''Bakersfield: A Centennial Portrait''. Cherbo Publishing Group. Encino, California: 1998. Pages 75-79.

Planning Division

Bakersfield's planning department has faced some major challenges in the development of the city. One of the largest was the integration of Central Bakersfield with

East Bakersfield East Bakersfield is the eastern region of the city of Bakersfield, California directly east of the downtown. The region was formerly known as the town of Sumner, which was later incorporated and renamed Kern City. It is primarily a mixture of ...

(former town of Sumner and later Kern City). Constructed by

Southern Pacific The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the names ...

, after a land dispute with the city, East Bakersfield's street layout had three major differences. The two cities had streets of different widths; Bakersfield's streets were approximately 20 feet wider. Bakersfield's streets were layout parallel to north/south and east/west while East Bakersfield's streets were parallel to Southern Pacific's tracks; about 30 degrees different. Also, the streets did not match up. The north sidewalk of a Bakersfield street almost lined up with the south sidewalk of the corresponding East Bakersfield street. Several decisions were made to resolve the problems. First, Union Avenue would be the dividing line between the two regions. Streets would be constructed parallel to existing streets in both areas up to Union. Minor streets would simple terminate, with a medium separating the two. Major streets would directly connect at Union (creating an intersection) and then transition between the two street systems within one block. Most of this was done on the eastside, where there was less development, but some were done on the west.

References

External links

Bakersfield Department of Development Services
{{Government of Bakersfield d