There is hereby created a building board of appeals henceforth
referred to as “the board” or “the committee.”
The board shall consist of five members nominated and confirmed
by the mayor and council. The membership shall be one general contractor,
one real estate agent, one developer, one specialty code subcontractor,
and one property owner. The building official shall be an ex officio
member of the board. In case of fire and life safety aspects of the
specialty codes and/or fire code appeals, the fire chief shall also
become an ex officio member of the board. Ex officio members shall
have no vote.
Appointed board members shall serve two-year terms. No individual
shall serve more than two consecutive terms.
Any vacancy on the board shall be filled by the mayor and council
for the expired portion of the term of the member creating the vacancy.
The office of an appointed board member shall be deemed vacant whenever
the board member has two consecutive unexcused absences. If the member
has more than three consecutive excused absences, the board may declare
the position vacant.
The board shall elect a chairperson and vice-chairperson who
shall hold office at the pleasure of the board. The committee will
not elect officers.
The community services division shall provide the board with
a secretary who shall keep a record of all proceedings before the
board.
Three board members shall constitute a quorum. If a quorum is
present, all matters shall be decided by a vote of the majority.
(1)
The
board shall adopt reasonable rules and regulations for conducting
its investigations and meetings. All hearings shall be open to the
public.
(2)
The
appellant, representatives of the appellants, the building official,
fire chief and any other person whose interest may be affected by
the matter being discussed shall be given an opportunity to be heard.
The board may call upon independent, impartial expert witnesses when
considering any appeal.
(3)
The
board shall affirm, modify or reverse the decision of the building
official and/or fire chief by a concurring vote of three members.
(4)
All
decisions and findings shall be rendered in writing and kept on file
in the office of the building official with a duplicate copy given
to the appellant.
The board shall meet as needed to hear appeals.
It shall be the duty of the board and it shall have the power,
except as otherwise provided by law, to:
(1)
Determine
the suitability of alternate materials and methods of construction
and to provide for reasonable interpretations of the specialty codes
enumerated in Articles 2 through 5 and 9 of the Building Safety Codes.
Provided that, since city specialty code standards are required to
be in compliance with state specialty code standards, the board is
not authorized to grant a variance to the state specialty codes.
(2)
Hear
appeals from the fire and life safety provisions of:
(3)
Hear
appeals regarding the abatement of unsafe, substandard or dangerous
buildings, structures or building service equipment as provided in
Article 1, Section 204 of the Building Safety Codes.
[Section 2.568 amended by Ordinance No. 6321, enacted June 16, 2014; further
amended by Ordinance No. 6389, enacted October
15, 2018]
Any person who is adversely affected or aggrieved by the decision of the building official and/or the fire chief refusing to grant a modification of the provisions or requirements as allowed in section 2.568 may appeal to the board. A notice of appeal on the form prescribed by the office of the building official shall be submitted to that office within 10 days from the date of each decision. All notices of appeal shall be accompanied by a fee of $300.00.
(1)
All
decisions relating to the suitability of alternate materials and methods
of construction and the reasonable interpretations of the specialty
codes are final unless appealed, in writing, to the appropriate state
board within 30 days of the board’s decision.
(2)
All
decisions relating to the fire and life safety provisions of the specialty
codes and all fire code decisions are final.
(3)
All
decisions relating to the abatement of unsafe, substandard or dangerous
buildings, structures or building service equipment provisions are
final.
(4)
All
decisions relating to the housing code are final.
[Section 2.572 amended by Ordinance No. 6389, enacted October 15, 2018]
The members of the board of appeals may also serve as an advisory
board to the community services division. The board may be utilized
to provide perspective and advice to the building official on matters
relating to code enforcement.
