SUBJECT:
Title
An Ordinance of the Town Council of the Town of Erie amending Chapter 7 of Title 3 of the Erie Municipal Code, Expanding the Duties of the Board of Adjustment
Body
DEPARTMENT: Planning and Development
Department
PRESENTER(S): Sarah Nurmela, Director of Planning and Development
Ed Kotlinski, Chief Building Official
Joel Champagne, Deputy Chief Building Official
First Name Last Name, Title
TIME ESTIMATE: 10 minutes
only required for non-consent items
FISCAL SUMMARY:
Cost as Recommended: N/A
Balance Available: N/A
Budget Line Item Number: N/A
New Appropriation Required: No
POLICY ISSUES:
Whether or not to expand the duties of the Board of Adjustment to include duties exercised by the Board of Appeals, allowing building official decisions to be appealed.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Adopt the ordinance.
End
SUMMARY AND BACKGROUND OF SUBJECT MATTER:
In accordance with the 2021 International Building Code (the Code) adopted by the Town Council, an applicant for a building permit has the right to appeal a decision of the Building Official to the Board of Appeals. However, the Town does not currently have a Board of Appeals. The proposed ordinance would expand the duties of the Board of Adjustment to include duties of the Board of Appeals, to be known as the BOA. The ordinance requires BOA members to be:
• A resident of the Town of Erie, and
• An architect, engineer, master electrician, licensed contractor, or
• Have other training or experience necessary to consider requests for interpretation of the Town’s building codes.
Appeals of a Building Official’s decision are based on a claim that the intent of the Code or the rules legally adopted have been incorrectly interpreted, the provisions of the Code do not fully apply, or an equally good or better form of construction is proposed. Should the ordinance be adopted, a favorable majority vote of all BOA members present at a meeting would be required to overrule the Building Official’s decision.
COUNCIL PRIORITY(S) ADDRESSED:
ü Safe and Healthy Community
ü Effective Governance
ATTACHMENT(S):
1. Ordinance No. 043-2024