County Planning & Zoning Commission to look at building safety

Hearing slated on ordinance that would establish adviser and board

By Shar Porier
Herald/Review
Published/Last Modified on Monday, Sep 08, 2008 - 05:21:05 am MST

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SIERRA VISTA — A public hearing on the proposed ordinance that will establish a building safety adviser and appeals board will be held at the Wednesday meeting of the Cochise County Planning and Zoning Commission.

State statute requires the formation of a building safety advisory board, while the county code requires a a building appeals board. Rather than create two boards, the county Planning and Zoning Commission members will be asked to approve a joint board composed of building professionals and planning and zoning staff. The board also will act as “technical advisory in the formation and development of revisions or additions to our building codes and ordinances in the county,” states county building official Ron Durgin, in documentation provided to the commissioners.

State law requires a five-to seven-person advisory board whose purpose is to determine the suitability of alternative building materials and construction as well as interpret adopted county codes, according to Durgin. The board must have a licensed architect, a licensed engineer, licensed contractor, a county citizen and an electrician or plumber. Additional members can be members of the construction or design industry.

Members will be appointed by the board of supervisors and will serve a one-year term.

Durgin continues, “The required membership positions and background knowledge of both boards are very similar, with the exception of the member of the public/resident needed for the advisory board. Additionally, ARS 11-862-A states ‘to the extent the persons meeting the qualifications are available within the county’ and the building code has a registered professional or a contractor for each trade discipline allowed. The only issue appears to be a member of the public that could be addressed by a revision to our building codes by adding the same requirement for a member of the public.”

Current county code requires that an appeals board be appointed for the purpose of hearing and deciding appeals of decisions made by the county building official as related to the application and interpretation of the adopted codes. Members of the appeals board are to be: a registered design professional with architectural experience or a building construction superintendent with 10 years of experience; a registered design professional with structural engineering experience; a registered design professional with mechanical and plumbing engineering experience, or a mechanical contractor with at least two years experience; a design professional with electrical engineering experience or an electrical contractor; and an engineering professional with fire protection experience or a contractor with at least 10 years experience.

With the similarity of professionalism and experience required of the members of both boards, Durgin is proposing a seven-member board to perform both functions. He suggests one of the members be a representative of the fire districts and another member have construction experience in green building.

Meetings of the board will be on as as-needed basis and will be open to the public.

If the commissioners agree to the new ordinance, it will go before the board of supervisors for final approval on Oct. 7 at the regular meeting.

The commissioners also will hear a request from H. Wayne Peterson for a special-use permit to construct and operate a mini-warehouse storage facility on 2.51 acres located on Saguaro Road in Willcox. Access to the storage units will be off of Hamilton Road; 150 storage units are being proposed in the TR-36 zoning district. One nearby property owner has submitted a letter of opposition to the mini-warehouse.

Staff also has asked the commissioners to forward the tentative plat of Pinnacle Vista Subdivision, a 165-lot development on 300 acres near Whetstone, to the board of supervisors with approval. The new subdivision lies about two miles south of Mustang Corners and one mile east of Highway 90 in the Babocamri area, with access coming from Ronald Reagan Parkway, Zosimo Drive and the future Cannon Boulevard. Lots range in size from just under an acre to around 7.50 acres. The property is owned by Desert Sunrise LLC of Scottsdale with CVE Inc., also of Scottsdale, as the developer.

Herald/Review reporter Shar Porier can be reached at 515-4692 or by e-mail at shar.porier@bisbeereview.net.

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concerned citizen wrote on Sep 8, 2008 8:21 PM:

" I hope the inspectors do the right job this time. Whomever did the approval for the Wick bldg on Wilcox and 2nd street, sure didn't do their homework. I have NEVER seen a building so close to the street and sidewalk before, it is a hazard to the drivers, and the people in the building. "

Mike Jackson wrote on Sep 8, 2008 9:44 AM:

" Just because two powers require similar knowledge, doesn't mean the county should give both powers to one board. The builder of a house, and the building inspector, need similar knowledge, but the county doesn't generally give builders the power to inspect their own work. Besides, as a matter of basic fairness, people who help make decisions shouldn't hear appeals from those decisions. The advisory and appellate boards should be kept separate. "