05/05/2009: "Board Of Appeals For Building Department"

(Director Ron Henrickson and Building Official Rene Beliveau)

The County Council voted unanimously at a Monday work session to appoint a Building Code Board of Appeals (BCBOA). The vote was cast against the advice from the Director of Community Development and Planning (CD&P), Ron Hendrickson, who has said there is no need for it.

The Council will advertise for applicants to sit on the board to hear and decide appeals from the public on decisions, and/or interpretations, of building construction regulations.

This is not the first time the matter has come before the Council, and it is not the first time that Henrickson has stated there is no need for a board, since no appeals have been filed.

A BCBOA has been required for a number of years, and while the Town Of Friday Harbor appointed a board years ago, the County has failed to do so, but due in part to a number of perceived issues and problems with code interpretations coming out of CD&PD since Henrickson became director of the department, there have been calls for an appeals board to be formed.

Councilman Bob Myhr quoted a passage in the International Code that states the forming of a BCBOA is not an option. Councilman Gene Knapp, noted that since the Council had adopted the International Codes, they had, ipso facto, created a BCBOA, but they now need to appoint members to staff it.

The Council will publish a public notice advertising for applicants to the board; as well as for other openings that currently exist on various commissions, committees and adv