Council Subcommittee

MINUTES OF THE GILBERT COUNCIL SUBCOMMITTEE ON BUILDING CODES, SEPTEMBER 10, 2019, AT 3:30 P.M., ROOM 100, 90 EAST CIVIC CENTER DRIVE, GILBERT, ARIZONA COUNCIL PRESENT: Chair Jared Taylor and Councilmembers Scott Anderson COUNCIL ABSENT: Councilmember Aimee Yentes STAFF PRESENT: Town Clerk Lisa Maxwell, Development Services Director Kyle Mieras, Plan Review and Inspection Manager Larry Taylor, Assistant Town Attorney Nancy Davidson and Assistant Fire Chief Bob Badgett CALL TO ORDER Chair Taylor called the meeting to order at 3:43 p.m. AGENDA ITEMS 1. Approval of the minutes of the April 10, 2019 meeting. A MOTION was made by Councilmember Anderson, seconded by Chair Taylor, to approve the minutes of the April 10, 2019 meeting. Motion carried 2-0. 2. Review, discussion and feedback of Building and Fire Codes, including feedback received from stakeholders. Plan Review and Inspection Manager Taylor said since the last subcommittee meeting he has received feedback from the Homebuilders Association, the Chamber of Commerce, Architects, and custom homebuilders. He revised his spreadsheet for the subcommittee’s review. Plan Review and Inspection Manager Taylor provided updated lists for Residential Codes, Commercial Codes and Fire Codes broken down into less restrictive, neutral, more restrictive and neutral. Starting with the Residential Codes, Plan Review and Inspection Manager Taylor said he first had the items in the neutral column in the more restrictive column but after discussions with stakeholders he learned these changes were not really more restrictive so he moved them to the neutral column. The items in the more restrictive column were further divided into the changes that were good since they dealt with safety issues and some were already things being done by builders. Plan Review and Inspection Manager Taylor marked out the other items in the more restrictive column as not necessary for the Town to adopt. Some of the items in the new category could be removed as they addressed things regulated by the County and not the Town. For the Commercial Codes Plan Review and Inspection Manager Taylor stated there were only a few of the more restrictive items being recommended for adoption and they all dealt with safety issues. Assistant Chief Badgett reviewed the more restrictive items in the Fire Code. Many were there for safety reasons and some of them are already required by the Town. There was discussion about the new requirements for requiring inspection of temporary stages over 400 square feet and the requirement for a Crowd Manager when there are gatherings. The stage inspection in the Fire Code is also in the Building Code. The need for plan review was not seen to be necessary but the inspection is needed. The item addressing Crowd Managers can be amended to exempt religious institutions. It can be addressed in the Town ordinance regarding special events. Plan Review and Inspection Manager Taylor said the process will be to adopt the 2018 Codes and amend out the items crossed off the spreadsheets. There is the option to maintain the 2006 Energy Code as an optional Code but it is better to adopt all Codes in the same year. The 2006 Energy Code has a chart to follow and the 2018 Energy Code uses HERS rating. Both can be adopted and rest of the 2018 Energy Code would be optional. Apartment builders would have the option of following the Residential Code or the Commercial Code. Rusdon Ray brought up the issue of having waivers for some of the required soil reports. Plan Review and Inspection Manager Taylor said this would involve a policy change and he will have to discuss with the Town Attorney whether it would be in the Town’s best interest to waive those reports. 3. Discussion of report to Council. Chair Taylor and Plan Review and Inspection Manager Taylor will present the subcommittees findings to the Council at the September 19 meeting. Chair Taylor said he will address specific issues such as stage inspection and event managers and he will get feedback from Council on those items. Plan Review and Inspection Manager Taylor said Assistant Town Attorney Davidson is drafting the Ordinance for Council’s approval. He hopes to have this on the November agenda with an effective date of January 1, 2020. ADJOURN Chair Taylor adjourned the meeting at 5:00 p.m. ATTEST: ___________________________ ___________________________________ Chair Jared Taylor Lisa Maxwell, MMC, Town Clerk