Building Safety Code Board of Appeals Meeting

CITY OF URBANA BUILDING SAFETY CODE BOARD OF APPEALS THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2013 MEMBERS PRESENT: Scott Kunkel, David Crow, Carl Webber Keith Erickson (joined the meeting at 4:09 p.m.) STAFF PRESENT: John Schneider, Brad Bennett OTHERS PRESENT: CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order by Scott Kunkel at 4:06 p.m. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Scott Kunkel asked for a motion to approve the minutes of the meeting held Thursday, July 11, 2013. David Crow made the motion to approve the minutes and Carl Webber seconded the motion. All agreed and the minutes were approved. OLD BUSINESS: There was no old business to discuss. NEW BUSINESS: An ordinance amending Urbana City Code, Chapter 5, Article 11, Flood Hazard Areas. Presentation from Brad Bennett, Senior Civil Engineer for the City of Urbana explaining the proposed amendment. Mr. Bennett - FEMA is in charge of flood insurance rate maps. They are used by mortgage companies. The city also uses these maps when they are doing development reviews. FEMA is working on a digital map modernization program. On April 2, 2013, the maps for Champaign County became updated. The new product is a digital product (the old ones were paper). The digital is a much more useful product. High resolution data Updated data Seamless Aerial photography Public can access these through FEMA’s website This will be a huge improvement We now have to update our floodplain ordinance to match the current state ordinance. The BSCBA Minutes -9/5/2013 BSCBA meeting Page -2- Illinois Department of Natural Resources has a division called the Office of Water Resources that has created a model ordinance that they want all communities to use. We have worked with legal and are presenting the ordinance to be adopted. All the neighboring communities are adopting this ordinance. Since the Building Safety Code Board is the board that would have to hear any variances, we are presenting this here to be approved for forwarding to council. Scott Kunkel asked what the procedure was if someone did need a variance. John Schneider pointed out where it was stated in the ordinance. Mr. Bennett stated that in the last ten years he has been with the City, no one has asked for a variance on this. Mr. Crow asked if any of the neighboring communities had made any changes to the ordinance. Mr. Bennett stated that the IDNR did not want changes. Staff recommends approval. Mr. Webber asked whether legal and engineering had approved. They had. David Crow made the motion to send to council. Keith Erickson seconded. There was no discussion Roll call was taken Vote of 4 ayes – forward to council by unanimous vote – Mr. Kunkel opened the floor for public comment. There was none. Mr. Schneider brought to the attention that that council is discussing amending fines and rental registration fees. They are looking to amend sections 106.4, 106.4.1 and 106.4.3 of Article 9 of the Property Maintenance Code. Those are about violations and fines for failure to comply tickets. Mr. Webber asked how this would be amended. Mr. Schneider stated that the amendment would say that staff, instead of having the option to write a ticket, would be required to write a ticket. And the fines would be increased. BSCBA Minutes -9/5/2013 BSCBA meeting Page -3- A discussion with Mr. Webber followed on the last case and whether the board could increase the fine. Mr. Webber stated that he thought this board should have the right to increase the fines and the judge in court could increase the fines. Mr. Schneider stated that in the previous case, this board heard an appeal of a fire department ticket and the city could still pursue it in court. State statue limits it to $750 per violation per day. A judge could assess that violation on top of the failure to comply ticket. Mr. Webber said that if it happened again, could the board increase the fines. Mr. Schneider stated he would talk to the fire chief and our legal division about Mr. Webber’s concerns and amending the code to increase fines. ADJOURNMENT: Mr. Kunkel adjourned the meeting at 4:26 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Vivian Petrotte BSCBA:vp