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Columbia City staff recommend keeping Building Board of Appeals separate from Property Maintenance panel
Summary
City staff told a committee that the Building Board of Appeals — required by state statute and rarely used — should remain a distinct board from the Property Maintenance Board to preserve technical expertise and to restart appointments for seven-member panels.
Columbia City staff told an administrative committee that the city should keep the Building Board of Appeals separate from the Property Maintenance Board and move to reappoint a full membership so the board is available should contractors or property owners appeal building‑code interpretations.
The recommendation matters because the Building Board of Appeals is specified in the building code and, by staff account, required by state statute as a backstop to the building official’s code interpretations. The boards use different code books and rely on distinct professional expertise, staff said, so combining them would risk mismatches in technical competence.
Todd Byers, the city’s building official, told the committee that the Building Board of Appeals exists so contractors or homeowners can challenge a building official’s interpretation of the code. “The building board of appeals or a building board of adjustments is intended for, if there's an opportunity where I, as a building official, the building official makes a ruling or decision based on my interpretation of the code, the the board of appeals is an opportunity for a contractor homeowner to take that opinion to that board to see if my interpretation of the building code is in fact correct,” Byers said. He added that the appeals board “has no authority to override the building code. They can't omit the building code. It's strictly a way of interpreting the building code.”
Byers and staff said the Building Board of Appeals covers construction, life‑safety, fire and structural questions and consults commercial and residential code books that are far larger than the property‑maintenance code. Byers contrasted the roughly 1,500‑page commercial/residential code books he uses with the roughly 300‑page property‑maintenance code. For that reason, he said, the city should not merge the two boards.
Staff said the city needs a seven‑member board with two alternates. Five former members named in a staff memo have agreed to apply; staff still need two additional members and two alternates before reestablishing a fully functioning board. Byers noted the panel is infrequently used — he recalled one use in 2018 during his tenure — but said it is required by state statute and must be available should a disagreement arise.
The committee was told the next steps are administrative: staff will advertise the openings, accept applications, and forward recommended appointees to the council for formal approval. Byers described the process as standard and said appointments would follow the council’s usual review and approval procedure.
No formal council vote on appointments occurred at the meeting; staff framed the item as a recommendation and a restart of the appointment process.
The committee adjourned after completing its business; staff will proceed with advertising and bringing candidate recommendations to a future council meeting for formal action.
