Antioch staff urges update to ICC 2024 codes; residents and trustees raise cost concerns

Community Development Director Howard Pardee told the Antioch board the village must move from older cycles to the ICC 2024 codes to comply with a state Capital Development Board update and to avoid repeatedly redoing the work every three years.

"This isn't something that I decided to do — this is something that we're forced upon by the state," Pardee said, explaining staff’s proposal to adopt the 11 model codes with local amendments and to stagger implementation to reduce administrative churn.

A resident and long‑time contractor, Mike O'Meara, told trustees the 2024 ICC cycle could impose substantial costs on homeowners and small builders in town, saying it "threatens to impose sweeping Band Aids that our village simply cannot afford" and warning that modest renovation projects could face $10,000–$25,000 added compliance costs in some scenarios. Trustees pressed staff and the consultant about which sections would require sprinklers, what remodel triggers would apply, and how the state‑adopted energy code (which the village cannot amend) factors into local cost impacts.

Staff and the consultant said many structure‑design changes lower some requirements (for example, some wind‑load design numbers were reduced in later cycles), but the statewide energy code changes are the principal driver of increased costs. Pardee said staff had solicited input from local builders and the fire district, and that the proposed staff amendments aim to reduce cost impacts while meeting state law.

Trustees asked staff to return with a clear redline of proposed local amendments and to show concrete cost examples for typical local projects before taking a final vote. No adoption occurred on June 25; the item remains scheduled for further review.