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Trustees deny omnibus building-code emergency ordinance, direct staff to pursue wildfire-code emergency adoption
Summary
After extended public comment from builders and regional energy partners, Silverton trustees voted to deny an omnibus emergency ordinance that would have repealed and reenacted the town's building regulations and adopted new energy codes. Trustees instructed staff to return with a focused emergency ordinance for the mandated wildfire resiliency code and to pursue broader community engagement on building and energy-code changes.
The board of trustees took up an expansive, multi-part emergency ordinance on March 9 proposing to repeal and reenact the town’s building and administrative code sections, adopt updated building and energy codes and incorporate the state’s wildfire resiliency requirements. The package was presented as an emergency ordinance to meet statutory timelines.
The hearing triggered extensive public comment. Builders and contractors said they were not sufficiently notified and urged more time and local engagement; several builders said an emergency adoption was unnecessary and could impose significant cost increases on remodeling and repair work. EcoAction Partners and other regional technical partners described available training and assistance and urged careful but timely adoption to capture grant-funded technical support.
Trustees debated whether to adopt the omnibus emergency ordinance or split the subject matter. Several trustees expressed concern about bundling wildfire, building and energy topics together and sought separate processes for each. After extended deliberation the trustees voted to deny the omnibus Emergency Ordinance 2026-03 as presented. The board directed staff to draft and present a targeted emergency ordinance limited to the state-mandated wildfire resiliency code (to meet the near-term adoption timeline) and to schedule additional work sessions and community engagement on the broader building and energy-code updates.
Public-comment themes included requests for clearer cost estimates, contractor outreach and staged implementation; staff and regional partners agreed to provide additional trainings and to coordinate outreach. Staff said the wildfire resiliency code may be adopted via resolution and could be presented at the March 23 meeting as an emergency item to meet timing. Trustees said they want more information on insurance implications and county alignment before adopting broader building or energy codes.
