Opt-out on tap in 2019: Does 2-1 vote loom?

COEUR d’ALENE — Repealing the “opt-out” provision in Kootenai County Building Code Ordinance No. 522 will likely be at the forefront when Kootenai County’s new commissioners take office next month.

Newly elected commissioner Leslie Duncan said Oct. 25 that she wants to retain the provision, which allows residential property owners to opt-out of code requirements for plan review, building permit, and inspections for one- and two-family residential and accessory structures on buildable parcels.

However, incumbent commissioner Chris Fillios, as well as newly elected commissioner Bill Brooks, have openly stated their intent to undo the measure.

Each side of the opt-out debate can draw lessons from the experience of two North Idaho counties.

Bonner County ended its building department in 1997 and instituted a building location permit process to ensure that structures complied with the zoning ordinance and flood plain codes, said Bonner County Planning Department director Milton Ollerton. Bonner County has issued 1,068 building location permits this year compared with 936 all of last year, he said.

“I have worked in counties with full-blown building codes and now a county with no codes. Are there more incidences of fire or failure without building codes versus having building codes? I haven’t noticed a large increase in those numbers,” Ollerton said.

Ollerton said the county does require some rural homes to install a 2,000-gallon tank on site with fire department hookups because “the fire or failure of a structure can be more catastrophic as the distance to emergency services increases.”

Fees in Bonner County differ from the usual building code type fee structure, said Ollerton.

“A regular building program can require anywhere from 10-15 inspections while the home is being built,” he said. “The fees the county charges for a 2,001-square-foot structure, for example, are $480, plus $85 if there is a stormwater plan required. We also add $25 for technology fee as the county is now digital and there are licensing fees with that.”

Does Bonner County’s less rigid permitting process affect property values?

“It is hard to say because homes in the county continue to increase in value,” said Ollerton.

Kootenai County Community Development Department director David Callahan oversees the county’s building division. He said the purpose of the building permit inspection is to “provide a reasonable level of safety, public health, and general welfare” for the public and for first responders.

Callahan said it’s common for inspectors to find problems caused by human error during inspections.

“In that way, my staff works as part of the contractor’s team to significantly reduce the homeowner’s risk for any sort of catastrophic failure, and to help ensure quality control,” he said. “If properly trained and certified by the International Code Council, private inspectors can provide most of the same building inspection services as the inspectors in my office.”

However, Callahan said he knew of only one private inspector in the area who met that criteria. Also, he said that they lack the benefit of oversight by the county’s certified building official. He added that those who hire private inspectors have no appeals process such as exists with the county.

Since the opt-out program began April 30, 173 people have received location permits, versus 182 who have received building permits, said Callahan. The number of location permits includes those who opted out for “decks, garages, pole barns, roofs, windows, and retaining walls on single family or duplex properties,” as well as larger structures, he said.

Callahan explained that the county doesn’t proactively direct property owners to either the building permit or location permit. But he said local home building contractors have typically preferred to pull a building permit.

When property owners ask for advice, Callahan said, “We mention that there can be a benefit to plan review and inspections by our International Code Council-certified staff because it generally reduces problems, minimizes change orders and other last minute (and consequently costly) changes that can arise in the building process.”

He added: “We also mention that it is wise to check with any lender, because we have knowledge of about a dozen cases in which the lender refused to provide funds to build a home under the opt-out program.”