On the fence

Warren Campbell of Athol used scripture to make his point.

Building codes and regulations imposed by Kootenai County are a burden on rural residents, Campbell said.

“Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees,” Campbell quoted from the book of Isaiah. “… And that write grievousness … to turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people.”

Kootenai County building codes, an animated Campbell told the board of county commissioners Monday at an evening meeting at the Kroc Center, are egregious and injurious to residents and should be abolished.

“These egregious codes,” he said, standing at the microphone at the front of a Kroc theater packed to a capacity of around 400, “ … are hurting the poor people of Kootenai County.”

Campbell’s testimony was echoed by about a third of the people who wanted commissioners to either be rid of the the county’s building code ordinance, or to make it voluntary.

The county’s community development department had received more than 190 comments by Monday afternoon, and because of the influx it had opted to move a public hearing on the future of its building code ordinance to the Kroc Center’s theater to accommodate the throng of people expected to attend.

Eric Pedersen moved here from Boise, he said. He comes from a family of builders, and when he and his wife decided to build a house, they meticulously planned their dream home, but the codes got in the way.

He found inspectors weren’t educated to new building techniques or materials, and what was allowed didn’t fit his plans.

“The code is all about the things you can’t do,” Pedersen said.

Commissioners said before the meeting they planned, based on testimony, to choose one of the four options.

By 9 p.m., however, three hours into the meeting, the line of people still wanting to give testimony reached from the microphone in front of the stage where commissioners sat, to the entrance doors.

The four options before commissioners included:

- Adoption of building codes with opt-out provisions allowed for residential and accessory structures on parcels of 5 acres or larger.

- Repealing the building code ordinance and replacing it with a voluntary building code program.

- Adopting of the updated building codes.

- Repealing the building code ordinance.

Don Bradway of Garwood was for getting rid of the code.

“Six counties in idaho don’t have building codes and they seem to be doing OK,” Bradway said.

Many of the people who stood in line to address commissioners asked that they consider leaving the codes in place.

Jack Applegate of International Code Council said codes have been commonplace worldwide for centuries. They were adopted to ensure structures were properly built.

“They protect people’s investment and they protect their lives,” Applegate said.

Before commissioners act, he asked for one thing: “Slow down,” he said.

Fire commissioners, some builders and appraisers spoke in favor of preserving codes and Tom Torgerson, of the Coeur d’Alene Association of Realtors, questioned why commissioners considered snuffing codes, or making them voluntary. He questioned those who remarked that homes could be built better and cheaper without code enforcement.

“The argument that homes would be built safer without codes is preposterous to me,” Torgerson said. “It will be easier, but no way can it possibly be better.”

Duane Clement, a concrete contractor from Rathdrum, watched the testimony streamed on a TV while sitting in a plush chair in the Kroc Center lobby.

He doubted commissioners were seriously considering doing away with building codes, he said.

“It’s interesting,” Clement said.

The audience was divided into three groups Clement said. Those in favor of codes, those against, and those riding the fence.

“But it’s more polarized,” Clement said. “There’s not a lot of people on the fence.”

No decision had been made by press time.