Building code opt-out may be on way out

COEUR d’ALENE — What fate might befall Kootenai County’s building code opt-out provision once the November elections have passed? In a survey of three county commission candidates plus the county’s lone remaining commissioner, the provision officially known as Kootenai County Ordinance 522 is likely on death row.

District 3 Democratic nominee for county commission Ruben Miranda said Friday that if elected, he will vote to repeal the opt-out provision.

“I want all residents of the county to understand my desire to serve all and that will include the return of reasonable building codes,” he said.

Miranda added that the possible negatives to the community of the opt-out provision outweigh the interests of property owners who choose to opt out.

“I do not believe that opt-out of conformity is necessarily a right, considering the adverse consequence it could have on other local homeowners,” said Miranda.

The Kootenai County Democratic Central Committee passed a resolution earlier this summer urging the repeal of the opt-out provision. The Kootenai County Republican Central Committee passed a resolution in April in support of the opt-out provision. However, not all Republican candidates agree.

District 3 Republican nominee for county commission Leslie Duncan, who faces Miranda on the ballot, was noncommital Friday when contacted by The Press. In an email response she wrote, “Should I be successful in November, I will only be one vote on the Board.”

District 1 Republican nominee for county commission Bill Brooks, who is unopposed after beating incumbent and opt-out supporter Marc Eberlein in the primary, strongly opposed the opt-out provision, calling it “an incredibly bad idea.” He opined that the law “was put forward by people who don’t really understand what building codes are for.” Brooks went further, deriding the ideas and courage of opt-out supporters.

“They call it tyranny. As I said to a supporter of the provision, ‘How come fire codes, mechanical codes, and these other codes aren’t tyranny if building codes are tyranny? The reason you people don’t go after those things is because you don’t have the courage of your convictions.’ Building codes are there for good purposes,” Brooks said.

Brooks said that among other things, such codes prevent injuries.

“Building codes are a very proper function of government when they’re done and applied properly,” he said.

The current commissioners for Districts 1 and 3 lost their respective primaries earlier this year, leaving District 2 commissioner Chris Fillios as the only holdover from the current commission. Fillios said he was originally opposed to the plan to allow property owners to opt out of county building code requirements, and he remains so to this day. He said he will vote to repeal the provision if the commission reconsiders it.

Fillios said 45 percent of single-family structure owners are requesting the opt-out, while 55 percent are still using the standard permitting process. Those who take the opt-out provision get a location permit which specifies what and where they are building, he said. They still have to respect setbacks and abide by state codes on plumbing, electrical, HVAC, and related work, he added.

Fillios, who with his wife Linda has compiled more than 50 years in the real estate industry, pointed to Bonner County’s experience with county building code standards. Fillios said his wife did more than 1,000 appraisals in Bonner County but won’t do them anymore because “there’s too much substandard construction. She didn’t want to risk her license in appraising those properties.”

Fillios was skeptical that those who opt out will go above and beyond the building codes. If they’re not willing to pay a $2,000 fee on a 2,000 square-foot home, “where else will they cut corners?” he asked. “I think the idea that most people using the opt-out provision are going to build something that meets code is naive.”

Like Brooks, Fillios derided the stance of opt-out supporters.

“The argument I reject is that it’s all about freedom and liberty,” Fillios said. Those come with responsibility, he added. When people come in from another state with a more oppressive situation “and expect a free-for-all, that’s just not the case. It holds no water.”

If people want to bring up the liberty and freedom argument, Fillios sarcastically asked, “Why don’t we eliminate stop signs? We run a lot of them anyway.”

On a more serious note, he observed that substandard homes can affect property values for neighbors. “I subscribe to the theory that no man is an island and that what people do affects others,” he said.

However, Fillios said that if the commission repeals the opt-out provision in the future, those who already opted out will not lose their status.

“We’re going to respect that. We won’t wholesale cancel them,” he said.

Fillios suggested an ad hoc committee look into how the building code might be streamlined. Brooks went further.

“I would like to see on Jan. 15 that we vote to revert to the old building codes the way they were, and immediately put together a group to reformulate the building codes to make better sense for the people of Kootenai County,” he said.

Brooks said the old building codes were too restrictive, too expensive, and that it took too long to get things approved.

That being said, he offered a word of advice to opponents of building codes.

“If people don’t want to have building codes, they can move to where they don’t have them, such as Bonner County,” he said. “And don’t let the door hit your butt on your way out.”