Planning Board Work Session Minutes
The meeting was called to order at 7:05pm.
Members Present: Scott Badger, Chair, Dave Treadwell, Betsey Harding, John Allen, Selectman’s rep, & Dick Bennett. Frank Benesh and Sarah Kimball let the Chairman know that they would not be able to make the meeting.
Alternates Present: Larry Seibert, George Howard and Dick Bennett.
Guests present: None.
It was determined that a quorum was present.
State Building Code enforcement:
At the last meeting, a letter from town council, Peter Malia, was prsented in which Mr. Malia advised that the town should consider creating a separate building code and not make the enforcement process part of the zoning ordinance. Scott indicated that, after the meeting, he contacted the LGC and spoke with attorney, Paul Sanderson, who felt that building code enforcement could be either part of the ZO, or a separate code, whichever served a particular town best. The general feeling among the board members present was that putting building code enforcement into the ZO was probably the better way to go. The question was then raised, did there need to be a building code enforcement process in the ZO separate from the ZO enforcement process, or would a single building code enforcement ordinance suffice for both building code and ZO
enforcement? Larry pointed out that that could be confusing as ZO disputes should go to the ZBA and building code disputes should go to a building code board of appeals. Others felt that the building inspector would be able to make that determination. Scott will look into this.
There was considerable discussion over the need to include a job description and necessary qualifications of the building inspector. Some felt that this is necessary to ensure qualified inspections, while others questioned whether it would be reasonable to do this in any kind of comprehensive fashion within the ordinance. It was pointed out that an unqualified inspector could lead to more problems than having no inspection at all. Property owners would likely rely on the inspector’s assesment, even if faulty, rather than hire their own inspector as they might if the town were not inspecting. George Howard stated that we also need to make sure that inspections are documented so that there is accountability and to keep the process transparent.
George indicated that he would prefer to limit inspections to commercial and multi-family construction, and not single family. Scott replied that, though he personally would be ok with that, the majority opinion of the town, as evidenced by the votes on the two petitions and the discussion at town meeting, seemed to be that the SBC should be enforced in all instances. There was some discussion of offering a three-fold vote, like that drafted by Betsey Harding prior to this year’s town meeting, where voters could choose between, inspection of commercial and mult-family only, inspection of all construction and no inspection. The general feeling, though, was that that would be too confusing and the board should proceed towards amendments to authorize SBC enforcement for all construction (except where exempted by the
SBC).
It was then discussed whether the ZBA should serve as the building code board of appeals, or to create a new board. George feels that the members of the ZBA aren’t necessarily qualified to judge building code issues and there needs to be a separate board consisting of members with specific knowedge and experience in working with the building code to fairly hear an appeal. There was concern, though, that it may be difficult to find qualified and willing members of such a board. It was suggested that it might be easier for the board of selectmen to convene a BCBA when necessary, rather that try to form a standing board.
One other point raised was that Jackson should inspect only current residential construction. The concern being that owners of older homes might avoid getting a permit for fear that the inspection process will result in a much more involved and costly construction project than they had initially planned. All members agreed that inspections ought to be limited to the new work being done.
Using George’s latest draft as a starting point, the discussion will be continued at the next regular planning board meeting, and it’s likely that additional work sessions will be scheduled.
Adjournment:
Dave moved and Betsey seconded a motion to adjourn, all were in favor. The motion passed and the meeting adjourned at 8:15pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Ella Cressy
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