CRESTVIEW — The City Council held a workshop Monday evening to direct multiple initiatives of the growth management department.
Crestview failed to include a state provision defining unsafe structures when it updated its building codes in 2013, according to Growth Management Department Director Teresa Gaillard. Gray areas resulted from the lack of this provision regarding how the city’s building inspectors can properly enforce codes.
“Current code does not even define an unsafe building,” Gaillard said. She’s requesting the city review and adopt a more robust building code that includes provisions on structure safety.
State building codes are revised every three years and Crestview’s current codes are based on guidelines from 2012, according to Gaillard. The city should adopt the most updated version, state codes from 2015, during this update process, she said.
City Attorney Ben Holley advised the council that codes should be reviewed by a property attorney, or somebody with knowledge on property law, before moving forward. Codes that deem buildings unsafe often deal with commercial properties that potentially create extra legal steps for the city, according to Holley.
“It’s a complicated issue but just because it’s a complicated issue doesn’t mean we shouldn’t address it,” Councilman Shannon Hayes said. “For our city to be better we have to do something.”
Hayes said he supports granting the growth management department permission to research and find solutions to code issues in the city. He will motion to approve such matters at the next council meeting, he said.
Other council members agreed with Hayes' sentiment and reiterated statements from previous meetings about making the city more proactive toward code enforcement.
Council President Joe Blocker officially added to the next meeting’s agenda a proposal to grant growth management the aforementioned permissions.
Building codes aren’t the only thing in need of an update, according to Gaillard. She also advised the council to review its process for land annexation and how the city processes requests for water and sewage services to areas recently or soon to be annexed.
Gaillard recommended easing the process to reduce the cost for those seeking annexation and to make it more appealing for county residents. Properties that agreed to annex, received services and didn’t annex should also be more scrutinized, according to Gaillard.
The City Council gave permission to the growth management department to further research annexation and how services are provided to those areas.
Two other items for discussion were removed from Monday’s schedule. A proposed change in school hours was dropped after an alternative process to the unnamed situation was reached.
Additionally, a discussion about the YMCA building by County Commissioner Nathan Boyles was postponed due to an illness in the family.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Council tackles building codes