Planning & Zoning tables codes discussion

DUANE CROSS
MCO Publisher • Editor

On Tuesday, the Planning and Zoning Commission once more discussed whether Moore County should adopt building codes.

Planning and Zoning Chairman and District 3 Metro Council member Dexter Golden said during the April Metro Council meeting, “I see why [some residents] would want somebody to be checking. But I also see the other side – why do we need it?”

He added, “This is not a code enforcer. This is not someone riding around checking if you mowed your grass. … This would only affect you if you’re building a new house.

“We’re still studying whether or not you can opt out,” Golden noted.

During Tuesday’s meeting, Golden said county attorney Bill Reider is digging in to determine if people building a new house could opt out of getting an inspection if the county adopted building codes.

Tennessee state law allows a city or county to opt out of codes by passing a resolution for exemption by a two-thirds vote. The opt-out resolution expires 180 days after the election date for the county's legislative body.

However, if the legislative body does not vote to opt out before the opt-out resolution expires, the State Fire Marshal's Office will start enforcing the residential building code requirements and will continue to do so until the city or county chooses to enforce residential building codes or passes another opt-out resolution.

As District 2 Council member Robert Bracewell said during April’s meeting, “If we adopt the code, we have to enforce it,” pointing to legal precedents where cities were held liable for not following through after inspectors identified problems.

“I’m not entirely anti-codes,” Planning and Zoning member Scott Fruehauf said Tuesday. “There’s a lot of good things in them, there’s a lot of reasons why you should have them.

“But to say, ‘Everybody has codes, we’re the only people not doing them, we’re the only people stuck in the 1950s’ is just as much an overstatement as saying, ‘Everybody who builds your house is going to build to code.'

"There are wide swaths of the state that do not have building codes. It is predominantly in rural areas, and it does often get exploited,” he said.

Moore County is among approximately 30 Tennessee counties that have chosen not to enforce residential building codes. At first glance, this offers homeowners and builders greater freedom and fewer government regulations; however, when building or purchasing a home, that freedom can come at a price.

During Tuesday’s meeting, District 5 Metro Council member Jimmy Hammond noted, “There’s a lot of different things that I feel like we need to do a better job of explaining.

“The education of ‘why’ we want and need inspections and codes … [Fire chief] Mark [Neal], I think he has a lot of insight [and] safety concerns when they respond to a call,” Hammond said. “I think education is a big part of it – what can happen if something is not built right."

Board member Jeff Ross added, “We should go back to $50 [for a building permit]. I don’t see why we should pay $800-900 for a permit when you don’t get an inspection.

“I’ve been on the board two years, and we haven’t made progress [toward building codes]. That’s OK; maybe that’s what people want.”

The board decided to table the discussion. After the county budget is completed, Golden said Planning and Zoning would have further recommendations for the Metro Council.