Escondido Municipal Code § 6-11 Building advisory and appeals board

In order to hear and decide appeals of orders, decisions or determinations made by the building official relative to the application and interpretations of the technical code, there shall be and is hereby created a building advisory and appeals board consisting of seven members who are qualified by experience and training to pass upon matters pertaining to building construction and building service equipment and who are not employees of the jurisdiction. The building official shall be an ex officio member and shall act as secretary to said board and shall keep the minutes thereof but shall have no vote upon any matter before the board. The board of appeals shall be appointed by the mayor from among the residents of the geographic area within the city's general plan. Members of the building advisory and appeals board shall serve at the pleasure of the council, and may be removed from office at any time, without cause. The board shall adopt rules of procedure for conducting its business and shall render all decisions and findings in writing to the appellant with a duplicate copy to the building official.

Unless otherwise provided by this code, appointments of members of all boards and commissions created by the city council and their terms of office shall be governed by the following provisions:

(a) The terms of office for members of the building advisory and appeals board shall be for a two year period commencing with the actual date of appointment and ending on March 31st of the second year thereafter.

(b) Any vacancy which occurs prior the expiration of the term shall be filled by appointment for the unexpired portion of such term consistent with the nomination procedure provided for in section 2-30.

The members of the building advisory and appeals board shall elect one of its number to serve as chairperson, and one of its number to serve as vice-chairperson, who shall preside in the absence of the chairperson.

The building advisory and appeals board shall hold its meetings at such time and place as it determines by resolution.

Special meetings of the building advisory and appeals board may be called pursuant to the provisions of Government Code, Section 54956.

Whenever a person proposes to use materials and/or methods of construction which are not in conformance with the laws of the city, but which, in the opinion of such person, are as suitable as the required materials and methods, he or she may propose the use of alternate materials and/or methods of construction to the board for approval.

The refusal of the building official to issue any permit required by the city building department may be appealed by the applicant to the board.

The action of the building official in issuing a correction notice or a notice to abate a public nuisance may be appealed to the board.

The decision of the building official in interpreting provisions of the building code, electrical code, plumbing code, mechanical code and the housing, dangerous building and property maintenance codes, in full force and effect in the city, may be appealed to the board.

interpretation of the administrative provisions of this code or the administrative provisions of the technical codes, nor shall the board be empowered to waive requirements of either this code or the technical codes.

Appeals to the board must be initiated within 10 days from the act, decision or interpretation which is the subject of the appeal.

An appeal to the board must be in the form of a written statement delivered to the clerk of the board within the time prescribed by subsection (1) of this section. The written appeal must contain the name, address and telephone number of the appellant and a statement of the act, decision or interpretation being appealed. The appeal must contain a brief statement of the basis for the appellant's contention that the act, decision or interpretation in dispute was erroneous. Only those grounds stated in the written appeal may be considered by the board.

The board shall consider an appeal at its next regular meeting after the filing of the appeal, unless the next regular meeting of the board is less than 10 days from the date of filing the appeal. If an appeal is filed less than 10 days prior to the next regular meeting of the board, the appeal shall be heard at the next succeeding regular meeting of the board, but, in no event, shall more than 60 days elapse from the filing of an appeal and the hearing thereon, without consent of the appellant to the later date.

An appeal to the board shall be heard and considered by the board in a public meeting. The hearing may be continued from time to time as the board may deem proper to reach a just decision on the appeal. At the time of the hearing of the appeal by the board, the appellant or his or her legal representative shall be heard by the board. The appellant may present any oral and legal arguments and evidence he or she wishes in prosecuting his or her appeal. The building director shall present a written report concerning the appeal, a copy of which shall be delivered to the appellant no later than the hearing date.

The board may require an appellant to present the reports of experts bearing on the subject matter of the appeal. The responsibility for, and the expense of obtaining and presenting expert reports is that of the appellant. The hearing on appeal may be continued from time to time pending the receipt of the reports of experts required to be presented by the board.

At the conclusion of a hearing on appeal, the board shall deliberate in public meeting and reach a decision on the merits of the appeal. The decision of the board, together with such reasons as the board cares to express, shall be reported in the form of a formal resolution.

The decision of the building advisory and appeals board on an appeal to it may be appealed to the council within 10 days of the disputed decision. The procedure of the appeal shall be as expressed in section 6-11.8.