Public Hearing in Gilbert May 1: ICC 2012 International Building Codes

Please attend this meeting in support of locally-written health and safety codes.  If possible, please speak out.  If you cannot attend, the following email will reach Mayor Lewis and all Gilbert Council Members: councilmembers@gilbertaz.gov

Here is the announcement from Rusdon Ray, Draftsman/Home Designer.  He has also personally invited the Mayor and Town Council members to attend. 

Please attend the Public Hearing Meeting this Wednesday, May 1st at 6:00 pm at Gilbert Town Hall, 50 E. Civic Center Drive – Conference Room 300 to voice your opinion or to support those who speak out.

Contact Town Council, and ask them to: 1) NOT pass the proposed 2012 Codes as LAW, and 2) Return the 2006 codes to their proper role as suggestions and recommendations only! 3) Convene a Committee made up of stake holders to review the 2006 and 2012 codes and replace them with our own Gilbert locally written life-safety issues only. The non-essential 2006 and 2012 codes can then be considered optional and left to the discretion of the home purchaser or those who have the most interest in the home and their own property.

 Over the last two months, a group of us have been meeting with Town Staff and others to bring attention to the many unnecessary problems that these codes have created for local designers, builders, architects, and engineers, as well as Gilbert home buyers. The codes address not only health and safety issues, but also a myriad of requirements that should be choices left to the homeowner, should they want to pay the additional expense etc. Why should it be a LAW that every new home owner is forced to purchase energy efficient air conditioners, water saving shower heads, and toilets? Why should there be a requirement for a GFI on a ceiling outlet that is out of reach? Why should a homeowner be forced to have outlets in the entryway and in a decorative balcony? The list is endless. If the Council passes the 2012 Codes as LAW, thousands of unnecessary new items will be required. These “bells and whistles” must pass numerous Town inspections.

 Unless there is a compelling health/safety issue, nonessential items in the code books should be left to the discretion of the home buyer and professionals they engage for services.

Our efforts have received much publicity throughout Gilbert as well as surrounding communities. Many people are aware of the ICC codes when only a month or two ago they knew nothing of these infamous codes. Due to pressure from many of us in the community, Gilbert Staff have reluctantly scheduled a series of meetings with local stakeholders, including the Home Builders Association, Small Business Alliance, Chamber of Commerce, Design Review Board, and the Public. Three of the five meetings have taken place.

Our purpose in calling for these meetings was to call attention to the outrageous amounts of regulations on the free market. We wanted to work with Town Staff to identify and limit the codes to life/safety issues only. That was the understanding of many of us, including many on the Town Council, but this has Not been the case.

Rather, Town management has used these meetings to promote the New 2012 codes and inform us about the process for implementation. Town management has pitched them as simple “updates” to the 2006 ICC codes currently in place.

Town staff have given Power Point presentations of the new codes with a very brief "question/answer” period. Staff are not interested in any alternative ideas or recommendations. In fact, their attitude conveys annoyance that Gilbert is the only community whose time is being wasted on these meetings.

Larry Taylor, Plan Review and Inspection Manager, stated that this whole “problem” of code implementation would not have surfaced if Gilbert had adopted the 2009 codes, rather than skipping that year. His opinion was that had the codes been implemented on the citizens slowly, step by step, the Town wouldn’t be seeing the opposition that is occurring now.

Questions? Call or Contact  Rusdon Ray 480-988-2472 houseplansinaweek@gmail.com