PORT ANGELES — Clallam County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to create a new board with a background in construction to replace the hearings examiner in the county’s building code appeals process.
This new board — composed of citizens with a wide-range of expertise in the construction trade — was approved after a public hearing in which commissioners heard three positive comments from members of the committee writing the policy for the new board.
The county’s Permit Advisory Board raised concerns last summer about possible conflicts in the building code. Its members asked the commissioners to form a Building Code Board of Appeals.
In December, the Permit Advisory Board and Chief Civil Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Doug Jensen made revisions to the ordinance to form the appeals board.
A hearings examiner has overseen the county’s appeals process since 2001.
Commissioner Mike Chapman had earlier objected to what he saw as non-standardized policies in the county code.
Gene Unger, a member of the committee and consulting engineer, noted that work on creating the board had been ongoing for two years and one month.
“The prosecutor’s office has been really helpful putting together the final wording and we are very pleased with the new appeals court for the building permit process,” he said.
Tracy Gudgel, president of the North Peninsula Building Association who said he was the one who first made the motion two years ago for the board, said he was also thankful to the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
“Both Deb [Kelly] and Mark [Nichols] were helpful in getting us to where we are today,” he said.
FaLeana Wech, executive officer and government affairs director for the North Peninsula Building Association, also spoke in favor of the action.
All of the commissioners voiced support for the group before the vote, saying they hoped it would ease the permitting process.
“We’re finally here and I think it is helpful because it provides a way to appeal some decisions and hopefully sometimes some resolutions before it needs to even go there,” said Commissioner Steve Tharinger.
“It is also a way for those on the board of appeals to be making decisions rather than attorneys getting engaged in this.”
Chapman said the timeline had been long, but that he was pleased with the result.
“I think that everyone at the table came up with something that will ultimately benefit our county,” he said.
In other action the commissioners:
• Issued a request for bids for a new public address system at the Clallam County Fairgrounds.
The bids are due at 10 a.m. June 22. Half of the project will be funded by a grant from the state Department of Agriculture.
• Approved the addition of a new intern from Peninsula College to study sediment distribution along the shoreline of the Elwha River.
The data will be used in studies of the Elwha River dam removal projects.
The $350 million project to remove the structures and restore the Elwha River ecosystem is the largest dam removal project to date in the United States and the second largest restoration project currently under way.
The demolition, expected to take between two and a half and three years, will begin in late summer or early fall 2011.
• Approved an agreement with Dr. Marian Birch to provide support and education groups for postpartum depression.
“This is a program that could have national significance,” said County Administrator Jim Jones.
• Approved agreement with West End Outreach Services to provide mental health services to unfunded adult clients.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladaily news.com.
