SEPTEMBER 8, 2004
The regular meeting of the Santa Rosa County Building Code Board of Adjustments and Appeals was held September 8, 2004, at 3:00 p.m. in the conference room of the Santa Rosa County Building Inspection Department located at 6051 Old Bagdad Highway, Milton, FL 32583. Board members present were Mr. Frank Harold, Vice Chairman, Mr. Charles “Pete” Southerland, Mr. Danny Holt and Mr. William J. Blackman.
Building Inspection Department staff in attendance were Mr. Tim Tolbert, Building Official; Mr. Skip Tompkins, Compliance Division Superintendent; Mrs. Rhonda Royals, Deputy Building Official and Mrs. Robyn Leverton, Permit Analyst.
Mr. Tom Dannheisser, County Attorney was absent from the meeting.
Mr. Southerland, acting Chairman, called the meeting to order at 3:03 p.m.
Approval of Agenda:
There were two amendments to the agenda. Mrs. Royals asked that Bontrager Builders’ appeal of the Building Official’s interpretation of the Florida Building Code be inserted into the agenda as item #5, New Business, moving all other items down consecutively and that Mr. David Mayo, New Business-License Reinstatement, be entered as the final item on the agenda. Mr. Harold made a motion to accept the amended agenda. Mr. Blackman seconded the motion. The motion carried with a unanimous vote.
Approval of Minutes:
Mr. Blackman made a motion to approve the minutes from the August 11, 2004 meeting. Mr. Harold seconded the motion. The motion carried with a unanimous vote.
Next Meeting:
The next regularly scheduled meeting is Wednesday, October 13, 2004, at 3:00 p.m. in the Building Inspection Department Conference Room.
Announcements:
Mr. Tim Tolbert, Building Official spoke briefly about the new building code. The 2004 Florida Building Code was to go into effect as of January 1, 2005, but that date has been moved back to July 1, 2005. The date change is to allow time for training. We will be adopting the Florida Residential Code which is comparable to the one & two family dwelling code.
Mr. Roger A. Bontrager d/b/a Bontrager Builders
Mr. Tim Tolbert gave some background regarding the home and the decision that Bontrager is appealing. The home has a third floor that is labeled as storage. The building code does not allow for storage to be on the second floor or above on a wood structure. Attic storage is allowed with pull-down attic stairs however, Mr. Bontrager’s project has a stairway leading to this third floor storage area. This was missed by our plans examiner, but it is now noted that inspection is turned down until code violation is answered. There currently is an opening for the stairs, but they have not constructed the stairs as this time. Mr. Bontrager and the homeowner are before the board for a variance or to appeal his decision. They want to continue with the construction of the stairway.
Mr. Bontrager was present and gave a brief synopsis of the case to the Board. He stated that he is only building according to the plans that have been approved. The owner is intending to maximize that attic space and as a result has spent an extra $25,000 to make that happen. Mr. Bontrager stated that this is a situation that has a lot of expense tied into it and the owner has a reason for the stairs as his wife has some back problems which wouldn’t allow her to be able to access a pull-down stairs.
Discussion ensued between the Board Members and the Building Official. The builder is currently trying to get a framing inspection passed so it is not beyond the fixing point. Options are available to Bontrager and the homeowner; the third floor could have a sprinkler system set up or 1-hour protection of all structural elements is an option, but the 3rd floor still cannot be labeled a ‘storage’ area.
Mrs. Royals suggested another alternative would be to install pull-down stairs now and when the new code (allowing the stairway to the third floor) goes into effect, the builder can come back and apply for a permit to install the stairway. Once again, any floor above the first cannot be labeled as storage. The plans were reviewed and a discussion ensued regarding the current construction of the upper floor and pull-down stair options.
Mr. Harold made a motion to deny Bontrager Builder’s appeal, Mr Blackman seconded the motion. Mr. Holt opposed the motion. The motion passed with majority.
Old Business (Probable Cause)
Santa Rosa County VS Mr. James Ronnie Cawthon d/b/a Southland Pools
Mrs. Royals gave a brief history. Mr. James Ronnie Cawthon’s case was presented to the Board last month for failure to call in the required inspections. Mrs. Royals recommends tabling the case an additional 30 days. Progress has been made. According to the latest recap, Mr. Cawthon has two (2) permits that require final inspections.
Mr. Holt made the motion to table the case until the next meeting. That will allow Mr. Cawthon time to final the remaining permits. The motion was seconded by Mr. Harold. The motion carried with a unanimous vote.
New Business (Probable Cause)
Santa Rosa County VS Mr. Steven Sanfilippo d/b/a Anthony Homes, Inc.
Mrs. Royals gave a brief history. Mr. Sanfilippo is here before the Board for failure to pull a permit on a screen enclosure. This was discovered during a final pool inspection. Mr. Sanfilippo has now applied for the permit, his plans have been approved and he will receive a permit upon payment of a triple permit fee.
Discussion ensued between the Board Members and Mr. Sanfilippo as to the reason for not pulling the permit. Mr. Sanfilippo stated that Anthony Homes hired a subcontractor to build the enclosure. Not realizing the subcontractor was unlicensed, Mr. Sanfilippo expected his subcontractor, Marko Patio, to pull the permit for the enclosure. Mr. Sanfilippo stated that he realized a permit had not been pulled approximately eight months ago. He confronted his subcontractor at that time and was told by them that the permit would be pulled immediately.
Mr. Randy Jones gave his account of the activities regarding the enclosure permit. Randy stated that Mr. Sanfilippo knew, eight months ago, that Marko Patio was not licensed and could not pull the permit. Mr. Sanfilippo told Randy at that time that he would get the enclosure permit. Randy checked for a permit and left messages over a period of several weeks; no permit had been applied for therefore a letter was sent to Mr. Sanfilippo and he called Randy several days ago. The permit application and the plans for that enclosure were turned in to the Building Department today by Mr. Sanfilippo.
Mr. Harold made a motion to take the case to a Formal Hearing; the motion was seconded by Mr. Blackman. The motion carried with a unanimous vote.
Mr. Southerland called for a break at 4:00 p.m.
Mr. Southerland called the meeting back to order at 4:08 p.m.
New Business (Appeal of Building Compliance Division Decision to Close Case)
Mr. James David Phillips
Mr. James David Phillips was present to state his case. He believes that Santa Rosa County Compliance Division should reopen his case. The case was closed by the Compliance Division because Mr. Phillips fired his contractor and would not allow him to come back to the job. The violations have since been completed/repaired by Mr. Phillips and the property has been sold. The contractor needs to have the opportunity to fix any problems and there are currently no violations that have not been fixed.
The Board stated that they are unable to help Mr. Phillips. Since the contractor is State Certified, Mr. Phillips may be able to get help through the State of Florida.
New Business (License Reinstatement)
Mr. David Mayo d/b/a Docks to Rocks
Mrs. Royals gave a brief history of Mr. Mayo’s licensing information. His license is a local Marine contractor license and is he is still within the renewal period.
Mr. Mayo was present to state his case. He presented a copy of documentation proving that he had just recently been incorporated and he had a copy of his Marine Contracting Occupational License. He is workers comp exempt.
Mr. Blackman made the motion to reinstate the license upon Mr. Mayo’s payment of the penalty fees. Mr. Holt seconded the motion. The motion carried with a unanimous vote.
Mr. Blackman made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Mr. Harold seconded the motion. The motion carried with a unanimous vote.
Mr. Southerland adjourned the meeting at 4:45 p.m.