Council Considers Disbanding Board

City Councilman Michael Markey will ask the council Tuesday whether to consider disbanding the city’s Board of Appeals, which has not heard a case for more than 17 months and has only one active remaining member.

“If they’re effective, then I don’t have a problem, but to have one just to have one doesn’t make any sense,” Markey said.

The board reviews appeals of Building Division decisions, granting variances to projects that meet or exceed building standards even when they do not comply with city codes. In practice, however, the city staff mediates most construction disputes, and only when there is an irreconcilable difference between the city and the builder does the matter go before the Board of Appeals.

Markey noted that the council might decide to temporarily disband the board and have the Planning Commission or City Council hear the rare appeals.

City Councilman Dennis Gillette also expressed reservations about the board’s future, noting that the city has a responsibility to residents asked to donate their time to public service.

“If in fact the board has not had anything to do, then I agree, there may be good reason to discontinue it,” Gillette said. “My main concern is raising the expectations of residents who volunteer their time, and then the city fails to meet those expectations and wastes their time or energy when they could be serving the city in a more effective way.”

Chris Buckett, the sole remaining active board member, urged the council to consider allowing the board to remain inactive rather than dissolve it.