County Back To The Starting Line For Implementing Building Inspections

A proposal to implement inspections and plan reviews as part of the building permit process in Mills County has been delayed.

With only two of its three members present at a July 5 meeting, the Mills County Board of Supervisors failed to approve the first reading of an amendment to Chapter 24 of the county code pertaining to building and property maintenance. The amendments would require inspections of both commercial and residential dwellings built in the county.

Supervisors Richard Crouch and Lonnie Mayberry were on opposite sides of the vote. Crouch voted “Yes” and Mayberry voted “No.” Carol Vinton, the third member of the board, was absent.

Despite failure of the first reading, the second and third readings of the amendment appeared on the published agenda for the board’s July 11 meeting. The board learned before the meeting, however, after consulting with Mills County Attorney DeShawne Bird-Sell, that the second and third readings couldn’t take place after failure of the first reading on July 5.

As DeShawne explained to us, as I was not here last week, since the first reading was not passed, you can’t have a second or third reading,” Vinton said. “So now, we will put it back in the paper for public notice and then we can start the process again.”

Addressing the issue at the July 5 meeting, Holly Jackson, Zoning Administrator for the Mills County Planning and Zoning Department, said the inspections would encompass multiple areas, including electrical, which is currently provided by the state in jurisdictions that don’t have their own electrical inspector.

“What this would be providing is an inspector for everything,” she said. “ It can include electrical or you can continue with the state for electrical. It would be on structural, footing, plumbing, things like that. Both residential and commercial.”

Crouch and Mayberry both made comments about the proposal at the July 5 meeting.

Crouch said “there’s pros and cons” to requiring inspections, but he believes the process is definitely needed in Mills County.

”We threw it (inspections) out several years ago,” Crouch said. “But, I’ve had complaints from people, complaints from companies that it’s kind of stupid to not have inspections. I’ve had people complain that it’s not nice to work in

Mills County because you don’t know who you’re working against or you don’t have any specific regulations on what specifically has to be done.”
Crouch said with some of the potential commercial projects being discussed for the area, he believes it’s  in the county’s best interest to have a qualified person in place to not only inspect a site but also determine if the project is a good fit for Mills County.

“I think our biggest thing is that some of these things coming in, ‘do they fit the area?’ They (inspection company) need to be somewhat qualified to look at the site plans and say, ‘Yes, this can be built here.’

“I feel it should be a company we hire that takes care of it – takes it out of our hands.”

Mayberry said the county’s current permit process requires a contractor or builder to sign off on a project before and after construction with a guarantee that the structure is built to code. 

“I guess my feelings are I would rather leave that liability on the licensed professionals that stamp the plans and approve the plans instead of putting the burden on the taxpayers of Mills County,” Mayberry said.

Mayberry noted that home buyers already have the option of hiring their own inspector before following through with the purchase. 

“Should my grandmother and all the people in Mills County pay to review something that the builder does” Mayberry asked?“ Or should we leave it up to the builder who signs on his building permit, ‘Yes, I’m going to build it to code’? Then, the buyer has the choice to say I want to hire my own inspector before I buy this.”

Because the inspection costs would presumably be included in the permit process, Crouch said he disagrees with Mayberry’s assertion that the inspections would be a financial burden on all county taxpayers.

After the legally-required steps are taken, including publishing a notice of public hearing on the matter, the board is expected to address the amendment to Chapter 24 again in the coming weeks. Three items are on the agenda for a special meeting of the supervisors on Friday, July 14, including setting a public hearing date for Chapter 24 of the Mills County Zoning Ordinances.