By Sara Beth Williams–
The Citrus Heights City Council unanimously voted to repeal a rarely used citizen-based board of appeals and replace it with a different appeals board.
The Citrus Heights City Council unanimously approved the second and final reading of ordinance amendments at the Feb. 25 City Council meeting that change how building code appeals are handled in the city, by replacing a little-used citizen board of appeals with a panel of professional building officials from neighboring jurisdictions.
The passed ordinance repeals the city’s existing Construction Board of Appeals and establishes a new Building Code Board of Appeals within the Municipal Code. The ordinance proposal was prompted by the request of council members in January 2025 to evaluate the effectiveness and necessity of the Construction Board of Appeals because of how little it convenes.
Under the original ordinance, the Construction Board of Appeals was made up of five members of the public appointed by the City Council, serving four staggered terms. Members were required to be “qualified by experience and training.” The recruitment and retention of board members had been a struggle, the city said.
According to staff, the board met only 11 times since the city’s incorporation in 1997. Ten of those meetings were convened to handle routine items such as electing officers, and only one meeting involved hearing an actual appeal.
City staff said the board remains a necessary mechanism for hearing appeals related to the Building Code, but the infrequent need and highly technical nature of the cases have made it difficult to attract and retain qualified residents on the board.
Prior to 2013, at least one member of the board was required to be a licensed architect. That requirement was eliminated due to recruitment challenges, and the ordinance has not been updated since, the city said in a meeting agenda packet.
The newly approved ordinance transitions the appeals board from a citizen-based body to a three-member panel made up of Chief Building Officials from neighboring jurisdictions, along with two alternates.
The shift away from a board of appeals with public members has become more common in newer jurisdictions, Citrus Heights Chief Building Official Joseph Cuffe said on Feb. 12, adding that appeals activity tends to be more prevalent in larger jurisdictions, and that smaller jurisdictions are better able to work with people.
According to the staff report from the Feb. 12 City Council meeting, this approach ensures that appeals are heard by individuals with the technical expertise necessary to interpret building codes. Because the officials would be from outside Citrus Heights, they would also hold a neutral position, reducing the possibility of conflicts of interest in local cases. A list of qualified board members will be kept on file at the city clerk’s office, city staff said.
The ordinance also moves the appeals process from Chapter 2 of the Municipal Code to Chapter 18, which governs buildings and building regulations. Staff said this consolidation will make the code easier to navigate by grouping related regulations together in one place.
The ordinance was introduced for first reading and unanimously approved by the council on Feb. 12 and approved again during a second reading on Feb. 25.
