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Proposed Ordinance Providing to Hear Appeals Pertaining to Standard Unsafe Building Abatement Code; Modifying Standard Unsafe Building Abatement Code; Enacting Rules of Procedure for Hearing Appeals
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BRIEF OVERVIEW
On January 29, 1991, the Board of County Commissioners (the "BOCC") adopted the Standard Unsafe Building Code by enacting Ordinance 91-09. That ordinance, which was subsequently codified as Hernando County Code Chapter 8, Article II, Division 6, incorporates the Standard Unsafe Building Code by reference. The BOCC subsequently amended the Standard Unsafe Building Code several times, and those amendments are codified as Hernando County Code ? 8-136(b).
Currently, the County Code allows a property owner to appeal an adverse unsafe structure ruling of the Building Official to the Hernando County Board of Construction and Regulation (the "BCR"). Twice during the last twelve months, the BCR has lacked sufficient members to form a quorum, which resulting in the BOCC having to hear unsafe building appeals on an ad hoc basis. Chapter 5 of the Standard Unsafe Building Code sets forth the procedures applicable to such appeals, but those procedures are complex, unduly burdensome, and do not comport with the laws governing local government quasi-judicial hearings. For example, the current rules provide for hearing officers who can make recommended orders, the subpoenaing of witnesses, fact-finding site visits, and a now illegally short judicial review period.
The BOCC, during its meeting on August 26, 2025, directed the County's staff to draft an ordinance that would modernize the procedures applicable to unsafe building appeals and to permanently authorize the BOCC to hear such appeals when the BCR lacks a quorum. The attached, proposed ordinance is the result.
The proposed ordinance makes three changes to Hernando County Code Chapter 8, Article II, Division 6. First, it adds a provision to Chapter 1 of the Standard Unsafe Building Abatemen...
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