REGULAR MEETING BUILDING and FIRE BOARD OF APPEALS AGENDA Wednesday April 23, 2025 @ 1:30 am- In Person/WebEx Permitting Development Center; Conference Room 1401 6310 Wilhelmina Delco Dr Austin, Texas 78752 Public comment will be allowed in-person or remotely by telephone. Speakers may only register to speak on an item once either in-person or remotely and will be allowed up to three minutes to provide their comments. Registration no later than noon the day before the meeting is required for remote participation. To register, contact rick.arzola@austintexas.gov CURRENT BOARD MEMBERS: Ron Buys(R. Alter); Alan Schumann-Chair(Ellis); Ben Abzug(Velasquez); Aubrey Brasfield-V Chair(Fuentes), Chris Gannon (Pool) Jim Rumbo(Alter), Alison Satt(Madison) Oren Mitzner (Qadri) Paredes-Juarez (Vela) AGENDA CALL TO ORDER PUBLIC COMUNICATION: GENERAL The first 10 speakers signed up prior to the meeting being called to order will each be allowed a three-minute allotment to address their concerns regarding items not posted on the agenda. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. Approve the Minutes from Regular Called Meeting from January 29, 2025 2. DISCUSSION- Review of the recent 2024 Technical code adoption 3. DISCUSSION and ACTION- Conduct officer elections for the Chair and Vice Chair of the Building and Fire Board of Appeals. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS- ADJOURNMENT The City of Austin is committed to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Reasonable modifications and equal access to communications will be provided upon request. Meeting locations are planned with wheelchair access. If requiring Sign Language Interpreters or alternative formats, please give notice at least 2 days (48 hours) before the meeting date. Please call Rick Arzola at Development Services Department, Building Inspections, at (512) 974-2417, for additional information; TTY users route through Relay Texas at 711.
Building and Fire Code Board of Appeals Board Meeting Approved Minutes April 23, 2025 The Building and Fire Code Board of Appeals met in a Regular Called Meeting on April 23, 2025 Board Member, Brasfield called the meeting to order at 1:30 pm. Board Members in Attendance: Ben Abzug, Oren Mitzner, Jim Rumbo, Alison Satt Aubrey Brasfield, Cecilia Paredes Juarez and Chris Gannon Board Members Not in Attendance: Ron Buys and Alan Schumann Staff in Attendance: Rick Arzola (DSD) Ray Chiovaro (DSD) and Steve Leitch (DSD) GENERAL CITIZEN COMMUNICTION- No Citizen Communication APPROVAL OF MINUTES: 1. The minutes from the January 29, 2025, regular called meeting were approved as written. Board member Rumbo made a motion to accept the minutes as written, board member Satt second the motion. Motion passed 7-0. 2. Summary of the approved 2024 Technical Code update- Development Services staff Steve Leitch and Ray Chiovaro briefly updated the board on the presentation that Todd Wilcox presented to city council members on April 10. After completion of the presentation board and staff members inquired on the motions made by council members to adopt the 2024 Technical codes. In summary: • • • Item 40 of the IRC, council member Madison moved to recommend appendix BL that applies to Hempcrete. Item 41 of the International Wildland Urban Interface (WUI), Mayor Watson directed the city manager to report on the implementation of the 2024 WUI code. The report which will include number of building permits for review and denied for non-compliance, the length of time and cost of reviews on staff resources for compliance. Also, the City Manager will provide a report on an annual basis until the next WUI update to explore options that could increase voluntary retrofitting for existing residential structures to advance mitigation of wildfire risk. Also, to update the WUI map annually until the next code adoption cycle. Item 45 of the International Building Code, motions were made by council members Alter, Ellis, Laine, Vela and Qadri. Highlights included: (a) net floor does not exceed 5000 square feet from 4000. (b) City manager is to provide council, the number of single stair buildings permitted per council districts with breakdown of size of units in single stair by square footage and number of bedrooms. (c) Feasibility of single stairs up to 75ft from lowest level of fire dept. vehicles to the highest occupied floor for future recommendations …
