Pro and con testimony regarding SB43 was heard March 28 by the Senate Local Government Committee.  SB43 would enable limited home rule townships to adopt building codes regardless of any similar codes adopted by the county in which the township resides.

Testimony against SB43 was given by Brad Cole, managing director of research for the County Commissioners Association of Ohio (CCAO). Testimony in support of the bill was given by Vincent Squillace, executive vice president of the Ohio Home Builders Association (OHBA). Written proponent testimony was submitted by Andrew Glenn, a trustee for Springfield Township in Lucas County.

Cole said, “CCAO is concerned about the duplication of services … Encouraging townships to establish parallel building departments that compete against existing county building departments for the limited business of performing inspections and issuing building permits would appear to be contrary to the overall objective of achieving greater efficiency in local government services… Another potential issue is the consistency of services …”

Chairman Uecker pointed out that Hamilton County has a robust building department despite multiple municipalities with their own departments. Sen. Terhar said Hamilton County also contains charter townships. Cole admitted he had not reached out to all counties, and agreed to meet with Uecker to discuss CCAO’s concerns further.

Squillace said OHBA wants the bill to make clear that charter townships must have exactly the same standards and rules as the county building department. Uecker requested that he submit a written copy of his testimony.

Glen wrote, “We have a very business friendly approach in our township … The building department in Lucas County treats people exactly opposite from how they are treated in our office… Several cities and villages in Lucas County have exercised their option to get away from the Lucas County Building Department by either creating their own department, or contracting with another department for permitting and inspections within their jurisdictions. It makes perfect sense to give townships that same option… another benefit of SB43 would actually be to improve the level of customer service within the county building departments through competition.”