INSIDE TUCSON BUSINESS: Mon., Dec. 1, 2008

City's certificate of occupancy ordinance doesn't make sense

By Michael Ebert, special to Inside Tucson Business

A few of us have been attempting to make some sense of the city of Tucson's changes to its certificate of occupancy ordinance since the first of the year. The process has not been an open dialogue nor does it meet any definition of a public meeting. The agenda was controlled and the outcome was predictable.

In short, the city council and staff got what they wanted and Tucson lost. No other community in Arizona has felt the need to pass such an ordinance.

Supposedly, the idea behind revising the certificate of occupancy ordinance is to make sure all existing commercial buildings are “safe” in accordance to the International Building Code: a code for new construction. The revision was inspired by City Council woman Nina Trasoff, who even called it a mandate. A mandate by whom and why is still a mystery.

FULL OPINION: http://www.azbiz.com/articles/2008/12/02/opinion/columnists/guest_opinion/doc492dae23a4e85387140362.txt