County votes out IPMC

The International Property Maintenance Code (IPMC) has been a source of angst and anger for Nye County residents in recent months but following Tuesday’s meeting of the Nye County Commission, this should no longer be a concern. The IPMC has been officially rejected by the commission, which voted this week to remove this international code from Nye County Code in its entirety.

The IPMC is an extensive eight-chapter document that is part of a collection of international codes that includes the International Building Code, International Fire Code and others. It has been a part of Nye County Code since the establishment of planning in 2007. It has since been updated, with the 2018 version adopted as of 2019. However, the IPMC does not apply to any Nye County community aside from Pahrump, something planning officials were proposing to change.

To facilitate the expansion of the IPMC county-wide, an item was brought before the commission in early March, where it met with pushback by the public as well as criticism from the board members. At that time, the board voted unanimously to reject the expansion of the IPMC into other towns but it was not able to abolish the IPMC all together. Therefore, another item was before the board on Tuesday, April 21, with county staff seeking direction on how the commissioners would like to proceed.

“The IPMC is a model code that regulates the minimum maintenance requirements for existing commercial and residential structures and premises,” information included with the April 21 agenda item detailed. “IPMC provides requirements for maintenance of site conditions, swimming pools, plumbing, mechanical, electrical and fire protection systems in existing buildings.”

During the meeting, several public speakers reiterated their thoughts on the IPMC, with a general agreement that the terminology is often too vague and open to interpretation. Others branded it an overreach of governmental authority but for the majority of residents, there did seem to be a consensus that a level of minimal property standards should apply.

In response, commissioner Debra Strickland turned to Nye County Planning Director Steve Osborne to ask whether elimination of the IPMC would prevent the county from addressing public nuisance cases, such as the two that were on that agenda that same day.

“I believe we could do the things we need to do for cleaning up properties, etcetera, without having this in place,” Strickland stated.

Osborne replied that many cases, such as burned-out residences or properties that pose a health hazard to the public, would still be covered under Nye County Code.

“The code of the West is real specific – live and let live,” Strickland added. “Don’t take it to the nth degree, and we’ve gone to the nth degree [with this].”

As for commissioner Bruce Jabbour, he said all of what needs to be addressed for the purposes of public safety and general welfare is already included in the International Building Code, which Nye County follows.

“They piggybacked off the International Building Code, so much of it is redundant. But some of it is absolute garbage,” Jabbour stated. “And some of it gives authority that violates constitutional rights… There is no NRS [Nevada Revised Statute], there is no NAC [Nevada Administrative Code] requiring us to adopt this IPMC code… We have a lot of very upset taxpayers and residents of our communities.”

Jabbour then made a motion to dissolve the IPMC county-wide, with a second from Strickland. However, before the vote could be held, Nye County Manager Brett Waggoner interjected to explain that the item was not for action but rather, direction to staff on how to proceed.

“On record, for the past three meetings, I have asked to bring this item back so we could move forward with it or reject it. This is not what I asked for,” an evidently frustrated Jabbour asserted, refusing to reverse course. “I motion for this to be dissolved county-wide and if that’s a violation, bring charges against me.”

Strickland then reaffirmed her second and the motion passed with all in favor.

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com