50-60-313. Petition for designation of county jurisdictional area and adoption of building code. (1) A county jurisdictional area and a building code applicable to that area may be adopted by petition as provided in this section.
     (2) A petition may be circulated by the record owner of real property to which the county jurisdictional area will be applied or extended for the purpose of gathering signatures on the petition. Only a record owner of real estate within the proposed county jurisdictional area is qualified to sign a petition.
     (3) A petition to designate a county jurisdictional area may also be circulated by the board of county commissioners. A petition circulated by the board of county commissioners is not subject to the requirements of 50-60-310.
     (4) Before a petition may be circulated for signatures, the language of the proposed building code must be approved by the department of labor and industry and the form of the petition must be approved by the election administrator of the county in which the real property is located. A building code proposed pursuant to this section must be approved by the department of commerce if it meets the criteria provided in 50-60-302 for the approval of a code within a code enforcement program. The election administrator shall approve the form of the petition if the petition meets, and the election administrator shall comply with, the requirements of 7-5-134, 7-5-135, and this section, except that:
     (a) the number of valid signatures required for the creation or extension of the county jurisdictional area is a majority of the record owners of real property located within the proposed jurisdictional area; and
     (b) a petition containing the number of valid signatures required by this section is not submitted to a vote by electors.
     (5) An individual circulating a petition for signatures must make available to individuals who may sign the petition a copy of the building code approved by the department of labor and industry and a map showing the county jurisdictional area within which the code will apply. The petition must clearly indicate that the individual signing the petition read and understood the provisions of the code and understood the geographic area in which the code would be applied.
     (6) The county jurisdictional area and the building code applicable to that area become effective 60 days after the determination by the county election administrator that the petition has been signed by the number of record owners of real property required by this section.
     (7) (a) Except as provided in this subsection, once adopted by petition as provided in this section, a county building code may not be amended except by petition in accordance with this section or by submitting the modification to the electors as provided in 50-60-312.
     (b) A county building code adopted by petition may be modified without petition or election if:
     (i) the modification consists of a provision taken from a uniform or model building code; and
     (ii) the provision does not regulate a wholly new component of a structure, such as wiring, plumbing, or concrete foundation, that was previously unregulated.

     History: En. Sec. 7, Ch. 546, L. 2001; amd. Sec. 221(1), Ch. 483, L. 2001.