Beecher brooding building codes

Conduit? Romex?

As the Beecher Village Board ponders and finalizes its building codes, the discussion at the September 9 meeting was whether to keep mandating home builders to use Conduit cables rather than Romex when wiring the new houses.

There was no formal vote taken, but the consensus by the trustees was to keep Conduit as the cable of choice.

Romex is cheaper and easier to install.

Conduit is considered safer, and that’s the board’s top priority.

“There are a lot of high-end houses built with Romex,” Mayor Marcy Meyer said. “There is not anything wrong with Romex. We’ve always gone with Conduit and, right now, we’re in a situation where there is Romex showing up, and it isn’t supposed to be there.”

Beecher Fire Protection District Chief Joe Falaschetti showed up to the board meeting looking for clarification after he saw a builder using Romex.

“We noticed some unusual things,” he said. “I thought it was kind of odd they were using Romex in the construction. 

“I was curious if the village changed their electrical requirements and if we are now allowing Romex, just so we as a fire district have an understanding of if it’s an additional hazard that we have to worry about.”

Falaschetti also had issues with “lightweight” construction, plus the use of truss roofs that are allowed in the codes.

“These kill firefighters, OK?” he said of the roofs. “We’ve talked about updating codes for the past year and, as a fire district, we would like to have a seat at the table to make sure some of our concerns are addressed. The fire district wants to work with the village.”

The chief said new home building is welcome, but safety has to come first.

“I’m all for development in Beecher – we’ve wanted this for a long time,” he said. “But we want to make sure the inspections are being done, and they are done to the village’s expectations.” 

Daycare coming?

Ariel Ibitoye, who is running the Dynamic Kidz Play Corner at 933 Dixie Highway, is looking to turn it into a daycare center. 

There is a tobacco store and a gun store in the same shopping center as the proposed daycare center, but the Beecher Planning and Zoning Commission stated in its review there have not been any “adverse impacts or feedback” with the location while it has been used as a play center.

The board voted to draft an ordinance granting a special-use permit for the daycare facility, but it is far from a done deal.

“She still has to get licensed by the state,” Meyer said of Ibitoye. “But in order to go through that process, she has to have the zoning approved first. She might not get licensed by the state because of the location.”