The Community Development Committee met 07/23/2025. It was a brief meeting with two action items consisting of updates to the Municipal Code. One update would allow licensed electricians to replace service equipment and install solar photovoltaic systems in their own houses, and the second clarified that the Inspection Supervisor had the authority to issue citations.
Both updates were recommended for approval unanimously by the committee.
I’ve prepared a transcript of the discussion for download:
SECTION 4-392 ELECTRICAL EXEMPTIONS UPDATE – Inspections Supervisor Kurt Craanen told the committee that the Municipal Code generally allowed owners of owner-occupied homes to perform their own electrical work; however, in 2018 they had placed some restrictions on that, preventing owners from performing service changes and installing solar photovoltaic systems after inspectors had noticed a number of homeowners struggling to perform that work.
Since putting that restriction in place, there had been a couple situations where licensed electricians who were capable of doing the work had been blocked from performing such work due to the restrictions in the Municipal Code. The proposed change would remove that restriction for licensed electricians, allowing licensed electricians to take out permits and perform service changes and install solar photovoltaic systems on their own homes.
SECTIONS 4-22, 4-24(b), AND 12-32(a) AUTHORITY TO ISSUE CITATIONS UPDATE – These changes were intended to clarify that the Inspections Supervisor had the authority to issue citations. Per Assistant City Attorney Darrin Glad, it has always been the practice of the Inspections Division to issue citations, and their issuing of citations has always been defensible. The Inspections Division used to be a part of the Department of Public Works, and the Municipal Code did spell out that the Director of Public Works could issue citations. The Inspections Division has since moved into the Community Development Department whose director does not have the authority to issue citations; however, there may have been an assumption that the Inspections Supervisor was still designated by the Department of Public Works, as allowed by the Municipal Code, to write citations. The proposed updates would simply make it explicit that that the Inspections Supervisor had the authority to issue citations.
The committee voted 4-0 to recommend each item for approval.
View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1309284&GUID=9175BA35-87EC-4184-927D-B4F6BC8F2960
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