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Home My WebLink About06/07/2011, B 6 - RECEIVE UPDATE AND DIRECT STAFF REGARDING SEISMIC STRENGTHENING DEADLINE ENFORCEMENT FOR 2747 BROAD council D� 6-7-2011 j acEnaa nEpoRt hcmNumba 13` CITYOF SAN LUIS O B I S P O FROM: Michael Codron, Assistant City Manager John Mandeville, Community Development Director > Prepared By: Claire Clark, Economic Development Manager Tim Girvin, Chief Building Official SUBJECT: RECEIVE UPDATE AND DIRECT STAFF REGARDING SEISMIC STRENGTHENING DEADLINE ENFORCEMENT FOR 2747 BROAD STREET, SPRINGFIELD BAPTIST CHURCH RECOMMENDATION Direct staff to: • Continue to monitor progress to seismically strengthen 2747 Broad Street; and • Begin enforcement action if strengthening work is not complete on July 1, 2011; and • Work with the owner to suspend enforcement of the deadline until July 1, 2012, in the event that the building is vacated of all uses within 90 days of receipt of the initial enforcement communication from the City. DISCUSSION Background In January 2011 staff presented a report to Council regarding the status of the Unreinforced Masonry (URM) Hazard Mitigation Program. At that presentation, the building at 2747 Broad Street housing the Springfield Baptist Church was highlighted as the sole building subject to the upcoming deadline of July 1, 2011. Council asked staff to return to Council with an interim report regarding progress accomplished by the owners of this building prior to the deadline passing. The original deadline to complete seismic strengthening of this building was July 1, 2010. In January 2007 Council reaffirmed the deadline of July 1, 2010, for this building along with other buildings owned by non-profit groups. In 2010 recognizing the economic hardship the seismic retrofit costs would cause the property owner, Council proactively allowed enforcement of the deadline to be suspended for one year, provided the owners entered into an agreement similar to those required of other building owners receiving enforcement delays. The owners of the building were famished with a draft agreement in April 2010. The Trustee for the church provided the signed agreement to the City on June 28, 2010. The agreement allowed City Staff to suspend enforcement action until July 1, 2011, indemnified the City against injury resulting from building failure, and required dissemination of an informational packet to employees, tenants and occupants of the building about what to do in the event of an earthquake. :. B6-1 i UPDATE ON STATUS OF 2747 BROAD STREET SEISMIC RETROFIT, SPRINGFIELD BAPTIST CHURCH Page 2 Building History 2747 Broad Street is a two story building that is estimated to have been built in the early 1920s. It sits in a residential area on the west side of Broad Street between South Street and Orcutt Street as shown on the vicinity map (Attachment 1). The zoning is R-2.. Building construction is of clay tiles (see description below). Clay tiles have different characteristics from the bricks that are typical of the construction in many of the City's URM buildings,but offer a similar level of risk as compared to the brick construction of that era. Clay Tile: A hollow masonry building unit composed of burnt clay, shale, fireclay, or mixtures thereof, having parallel cells or cores (or both) within a single tile. Chamber of Commerce Task Force The Chamber of Commerce Seismic Task Force provided input and shared expertise in consideration of the deadline for this building at a special meeting called for the purpose of discussing this building on May 18, 2011. The Task Force has been meeting since the inception of the City's Seismic Program and is comprised of members of the business community who have backgrounds as engineers, building owners, and building managers. In 2007, the Task Force formulated a hazard score for each of the buildings on the Inventory of Hazardous Buildings as of July 1, 2007. Scores were calculated on the basis of the number of stories, the frequency of occupancy, and the location relative to high foot traffic. The score for 2747 Broad was calculated to be 8.67. This ranking put the building marginally above the median score of 8.18 and at number 22 of 67 buildings. The hazard score for the building at 2747 Broad Street is lower than scores for similar two story buildings in the Downtown because it is located further away from the street and sidewalk and is occupied at a much lower frequency. The building is predominantly surrounded by paved areas such as driveways along with one story homes. Following a thorough discussion, the Seismic Task Force recommended continued suspension of the deadline for another year, as follows. The Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors put forward the recommendation. "That the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce urges the City of San Luis Obispo to maintain its seismic retrofit deadline for the Springfield Baptist Church but suspend enforcement activities for one year or until the sale of the building, providing B6-2 UPDATE ON STATUS OF 2747 BROAD STREET SEISMIC RETROFIT, SPRINGFIELD BAPTIST CHURCH Page 3 that the structure is vacated within 90 days of notification following its July 2011 deadline. The Chamber recommends this alternative because: 1) Vacating the building will substantially reduce its hazard risk; 2) The building is not located in an intense commercial zone and 3) The building is a non-profit that has been proactively working towards compliance." Status of Work on the Building City records show that a permit for partial structural upgrade and roof/repair was issued in 1995. This work is evident on the exterior of the building at the roofline where a steel channel brings stability to the roof, keeping the walls from moving in an outward direction. In accordance with City Ordinance, a URM permit for full strengthening was issued to the building owner in 2006. In 2008 a design for an upgraded building, including facade changes, was approved by the City. This permit included an alternative strengthening scheme. On this basis, the owner undertook a fundraising effort with the help of the religious community but funding still fell short. As a last resort, the owner put the building up for sale. Sale of Building During 2009 and 2010 the building owner has worked with a broker to sell the building. Although there have been inquiries and the price has been lowered, no sale is pending at this time. In addition, the owners continue to be unable to afford to strengthen the building. In the event a seller is found for the building, City staff will work with the new owner to bring the building into compliance as soon as possible without further deadline suspension. Staff Outreach Following Council consideration in January 2011 staff has continued to reach out to the owners of this building. Information about the building has been included in What's Shakin newsletters and these newsletters have been mailed to the building owner. In addition, the owner's real estate broker has been helpful as a go-between to make sure that lines of communication are as open as possible between City staff and the building owner. In this process, it has been discovered that the owner thought it already completed the retrofit under the permit granted in 1995. FISCAL IMPACT There is no fiscal impact to the City budget resulting from action based on this report. ALTERNATIVES 1. Allow more time to facilitate a sale of the building or abate the hazard without requiring owner to vacate the building. Staff does not recommend this alternative because it continues to put building occupants at risk. However, if this alternative is taken, staff recommends a new agreement be required between building owner and the City that is consistent with other agreements governing the suspension of enforcement of seismic deadlines. B6-3 UPDATE ON STATUS OF 2747 BROAD STREET SEISMIC RETROFIT, SPRINGFIELD BAPTIST CHURCH Page 4 2. Begin code enforcement action upon passage of the July 1, 2011, deadline without suspension of the deadline as described in the recommendation. This will result in expiration of the seismic retrofit permits, favorable fees, and associated development review streamlined processes. The owner will be required to resubmit updated plans at normal fee levels-to strengthen the building and may be required to vacate the building until the hazard is abated. This is not recommended because it would further delay abatement of the hazard rather than encouraging abatement and is a course of last resort. ATTACHMENT Vicinity Map y-.. file•///T•\Seismic\SpringfieldBaotistCAR6-7-2011.doc B6-4 ATTACHMENT 2747 BROAD 004-943-018 Y� J 8 JArr LL [` uu�exce araneRmce ^ _ s B6-5 From: Eddie London(SMTP:EDCURTISLONDON@AOL.COM] y'r�m $ Sent: Thursday, June 09, 2011 2:35:45 PM (W-7/l( elf Me,,,iwC To: Council, S1oCity /�� Subject: Springfield Baptist Church -W' erry llfs'e- CC!A AW..Pewz-C141 Auto forwarded by a Rule As&r Oert Alcsx- erv �n-k- Hi Afrbaweq Q1PV(A) G'LE111t FJCC : �Otct7Cc�. { I was very disappointed with your decision to extend the need to retrofit the church building seeing that this building is so dangerous. After all these years nothing has been done to get work done on it and with 13 members (not forty) there is little chance of anything being done. If the structure falls on the membership the city will be sued. The church has not run any fund raisers to date to get any money for the project. Others have raised funds but these have been wasted on $60, 000 of Useless drawings. The building also has mold problems. Please reconsider. mike