HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/21/2002, C2 - STATUS REPORT ON THE UNREINFORCED MASONRY BUILDING HAZARD MITIGATION PROGRAM M..iK Det.
council 5.21-02
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C I TY OF S AN L U IS O B I S P O
FROM: John Mandeville,Community Development Director
Prepared By: Tom Baasch, Chief Building Official
SUBJECT: Status Report on the Unreinforced Masonry Building Hazard Mitigation Program
CAO RECOMMENDATION
Accept and file report.
DISCUSSION
The purpose of this report is to review the creation of the City's mitigation program for the hazards
presented by buildings of unreinforced masonry construction, summarize current requirements, and
present results achieved to date.
Background
In presenting the Mid-Year Budget Report to Council, the CAO recommended including seismic
mitigation grant funds on the list of potential reductions. This recommendation triggered
considerable discussion and communication between the City and members of Chamber of
Commerce Seismic Task Force, which opposed the potential reduction. The Council ultimately
agreed to remove the grant funds from the list, but concurred with the CAO recommendation to
annually review the status of the Unreinforced Masonry Building Hazard Mitigation Program.
The hazards presented by buildings of unreinforced masonry (URM) construction were first
addressed by the State of California with passage of SB 547 in the late 1980's. Recognizing that
URM buildings have been the most likely to collapse or sustain damage significant enough to
prevent emergency exiting by the occupants, the law directed local jurisdictions to determine the
number of URM buildings within their jurisdictional limits and then develop a plan to mitigate the
"potential hazards" associated with these buildings. Subsequently, staff conducted a building-by-
building survey of the City,researched suspected buildings, and ultimately established an inventory
of 126 URM buildings. All affected property owners were notified of these determinations. The
Chamber of Commerce created the Seismic Task Force to assist staff in developing a program to
reduce or eliminate these potential hazards. The Task Force studied the many sides to creation of a
mitigation program over a 2-year period. While the goal of SB547 was to "substantially reduce the
hazards presented by URM by the year 2000", the Task Force found this goal difficult to achieve
while balancing economic impacts, community will, and the spirit of the law. Ultimately, a"first-
step" recommendation resulted in City Council adoption of an ordinance requiring all owners of
URM buildings to obtain a structural analysis of their building within two years, which allowed
opportunity to gather more information on the extent of the URM problem and the probable cost to
strengthen the buildings.
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Council Agenda Report–Status Report on the URM Building Hazard Mitigation Program
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After reviewing the findings of the structural analysis results,the Task Force developed a mitigation
plan that would place much of the decision-making about when to strengthen in the hands of the
property owner. Adopted by the City Council in 1997, the goals of the plan are to achieve some
degree of seismic strengthening or risk elimination for all buildings on the inventory by 2007, with
all URM buildings fully strengthened or eliminated by 2017. To accomplish the 2007 goal, the
code requires that(1)all components of the strengthening design at the roof(Level.A strengthening)
be implemented as a condition of reroofing the building, (2) a change of occupancy classification
triggers full strengthening (Level B strengthening), and(3) spending more than 50%of a building's
replacement cost to remodel triggers full strengthening. After 2007, a reroofing project will require
full strengthening. Ultimately, all URM buildings are to be fully strengthened by January 1,2017.
Progress
The following table summarizes the status of URM building mitigation program:
URM Hazard Mitiation Progress
URM Buildings Number % of Total
Confirmed Total 126 100
-Strengthened—Level B 15 11.9
-Partially Strengthened—Level A 8 6.3
-partially Strengthened—Other than Level A 3 2.3
Demolished 1 9 7.1
During development of the current code requirements, the Seismic Task Force concluded that a
reasonable amount of mitigation progress would be achieved if all URM buildings received some
degree of strengthening or demolition by 2007. After five years under the current mandatory
strengthening program, 28% of the URM buildings on the original confirmed list have been
mitigated to some degree. With five years remaining, the Seismic Task Force remains confident
that the original projection of reasonable mitigation progress will be achieved by 2007.
Members have heard from many property owners about future tenant changes, the need for a new
roof, ownership changes, etc., resulting in an optimistic outlook on mitigation that will be
achieved in the near future.
The Seismic Task Force feels that the incentives offered by the City to encourage URM
strengthening projects are key in realizing the goals of the mitigation program. The grant fund
program has distributed $106,074 to assist nine property owners cover the cost of Level A or B
strengthening. Approximately $143,000 remains appropriated for this purpose, and the Task
Force is confident that financial assistance in the form of a grant to offset strengthening costs
will encourage URM building owners to "pencil out' economic feasibility and proceed with their
project. All other incentives established by City Council Resolution No. 8663 (1997 Series),
such as offset or waiver of permit fees, after-hours inspection services, waiver of water and
sewer use charges during construction, deferral of fire sprinkler requirements for URM buildings
in the downtown zone, and waiver of fees for contractor parking near a URM project site
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Council Agenda Report—Status Report on the URM Building Hazard Mitigation Program
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continue to add to the economic feasibility of a strengthening project.
Conclusion
Although staff and the Seismic Task Force had hoped that mitigation progress would have
resulted in 50% of the URM buildings being strengthened to at least Level A standards or
demolished at the 5-year point, the 28% mark is considered acceptable progress. Continued
economic vitality and the proposed Copeland's Court Street project should encourage URM
building owners in the downtown area to invest in their buildings. The ability to attract national
tenants is often predicated on providing a seismically safe building.
No changes to the URM building mitigation program, including strengthening standards, triggers
requiring Level A or B strengthening, and incentives, are recommended at this time. Staff will
report back to City Council with an annual update in May, 2003.
CONCURRENCES
The Chamber of Commerce Seismic Task Force concurs with the progress analysis and
recommendation.
Council Agenda Report-URM Mitigation Status.
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