Alameda Municipal Code § 13-62 Administration

a. Service of Order. The Building Official shall issue an order, as provided in paragraph b, to the owner of each building within the scope of this article within one (1) year from the effective date of this article.

b. Contents of Order. The order shall be in writing and shall be served either personally or by certified or registered mail upon the owner and shall contain the following information:

1. The order shall specify that the building has been determined by the building official to be within the scope of this article and, therefore, is required to meet the minimum standards of this article.

2. The order shall specify the degree of compliance required by this article.

3. This order shall be accompanied by a copy of this article.

4. This order shall specify the time limits for compliance.

c. Appeal from Order. Any person may appeal through the designated process, the Building Official's initial determination that the building is within the scope of this article. Such appeal shall be filed with the Building Official within sixty (60) days from the service date of the order described in subsection b of this section. Any such appeal shall be decided by the Housing and Building Code Hearing and Appeals Board established under Section 2-6 of the Alameda Municipal Code no later than sixty (60) days after the date that the appeal is filed. Such appeal shall be made in writing upon appropriate forms provided therefor by the Building Official and the grounds thereof shall be stated clearly and concisely. Each appeal shall be accompanied by a filing fee as set forth by resolution of the City Council. Any person not satisfied with a determination by the Board of Appeals may appeal said determination to the City Council.

Any person dissatisfied with a decision of the City or its representative may file an appeal to the City Council within the time specified below. The appeal shall be made in writing and filed with the City Clerk not later than fifteen (15) days after the date written notice of the Board of Appeals decision is made. Failure to file a timely appeal shall result in a waiver to the right to appeal. The appeal shall state in detail the factual basis for the appeal.

An appeal fee shall be paid and may consist of a processing fee plus the actual cost to the City for retaining a hearing officer if the appeal, or any portion thereof, is not granted. The processing fee shall accompany the request for an appeal. The appeal fee shall be set by resolution of the City Council.

The City Council or its designee may appoint a hearing officer to conduct the hearing, to receive relevant evidence, and to submit to the City Council find and recommendations to be considered by the City Council. If appointed, the hearing officer shall hear the appeal and submit his or her findings and recommendations to the City Council. The City Council shall render its decision within forty-five (45) days from the date of the hearing, or in the event that a hearing officer has been appointed, within forty-five (45) days from the date the City Council receives the findings and recommendations of the hearing officer. The decision of the City Council shall be final.

d. Recordation. Following expiration of the appeal period, but not prior to resolution of any appeal, the Building Official shall file with the office of the County Recorder a certificate stating that the subject building is within the scope of this article, Earthquake Hazard Reduction in Existing Unreinforced Masonry Bearing Wall Buildings. The certificate shall also state that the owner thereof has been ordered to structurally analyze the building and to structurally alter or demolish it where it is not found to comply with the article.

e. Termination of Status. If the building is found not to be within the scope of this article, or as a result of structural alterations or an analysis is found to be structurally capable of resisting minimum seismic forces required by this article; or is demolished; the Building Official shall file with the Office of the County Recorder a certificate terminating the status of the subject building as being classified within the scope of this article.

f. Incentives. This article requires the completion of minimal life-safety seismic improvements and establishes maximum time limits for the work. The City of Alameda desires that the life-safety work be completed expeditiously and also that complete seismic retrofit work be done on as many unreinforced masonry buildings as practical in a timely manner.

The City Manager is therefore directed to develop a detailed incentive program to encourage owners to complete the mandatory life-safety retrofit work sooner than the specified maximum time limits and to completely seismically retrofit their buildings where practical. The program shall be prepared and presented to the City Council recommending any necessary changes to other sections of the Municipal Code to accommodate the incentives.

The incentive program shall be of a "sliding scale" type which will allow a greater amount of incentives for earlier completion of seismic improvements. The incentive program may include, but is not limited to, the following:

1. Waiver of fees and charges associated with the permit process.

2. Reasonable reductions in ordinance requirements pertaining to parking requirements, height limitation and building setback.

3. City assistance in obtaining loans for seismic retrofit projects.

The incentive program will not be available for replacements for demolished buildings.

(Ord. No. 2573 N.S. § 1; Ord. No. 2714 N.S. § 8)