Belmont Municipal Code Art. XII Seismic Hazard Identification and Mitigation Program for Unreinforced…

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Editor's note— Ord. No. 823, adopted Jan. 9, 1990, effective Feb. 8, 1990, did not specifically amend this Code; hence, inclusion of §§ 1—13 as ch. 7, art. XII, §§ 7-501—7-513, was at the discretion of the editor. The word "ordinance" has been changed to "article."

It is generally acknowledged that the City of Belmont is located in a geographic area of high seismic risk, due to its proximity to both the San Andreas and Hayward faults, and may reasonably be expected to experience moderate to severe ground shaking in the event of a significant local earthquake. Such ground shaking could result in serious injury or loss of life due to damage or collapse of buildings. Historically, unreinforced masonry buildings have been shown to be especially vulnerable. The purpose of this article is to promote public safety by identifying those buildings in the City of Belmont which exhibit structural deficiencies in their capacities for earthquake resistance, and by determining the severity and extent of those deficiencies in relation to their potential for causing injury or loss of life.

(Ord. No. 823, § 1, 1-9-90)

For purposes of this article the following definitions apply:

(a) Civil engineer or structural engineer means a licensed civil or structural engineer registered by the State of California pursuant to the rules and regulations of title 16, chapter 5 of the California Administrative Code.

(b) Uniform Building Code (UBC) is as published by the International Conference of Building Officials, Whittier, California, 1985 edition, as previously adopted by the city [in section 7-21].

(c) Uniform Code for Building Conservation (UCBC) is as published by the International Conference of Building Officials, Whittier, California, 1985 printing.

(d) Unreinforced masonry (URM) building means any building containing walls and/or columns constructed wholly or partially of masonry without at least fifty (50) percent of the reinforcement required by the 1985 edition of the UBC, and includes:

(1) Unreinforced brick masonry.

(2) Unreinforced concrete masonry.

(3) Hollow clay tile.

(4) Adobe or unburned clay masonry.

(5) Stone masonry.

(6) Unreinforced masonry veneer over one (1) story in height.

(e) City's list of URM buildings means the list of those buildings administratively identified by the building official as included in this program.

(f) Other terms are as defined in the 1985 edition of the UBC and the UCBC.

(Ord. No. 823, § 2, 1-9-90)

Owners of all URM buildings in the City of Belmont, except as exempted below, shall be required to have an engineering report submitted to the city's building division, to determine the existence, nature, extent and severity of structural deficiencies in their buildings' capacities for earthquake resistance which could result in damage or collapse with possible injury or loss of life.

(a) Exempted buildings. The following buildings are exempted from complying with this article:

(1) Residential buildings with five (5) or fewer dwelling units.

(2) Warehouses or similar structures not used for human habitation, except for warehouses or structures housing emergency services equipment or supplies.

(3) Buildings which have already been structurally upgraded in substantial accordance with either the 1973, or later, edition of the UBC or the City of Los Angeles Division 88 Standard for URM Buildings.

(Ord. No. 823, § 3, 1-9-90)

Owners of buildings included in the scope of this program shall be notified within six (6) months of the enactment of this article by the Building Division of the City of Belmont that each such building has been included in the city's list of potentially hazardous URM buildings, and is required to have an engineering report submitted to the city.

(Ord. No. 823, § 4, 1-9-90)

At the time of building owner notification, the building official shall file with office of the county recorder a certificate stating that the subject building falls within the scope of this article, has been included in the city's list of potentially hazardous URM buildings, and is required to comply with the provisions contained herein. At such later time as each such identified building has either been determined as excludable from the city's list by further investigation, or has undergone mitigation of its hazards to the satisfaction of the building official, the building official shall then file with the office of the county recorder a certificate stating that the building has been removed from the potentially hazardous classification.

(Ord. No. 823, § 5, 1-9-90)

Owners of identified buildings shall submit engineering reports to the Building Division of the City of Belmont as follows:

(a) Purpose. The purpose of each such engineering report shall be to investigate, in a thorough and unambiguous fashion, a building's structural systems that resist earthquake forces, and to evaluate their adequacy to resist the seismic design forces as specified herein.

(b) Time frame. Engineering reports shall be submitted within eighteen (18) months of building owner notification.

(c) Authorized preparers. Engineering reports shall be prepared by civil or structural engineers, as previously defined herein, who are familiar with seismic analysis and design.

(d) Engineering standards. The engineering standards to be used in preparation of engineering reports shall be the 1985 UCBC Appendix Chapter 1: Earthquake Hazard Reduction in Existing Unreinforced Masonry Buildings, hereby adopted as amended herein, and as modified by appendix A of this article.

(e) Format. The format for engineering reports shall be as outlined in appendix B of this article, or other equivalent format approved in writing by the building official.

(f) Availability. Copies of engineering reports submitted shall be available to the public for review at the building division upon request.

(Ord. No. 823, § 6, 1-9-90)

Cross reference— The appendices referred to in this section are not printed in this article.

A letter of intent shall be submitted within ninety (90) days of submittal of each engineering report, and shall describe in general fashion how the building owner intends to approach hazard reduction of his or her building.

(Ord. No. 823, § 7, 1-9-90)

Options available to the building owner for approaching hazard reduction are limited to the following:

(a) Structural rehabilitation of the building to meet or exceed the seismic provisions of the engineering standards referenced herein. Such structural rehabilitation shall be completed within five (5) years of building owner notification.

(b) Change in use of the building to a residential or warehouse occupancy exempted from compliance with this article, as previously described herein, as may be allowed by other city ordinances.

(c) Vacating the building pending further investigation of possible alternatives.

(d) Demolition of the building, or portions thereof, to eliminate the potentially hazardous conditions. (Ord. No. 823, § 8, 1-9-90)

The building division shall review the documents submitted for each identified building for conformance to this article. The building division may, at its option, engage the services of consulting civil or structural engineers to assist in evaluation of documents submitted. Costs of each such review shall be recovered by fees assessed upon the building owner at the time of submittal of documents, based upon the time required for review of such documents. Such costs shall be deducted from plan check fees charged for any structural rehabilitation plans subsequently submitted for building permit purposes for work directly related to compliance with this article.

(Ord. No. 823, § 9, 1-9-90)

Owners of each identified building shall provide each of their tenants with written notification that a seismic investigation of their building has taken place, and that the engineering report documenting the investigation is available for review at the building division. Such notification shall occur within ninety (90) days of submittal of each engineering report. Each building owner shall also submit to the building division written confirmation of tenant notification, in the form of a signed affidavit or other equivalent means as approved by the building official.

(Ord. No. 823, § 10, 1-9-90)

The building division shall prepare annual progress reports to the City Council on the implementation of this article and its effects on voluntary hazard reduction by building owners.

(Ord. No. 823, § 11, 1-9-90)

The interpretation of the building official shall prevail on matters relating to the implementation of this article.

(Ord. No. 823, § 12, 1-9-90)

Nonconformance with this article is unlawful. Buildings identified pursuant to this article, and not adequately mitigated, shall be considered public nuisances subject to civil prosecution under the laws and ordinances of the City of Belmont.

(Ord. No. 823, § 13, 1-9-90)