Chapter 14.36 — MANDATORY SEISMIC RETROFIT OF CERTAIN RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS

A. Title. Chapter 14.36 shall be known as "Mandatory Seismic Retrofit of Certain Residential Buildings," may be cited as such, and will be referred to herein as "this chapter."

B. Intent. This chapter is intended to promote public safety and welfare through a program of
mandatory seismic retrofit of certain residential buildings vulnerable to earthquake damage
and collapse. The program is intended to reduce earthquake-related deaths and injuries,
improve the durability of the existing housing stock, facilitate post-earthquake emergency
response, improve community stability, minimize displacement during retrofits and after
an earthquake, and reduce the economic impacts of a damaging earthquake.

C. Subject Buildings. This chapter shall apply to buildings constructed or permitted for
construction before January 1, 1978 or designed based on an adopted version of the 1976
or earlier edition of the Uniform Building Code, that contain three or more rental housing
units, and have a wood-frame target story. This chapter refers to any such building as a
subject building.

D. Notification. Within 90 days of the effective date of this chapter, the Building Official shall
send a written notice to the owner of each known subject building informing the owner of
the requirement to comply with this chapter. Failure of the Building Official to send or
provide a written notice to unidentified owners of subject buildings or to owners of
buildings not known to be subject buildings shall not relieve the owner of a subject building
from the requirement to comply with this chapter. Failure of an owner to receive a written
notice shall not relieve the owner of a subject building from the requirement to comply with
this chapter.

E. Extension. The owner of a subject building may apply for a six-month extension of one or
more deadlines. The extension may be granted where at least one of the following
conditions applies:

1. A significant financial hardship related to the cost of the required work that will make
it infeasible to complete construction in the required time.

2. An extension would prevent or minimize the displacement of a tenant.

3. A temporary, extreme shortage of, or price increase for, construction materials or
labor.

To request an extension, the owner shall submit an application to the Building Official
with supporting documentation. The burden is on the building owner to show that at
least one of the listed conditions applies. The Building Official shall have discretion
to grant or deny an extension.

F. Design Professionals. Unless specifically noted, all work intended to comply with this chapter shall be performed by appropriately licensed individuals, and all documents submitted for compliance shall be sealed by a California-licensed architect or civil engineer. Where required, documents submitted for compliance shall also be sealed by a California-licensed geotechnical engineer or engineering geologist.

G. Submittals. In addition to submittals required by other provisions of the Building and
Construction Code of the City of Mill Valley, the Building Official is authorized to
develop, distribute, and require the use of certain forms, templates, and other tools as
needed to facilitate compliance, review, approval, and records maintenance contemplated
by this chapter. The Building Official is authorized to require separate submittals and
permit applications for work required for compliance with this chapter and for voluntary
work to be performed simultaneously.

H. Technical Bulletins and Administrative Regulations. The Building Official is responsible
for the administration of this chapter and is authorized to develop and require compliance
with one or more technical bulletins and/or administrative regulations containing
interpretations, clarifications, and commentary to facilitate implementation of the
engineering criteria and other requirements set forth in this chapter.

I. Retention of Plans. The Building Official shall retain official copies of all approved target
story evaluation reports and retrofit design plans submitted to comply with this chapter.

J. Public Record Keeping. The Building Official shall maintain a list of subject buildings and
shall make the list readily accessible to the public. The Building Official shall convey the
list with a summary of the compliance status of each subject building and its parcel number
to the Marin County Assessor-Recorder-County Clerk once every three months.

K. Conformance Period. No subject building for which permitted retrofit work is completed
in compliance with this chapter shall be required by the City to undergo additional seismic
retrofit of its seismic force-resisting system within a period of 15 years after the effective
date of this chapter, except that any provisions in this Code related to addition, alteration,
repair, or change of occupancy shall still apply. Any such additional seismic retrofit
requirements shall apply at the end of the conformance period, with schedule adjustments
to be determined by the Building Official.

L. Eviction Protection. Notwithstanding the provisions of California Civil Code Section
1946.2, and as permitted by California Civil Code Section 1946.2(g), the need to vacate
any unit of a subject building in order to comply with this chapter shall not be considered a
just cause for terminating a tenancy.
(Ord. 1343 § 2, June 26, 2023)

A. Scope of Work for Each Subject Building. The owner of each subject building shall, in accordance with the schedule given in subsection C of this section, complete the following compliance scope.

1. Complete the Screening. The owner shall submit a screening document following
procedures to be prescribed by the Building Official. Where required, the screening
document shall be sealed by a California-licensed architect or civil engineer. The
document shall either show that the building is not a subject building per Section
14.36.010(C) or shall confirm that the building is a subject building assigned to a
certain compliance tier.

2. Complete the Structural Retrofit. The owner shall:

a. Obtain a building permit to retrofit the subject building in compliance with the criteria given in Section 14.36.040; and

b. Complete or cause to be completed all permitted construction and obtain a
certificate of completion. Alternatively, the owner may submit to the Building
Official a seismic evaluation report demonstrating compliance of each wood
frame target story with the criteria given in Section 14.36.040.

3. Submit Affidavits of Compliance. The owner shall submit one or more affidavits
prescribed by the Building Official confirming compliance with the required scope
and with other administrative regulations.

B. Compliance Tiers. Each subject building shall be assigned to a compliance tier as follows.

Tier 1. A subject building shall be assigned to Tier 1, unless eligible for Tier 2 or Tier 3.

Tier 2. A subject building located in a zone of High Landslide Risk according to the Public
Safety Element of the Mill Valley General Plan or identified by a licensed Engineering
Geologist as posing a High Landslide Risk, shall be assigned to Tier 2, unless eligible for
Tier 3.

Tier 3. A subject building with at least one legally permitted dwelling unit or business,
mercantile, or assembly occupancy in a wood-frame target story, shall be assigned to Tier
3.

C. Schedule. The owner of a subject building shall comply with each of this chapter's
requirements in accordance with the deadlines given in Table 14.36.020.C unless extended
in accordance with Section 14.36.0109(E). Failure to fully comply with any deadline or to
receive approval of submitted materials shall not alter other applicable deadlines. In no case
shall a subject property's transfer of title cause any deadline to be extended.

TABLE 14.36.020.C
COMPLIANCE DEADLINES IN YEARS AFTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS
CHAPTER
Compliance 2.a. Retrofit 2.b. Retrofit
Tier 1. Screening Permit Construction 3. Affidavits
Tier 1 1 year 2 years 3 years 3 years
Tier 2 1 year 4 years 5 years 5 years
Tier 3 1 year 5 years 6 years 6 years

(Ord. 1343 § 2, June 26, 2023)

A. Supplemental Definitions. In addition to or in place of definitions given elsewhere in this Code, the following definitions shall apply for purposes of this chapter.

Dwelling unit. A single unit providing complete, independent living facilities for one or more persons, including permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking, and sanitation; or any individual residential unit in a building with R-1 or R-2 occupancy, including short-term rental units; or any guestroom, with or without a kitchen, in either a tourist or residential hotel or motel. Any unit occupied as a dwelling unit, whether approved or not approved for such use, shall be counted as a dwelling unit.

Owner. The owner of record as shown on the last equalized assessment roll of the county. For purposes of providing notice to an owner of any action or proceeding under this chapter, the term "owner" includes the actual owner of record, or part owner, or such owner's agent, employee or other legal representative.

Rental housing unit. A dwelling unit subject to occupancy as a "long term rental," as defined in Section 20.08.158.5 of this Code.

Target story. Either (1) a basement story or underfloor area that extends above grade at any point; or (2) any story above grade, where the wall configuration of such basement, underfloor area, or story is substantially more vulnerable to earthquake damage than the wall configuration of the story above; except that a story is not a target story if it is the topmost story or if the difference in vulnerability is primarily due to the story above being a penthouse or an attic with a pitched roof.

Wood-frame target story. A target story in which a significant portion of lateral or torsional story strength or story stiffness is provided by wood frame walls. (Ord. 1343 § 2, June 26, 2023)

A. Engineering Intent. The structural criteria provided in this chapter have been selected as appropriate to the intent of this chapter. The structural retrofit criteria are expected to significantly reduce the collapse risk of subject buildings and to increase the likelihood that a subject building will be structurally safe to repair and occupy shortly after an earthquake.

The structural criteria are intended to apply to existing wood-frame target stories in order to
improve building performance while limiting retrofit costs and impacts. It is not the intent
of this chapter to require mitigation of all structural deficiencies, seismic or non-seismic,
that might exist within or adjacent to the building. The structural criteria might not achieve
the same performance as design requirements for new buildings or any full-building retrofit
objective for existing buildings.

B. Structural Seismic Evaluation. Where performed, seismic evaluation of each wood-frame
target story shall comply with the latest edition of Seismic Evaluation and Retrofit of
Existing Buildings [ASCE/SEI 41] with a performance objective of Structural Life Safety
with the BSE-1E hazard or Structural Collapse Prevention with the BSE-2E hazard, as
interpreted by the Building Official.

C. Structural Seismic Retrofit. Seismic retrofit of each wood-frame target story shall comply
with one of the following criteria.

1. Chapter A4 of the California Existing Building Code, as interpreted by the Building
Official.

2. The latest edition of Seismic Evaluation and Retrofit of Existing Buildings [ASCE/
SEI 41] with a performance objective of Structural Life Safety with the BSE-1E
hazard or Structural Collapse Prevention with the BSE-2E hazard, as interpreted by
the Building Official.

3. For subject buildings qualified as historic, alternate building regulations of the
California Historical Building Code.

(Ord. 1343 § 2, June 26, 2023)

A. Approval. Except for unsafe conditions, work triggered by the required scope of work, or as specifically noted in this chapter, the Building Official shall not withhold approval of submitted materials for reasons unrelated to the required scope and the engineering criteria.

B. Green Building Measures. Work required by this chapter is deemed not to represent a major
remodel or an alteration subject to any requirements in Chapter 14.48 of this Code that are
not required by the 2022 California Green Building Standards Code (CalGreen) or its
successors. The requirements of Chapter 14.48 of this Code shall apply to any additional
work proposed to be done under the same permit as work done to comply with this chapter.

C. Alteration Provisions. Prior to compliance with this chapter, each subject building shall be
considered a substandard building per California Health and Safety Code Section
17920.3(o). When considering the work required by this chapter as an alteration, the
Building Official is authorized to waive any of 2022 California Existing Building Code
Sections 503.4 through 503.12 and their successor provisions, as adopted and amended by
the City of Mill Valley.

D. Existing Building Requirements. Unless specified otherwise, work on subject buildings
that is neither required by this chapter nor triggered by compliance with this chapter shall
comply with all applicable provisions of this Code.

E. Reduction in Parking Requirements. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Code to
the contrary, approved retrofits that result in deviations from parking standards including
the size and number of required parking spaces may be approved by the Zoning
Administrator, if the building owner can show that there is no practical method to complete
the required retrofit without the reduction.

F. Buildings Within the H-O Historic Overlay Zoning District. Notwithstanding any
provisions of this Code to the contrary, the Zoning Administrator may waive the
requirement for Design Review as provided in Chapter 20.66 of this title, for approved
retrofits to buildings within the H-O Overlay district.
(Ord. 1343 § 2, June 26, 2023)