HomeMy WebLinkAboutAGENDA REPORT 2017 1018 CCSA REG ITEM 09B ITEM 9.B.
CITY OF rwg0o PAR K,CALIFORNIA
City Council V'/'ting
MOORPARK CITY COUNCIL
of _/e,aoi�
AGENDA REPORT ACTION:
TO: Honorable City Council av: 4i.
FROM: Deborah S. Traffenstedt, Assistant City Manager DST
Teri Davis, Program Manager
DATE: October 11, 2017 (CC Meeting of 10/18/17)
SUBJECT: Consider Earthquake Preparedness Initiative and Adoption of an
Ordinance Approving the Addition of Section 15.08.045, Earthquake
Hazard Reduction for Telecommunication and Broadcast Towers, to
Chapter 15.08, Building Code, of Title 15, Building and Construction,
of the Moorpark Municipal Code, Making a Finding that the
Amendment to the California Building Code is Reasonably
Necessary, and Determining that this Action is Exempt from the
California Environmental Quality Act
BACKGROUND
Current building and safety codes include life-safety standards designed to save lives
during seismic activities, and other devastating events. The life-safety standards do not
ensure that buildings will be functional following a devastating seismic event, and many
buildings could be damaged to the point of being rendered unusable, preventing a swift
return to business as usual following devastating seismic events.
The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), in partnership with the
Dr. Lucy Jones Center for Science and Society, has launched an Earthquake
Preparedness Initiative to help local cities and counties protect Southern California
communities and economies from the disruption that a major earthquake would cause.
The Initiative effort began with a series of regional Preparedness Seminars in 2016 for
local civic leaders, followed by Preparedness Workshops the first half of 2017. The
seminars reviewed the risks of a major regional earthquake and the most effective
approaches for preparation, including strengthening infrastructure and reviewing
building safety codes. The workshops have provided information on the tools necessary
for building the resilience that keeps natural disasters from becoming catastrophes, and
is intended to help the cities of Southern California understand what is atstake in their
communities and how to bring the community together to support policies to reduce the
risk.
34
Honorable City Council
October 18, 2017 Regular Meeting
Page 2
The Dr. Lucy Jones Center for Science and Society includes the following information
on their website for their objectives:
"What We Do
Working with both the public and private sectors, The Center will increase communities' ability
to adapt and be resilient to the dynamic changes of the world around them. We will help scientists
become better communicators of their results and help decision-makers understand how they can
partner with scientists and use results of scientific studies to make better informed decisions.
Our Approach
The Center focuses on activities that further actual risk reduction. Our aim is to understand and
communicate where the greatest vulnerabilities lie and what actions can be taken to reduce the
risk that are the most cost-effective. The answers will depend on the particular region and hazard,
but there are important commonalities.
• Education about true impacts. To make cost effective decisions, people need to understand the
likely damage and how it will affect them. This requires effective science communication and
dialog between technical and policy experts.
• Lifeline interactions. The biggest financial impacts in many disasters comes from the failure of
utilities and other lifelines that support our urban environments. Much of the vulnerability is not
the result of the damage to a single utility, but the cascading failures as one lifeline loses the
support from another.
• Built environment. Building codes are fundamental to creating a resilient city. Our current built
environment is at risk because of 1) older buildings that do not meet current code and 2) the
current code that provides only for life-safety and not for immediate occupancy. Improving our
codes to make our buildings usable after an event is an important step to economic resilience.
•
• Strengthening our social fabric. In most large disasters, more money is lost through business
disruption and population flight after the event than from damage in the event itself. Life will be
difficult after a big disaster and recovery will depend on people willing to stay and do the work of
recovery."
DISCUSSION
Most recently, SCAG and the Dr. Lucy Jones Center for Science and Society have
formed a Ventura Cohort to move forward on the Earthquake Preparedness Initiative
objectives described above for the Ventura County region. The City of Moorpark is
participating in the Ventura Cohort organized by SCAG and the Dr. Lucy Jones Center
for Science and Society to address seismic vulnerabilities and restore lifestyle and
business practices as quickly as possible following a major earthquake. The Ventura
Cohort includes participation from the County of Ventura, the cities in Ventura County,
and a few of the adjacent cities in Los Angeles County. The Assistant City Manager
35
Honorable City Council
October 18, 2017 Regular Meeting
Page 3
has been participating as a member of the Ventura Cohort and has also attended, along
with the City's Emergency Services Program Manager, the regional seminars and
workshops let by the Dr. Lucy Jones Center for Science and Society. Assistance
received in conjunction with this participation includes information on ordinances
already adopted by other cities to implement stricter building codes for seismic retrofit
and strengthening.
One such seismic safety ordinance example is a City of Los Angeles ordinance to
require a 1.5 Importance Factor for construction of cellular communication and
broadcast towers to avoid cellular phone service interruption from a seismic event.
During emergencies, first responders are becoming increasingly reliant on using cell
phones as a primary form of communication. Physical damage to cellular
telecommunication towers can cause interruptions in cellular service, creating delays in
emergency response time and in overall disaster recovery efforts. Cellular
telecommunication towers can be designed and built to continue functioning after a
major earthquake. By strengthening cellular telecommunication tower construction
requirements, the City may rely on a stronger and more stable cell phone service during
emergencies.
To increase the City's disaster recovery resilience in this area, staff recommends
moving forward at this time with the attached draft ordinance (Attachment 1) to require
that cellular telecommunication and broadcast towers be built to a standard stronger
than the requirements set forth in the 2016 California Building Code, and taking into
consideration the unique geological conditions that impact our local environment. The
proposed amendment to the 2016 California Building Code is the same building code
requirements adopted by the City of Los Angeles, on March 12, 2015 (adopting Section
91.3108 of the Los Angeles Municipal Code), increasing the Importance Factor of
telecommunication and broadcast towers to 1.5. The City of Los Angeles also adopted
Guidelines for Permitting New Antennas and Replacement of Units on Existing
Telecommunication Antennas (Cell Towers). These Guidelines (see Attachment 2)
clarify installations that require a building permit, and which would be subject to the
Class III Structure importance factor, including replacement of telecommunication
antenna units. Staff is recommending that .this type of handout be prepared by the
Community Development Department and available upon the effective date of the
ordinance if adopted.
The recent hurricane damage in Puerto Rico to cellular communication towers is one
example of the critical need to have functioning cellular communications during an
emergency and after to facilitate recovery efforts. Cities across the nation have been
taking action to increase building standards and requirements to retrofit existing
buildings for multiple categories of devastating events. As an example, the damage
caused by Hurricane Nate, was less than what was seen after similar hurricanes in the
past and no lives were lost when Hurricane Nate made landfall. In an interview with the
Washington Post, Greg Flynn, spokesman for the Mississippi Emergency Management
36
Honorable City Council
October 18, 2017 Regular Meeting
Page 4
Agency said, "People will say we dodged a bullet, but that's not right. We took a hit, and
it just goes to show if you spend money on mitigation on the front end, it will save you
money on the back end ... Everything we have is now almost 20 feet in the air off the
ground. People will look at [what] happened in Mississippi last night and say Nate
wasn't that bad. But had Nate hit us before Katrina, we would have seen widespread
damage." The number of structures that lost functionality in Mississippi is considered to
be fewer than historical damages, which is being directly attributed to stricter building
and retrofit building codes, which will foster a swift return to business as usual.
Attachment 3 includes two pages, an Earthquake Preparedness Initiative handout on
"Understanding Problem Buildings", and an exhibit showing pictures of problem
buildings. The Earthquake Preparedness Initiative objectives include identifying these
problem buildings, developing seismic retrofit earthquake standards, requiring structural
analysis of problem buildings, and based on the structural analysis report, requiring the
structural retrofit to conform to the minimum earthquake standards specified in the
adopted retrofit ordinance(s). Seismic retrofit standards ordinances already adopted by
cities such as Los Angeles and Santa Monica include retrofit standards for the "Problem
Buildings" identified in Attachment 3.
The unreinforced masonry buildings in Moorpark were all brought into compliance with
the retrofit and upgrade requirements that were adopted into the Moorpark Municipal
Code in 1990 and had to be completed within 1 to 3 years from adoption. The California
Building Code was revised in 1997 and included stricter requirements for new structures
to avoid the building vulnerabilities of the 1994 Northridge earthquake, and as a result,
structures built after 1997 are considered to be able to withstand higher magnitude
earthquakes than structures built prior to 1997. We requested our contract Building
Official to perform a preliminary building permit records inventory using the City's
electronic building permit files to determine the existing buildings located within the City
boundaries that may require retrofit/upgrade based on the date of the building permit
(prior to 1997), the type of structure, and the identified building materials. A preliminary
list of approximately 160 commercial and industrial structures in Moorpark was
produced. We will be requesting a proposal for these structures be field checked.
Additionally, we will have multi-family residential buildings field checked to determine
any with soft first-story construction. Single-family homes with raised first floors are not
proposed to be evaluated with the current regional effort. Following completion of the
field evaluation and verification of an inventory of potentially at-risk commercial,
industrial, and multi-family residential structures, staff will schedule an agenda item for
City Council consideration of the next steps, which may include updating the City's
Municipal Code to include seismic retrofit standards.
FISCAL IMPACT
Staff will determine whether a budget allocation is needed for funding the field survey,
and any other related work by the City's Building and Safety contractor, and will
37
Honorable City Council
October 18, 2017 Regular Meeting
Page 5
schedule an agenda item if needed or include the adjustment at the time of the mid-year
Fiscal Year 2017-18 Budget amendment. No fiscal impact to the City is anticipated as a
result of the proposed ordinance, since it applies to new building permit applications and
does not include retrofit standards.
CEQA DETERMINATION
The Community Development Director has determined that the ordinance amending
Chapter 15.08 of Title 15 of the Moorpark Municipal Code is exempt from the provisions
of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of
the California Code of Regulations (CEQA Guidelines), based on the general rule that
CEQA only applies to "projects" that may have a significant effect on the environment.
The proposed ordinance would amend the Municipal Code related to building standards
necessary to protect health and safety, and would not authorize any new development.
In this case, it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the proposed
ordinance may have a significant impact on the environment.
LETTER OF SUPPORT FROM DR. LUCY JONES
Staff provided the draft ordinance to the Dr. Lucy Jones Center for Science and Society
for review, and a letter has been received from Dr. Lucy Jones in support of the cell
phone tower strengthening ordinance and commending the City for tackling the
important issue of seismic resilience. The letter is included as Attachment 4. It is staff's
understanding that the City of Moorpark is the first city in Ventura County to move
forward with the cell phone tower strengthening ordinance.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
1. Introduce Ordinance No. , for first reading, waive full reading, and direct staff
to schedule second reading and adoption of the ordinance for November 1, 2017;
and
2. Provide direction to the Community Development Department that following
adoption of the ordinance, Guidelines for Permitting New Telecommunication and
Broadcast Towers and Replacement of Units on Existing Towers to provide
clarification for new and modified installations shall be prepared, and these
Guidelines shall be completed prior to December 1, 2017.
Attachments:
1. Draft.Ordinance
2. City of Los Angeles Guidelines
3. Earthquake Preparedness Initiative - Understanding Problem Buildings
4. Letter from Dr. Lucy Jones dated October 11, 2017
38
ATTACHMENT 1
ORDINANCE NO.
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF MOORPARK,
CALIFORNIA, ADDING SECTION 15.08.045, EARTHQUAKE
HAZARD REDUCTION IN TELECOMMUNICATION AND
BROADCAST TOWERS, TO CHAPTER 15.08, BUILDING
CODE, OF TITLE 15, BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION, OF
THE MOORPARK MUNICIPAL CODE, AND MAKING A
FINDING THAT AN AMENDMENT TO THE 2016 EDITION
OF THE CALIFORNIA BUILDING CODE IS REASONABLY
NECESSARY DUE TO LOCAL GEOLOGICAL
CONDITIONS, AND MAKING A DETERMINATION OF
EXEMPTION PURSUANT TO THE CALIFORNIA
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT
WHEREAS, the City of Moorpark (City) has adopted the 2016 Editions of the
California Building Code, the California Green Building Standards Code, the California
Electrical Code, the California Plumbing Code, the California Mechanical Code, the
California Energy Code and the California Residential Code (collectively referred to as
the "California Building Standards Code") with certain modifications and changes; and
WHEREAS, Health and Safety Code Section 18938(b) generally provides that
the most recent edition of the California Building Standards Code shall apply to all
occupancies in the state and shall become effective 180 days after publication by the
California Building Standards Commission; and
WHEREAS, California Health and Safety Code Sections 17958, 17958.5,
17958.7, and 18941.5 allow amendments to building standards contained in the
California Building Standards Code to be made by a local government provided findings
of necessity based on local climatic, geological, and/or topographical conditions are
made; and
WHEREAS, the City Council desires to enhance seismic safety throughout the
City; and
WHEREAS, the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) and
the Dr. Lucy Jones Center for Science and Society support local jurisdictions' efforts in
fostering seismic safety to reach beyond life-safety standards and move into continuous
service standards; and
WHEREAS, cellular telecommunication and broadcast towers can be designed
and built to provide a higher level of expected uninterrupted service after a major
earthquake by requiring a 1.50 importance factor as set forth in Table 2-3, Importance
Factors, of the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA)-222 structural standard;
and
39
Ordinance No.
Page 2
WHEREAS, the Community Development Director determined that this
Ordinance amending Chapter 15.08 of Title 15 of the Moorpark Municipal Code is
exempt from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the California Code of Regulations (CEQA
Guidelines), based on the general rule that CEQA only applies to "projects" that may
have a significant effect on the environment. This Ordinance would amend the
Municipal Code related to building standards necessary to protect health and safety,
and would not authorize any new development. In this case, it can be seen with
certainty that there is no possibility that this Ordinance may have a significant impact on
the environment.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MOORPARK
DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION: The City Council has
reviewed the Community Development Director's determination that this Ordinance
amending Chapter 15.08 of Title 15 of the Moorpark Municipal Code is exempt from the
provisions of CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines, based on the general rule that CEQA
only applies to "projects" that may have a significant effect on the environment. This
Ordinance would amend the Municipal Code related to building standards necessary to
protect health and safety, and would not authorize any new development. In this case, it
can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that this Ordinance may have a
significant impact on the environment. Based on the foregoing, the City Council, based on
its own independent judgment, finds that the adoption of this Ordinance is exempt from
CEQA.
SECTION 2. AMENDMENT NECESSARY. Pursuant to Section 17958.7 of the
Health and Safety Code of the State of California, the City Council of the City of
Moorpark hereby finds that this amendment to the building standards contained in the
2016 Edition of the California Building Code made by this Ordinance is reasonably
necessary due to the local geological conditions as follows:
Local Geological Conditions — The Moorpark/Ventura County region is a populated area
having buildings and structures that include telecommunication and broadcast towers
constructed over and near fault systems capable of producing major earthquakes. The
City is located in an area with expansive and unstable soils and includes areas subject
to liquefaction. These conditions require that special foundation considerations and soils
analysis requirements must be in place to provide a reasonable degree of structural
integrity for buildings and structures that include telecommunication and broadcast
towers to prevent injury and reduce the risk of interruption to cellular telecommunication
services. These local geological conditions require specific and greater protection than
is afforded by the 2016 Edition of the California Building Code.
40
Ordinance No.
Page 3
SECTION 3. Section 15.08.045 (Earthquake Hazard Reduction for
Telecommunication and Broadcast Towers) of Chapter 15.08 (Building Code) of Title 15
(Buildings and Construction) of the Moorpark Municipal Code is hereby added to read as
follows:
"15.08.045 Earthquake hazard reduction for telecommunication and
broadcast towers.
Section 3108.1 of the California Building Code is replaced in its entirety to
read:
3108.1. General. Towers shall be designed and constructed in accordance
with the provisions of TIA-222. For structural design purposes, cellular
telecommunication towers shall be considered to be a "Class III Structure"
subject to an Importance Factor of 1.50, as set forth in Table 2-3,
Importance Factors, of TIA-222. Towers shall be designed for seismic
loads; exceptions related to seismic design listed in Section 2.7.3 of TIA-222
shall not apply. In Section 2.6.6.2 of TIA-222, the horizontal extent of
Topographic Category 2, escarpments, shall be 16 times the height of the
escarpment.
Exception: Single free-standing poles used to support antennas not greater
than seventy-five (75) feet (22 860 mm), measured from the top of the pole
to grade, shall not be required to be noncombustible."
SECTION 4. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, part or portion of
this ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by any court of
competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions
of this ordinance. The City Council declares that it would have adopted this ordinance and
each section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, part or portion thereof, irrespective of
the fact that any one or more section, subsections, sentences, clauses, phrases, parts or
portions be declared invalid or unconstitutional.
SECTION 5. This Ordinance shall become effective 30 days after its passage
and adoption.
SECTION 6. The City Clerk shall certify to the passage and adoption of this
ordinance; shall enter the same in the book of original ordinances of said City; shall make
a written record of the passage and adoption thereof in the minutes of the proceedings of
the City Council at which the same is passed and adopted; and shall publish notice of
adoption in the manner required by law.
41
Ordinance No.
Page 4
PASSED AND ADOPTED this day of , 2017.
Janice S. Parvin, Mayor
ATTEST:
Maureen Benson, City Clerk
42
ATTACHMENT 2
,tllllltl .� INFORMATION BULLETIN / PUBLIC - BUILDING CODE
j � REFERENCE NO.: 2017 LABC Effective: 03-27-2017
\•-).
PAP.'', DOCUMENT NO.: P/BC 2017-146 Revised:
DEPARTMENT OF BUILDING AND SAFETY Previously Issued As: N/A
GUIDELINES FOR PERMITTING NEW ANTENNAS AND REPLACEMENT OF
UNITS ON EXISTING TELECOMMUNICATION ANTENNAS (CELL TOWERS)
The purpose of this bulletin is to establish permit requirements for installation of new antennas and/or
replacement of telecommunication antenna units.
Los Angeles Municipal Code Section 91.3108.1 requires telecommunication towers to be designed in
accordance with the provision of TIA-222 (Telecommunication Industry Association-222). Moreover,
pursuant to Ordinance No. 183580, effective July 11, 2015, amended LAMC Section 91.3108.1,
telecommunication towers shall be considered "Class III Structure" per Table 2-3 of TIA-222 and
therefore subject to an importance factor of 1.5.
The Department requires a building permit for any telecommunication (cell) tower (effective July 11,
2015).
I. The following installations require a building permit:
1. New antennas installed or attached onto monopole and/or building.
2. Monopole replacement.
3. Addition of antennas on a monopole.
4. Addition of antennas at an existing building installation.
5. Replacement of antennas at existing monopole. See Item II for exception.
. 6. Replacement of antennas at existing building installation. See Item II for exception.
Note: Permits are required for screens attached to the building.
II. The following installations may not require a building permit:
1. Upon review and confirmation by the LADBS Counter Plan Check Supervisor, the
replacement of units on existing monopole and building installations, where the units being
replaced have not increased in weight and connections have not changed, no building
permit may be required. This process requires verification of previously issued building
permits and approved plans.
43
As a covered entity under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act,the City of Los Angeles does not discriminate on the basis of disability and,upon request,will provide
reasonable accommodation to ensure equal access to its programs,services and activities.
ATTACHMENT 3
EARTHQUAKE0
PREPAREDNESS
INITIATIVE BUILDING
SAFETYREINFORCEMENT RESILIENCE
Understanding Problem Buildings
Studies show that most of the loss of life in future earthquakes in Southern California can be expected to occur in our
older buildings. No building code is retroactive; a building is as strong as the building code that was in place when the
building was built.When an earthquake in one location exposes a weakness in a type of building,the code is changed to
prevent further construction of dangerous buildings, but it does not make those buildings in other locations disappear.
Most buildings in Southern California have only experienced relatively low to moderate levels of shaking and many hidden
(and not so hidden)vulnerabilities await the next earthquake.
To really know how a building is likely to perform when hit by strong shaking,you will need to hire an engineer to do a
complete evaluation. But you can get a pretty good idea of where you stand by knowing 1)the type of construction(stucco-
wood frame,concrete,steel, etc.), 2)the date of construction,and 3)whether it has been retrofitted.The following table
gives a description of potential problems with general types of construction.The dates are for the standard building code.
In 1989,the State of California passed legislation that required all jurisdictions to use the most recent version of the
Uniform Building Code(before 1997)or International Building Code(after 1997). Before 1989,different cities may have
adopted the Uniform Building Code at different times.
*+,.f. •
:`t`:`'.
Probably not bolted
to the foundation Raised first floors(buildings with a crawl
Wog unless retrofitted. space)usually supported by a cripple wall Some of our best
with Can be completely of just 2x4s,which can fail,destroying buildings.
destroyed.Adding the house.Sheathing the cripple wall with
bolts fixes the plywood eliminates problems.
problem.
Unreinforced Not built after 1935.If not retrofitted,they are the deadliest buildings.When
masonry(brick) retrofitted,they are safer but still likely to be a complete financial loss.
Some of these buildings are OK and Much less likely Probably won't
some are deadlier than masonry–only a than pre-1976 to collapse but can
Concrete structural engineer can tell you which one have big problems, have expensive
you have. Probably a complete financial but need an damage in strong
loss. evaluation to tell. shaking.
Has the potential to collapse, killing Probably won't
many. Likely to have expensive losses.The collapse but can
Steel N/A problem is the welds that join the beams have expensive
and columns.If they crack,the whole damage in strong
building can be lost. shaking.
tEm
•I-
www.scag.ca.gov
44
Buildings Can Kill
• Unreinforced masonry
• Soft-fl rst-sto r (pre- 1980)Y
• Non-ductile concretere- 1980
�p )
• Steel moment framesre- 1997
fp )
0
yrs ao"t''ia
A
Int *43
° ,
t ", . at :' rr r "ax,'- ,, $w.
.w
mss.
45
re Dr. , Cl Ones ATTACHMENT
cr.
ocCenter
o for Science and Society
October 11, 2017
Mayor Janice S. Parvin
City of Moorpark
799 Moorpark Avenue
Moorpark, CA 93021
Dear Mayor Parvin,
I want to commend you and your colleagues for tackling the important issue of seismic
resilience for your City. As a seismologist who spent over three decades studying
earthquakes, I am excited to see the City of Moorpark take an important step towards
greater resilience.
Your Cell Phone Tower Strengthening ordinance will begin to address loss of
communication, one of the main issues we have seen in a post-earthquake situations.
The Ventura County region has a significant seismic risk, and I applaud cities, such as
Moorpark that are taking the appropriate steps to enhance seismic safety.
I look forward to hearing about your progress on this effort in Moorpark.
Sincerely,
Lucile M. Jones
Founder and Chief Scientist
46