ORDINANCE NO. 864
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LOMITA, CALIFORNIA, AMENDING SECTION 3-1 (FIRE PREVENTION) OF TITLE 3 OF THE LOMITA MUNICIPAL CODE; ADOPTING BY REFERENCE TITLE 32 (FIRE CODE) OF THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY CODE INCORPORATING BY REFERENCE THE 2022 EDITION OF THE CALIFORNIA FIRE CODE WITH CERTAIN CHANGES AND AMENDMENTS THERETO; AND FINDING
THE ACTION EXEMPT FROM THE CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL
QUALITY ACT
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LOMITA DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Findings.
A. California law requires that on January 1, 2023, all portions of the 2022 California Code of Regulations Title 24 will be effective within the City.
B. The City may amend the provisions of the California Code of Regulations Title 24 provided express findings for each amendment, addition or deletion is made based upon climatic, topographical or geological conditions.
C. The City receives fire prevention, plan review and inspection services from the County of Los Angeles. The Los Angeles County Fire Prevention Division has recommended modifying certain parts of California Code of Regulations Title 24 due to local climatic, topographical and geological conditions in the City of Lomita.
D. The findings supporting the necessity for the amendments to building standards herein are contained in Exhibit 1 to this Ordinance in accordance with California Health and Safety Code Section 18941. 5 and are incorporated by reference herein.
E. The City of Lomita City Council hereby finds, determines and declares that those certain amendments to the State Code are appropriate and necessary to meet local conditions existing in the City of Lomita, and this Council hereby further finds, determines and declares that each such change is required for the protection of the public safety and is reasonably necessary because of local climatic, geological conditions.
Section 2. Section 3-1.01 of Title 3 of the City of Lomita Municipal Code is amended to read as follows:
Ordinance No. 864
3-1.01. County fire code adopted.
Except as hereinafter provided, Title 32, Fire Code, of the Los Angeles County Code, as amended and in effect on March 2, 2023, adopting the California Fire Code, 2022 Edition (California Code of Regulations Title 24, Part 9) and supplement – 9 in effect on July 1, 2024, is hereby incorporated herein by reference as if fully set forth herein, and shall constitute and may be cited as the Fire Code of the City.
In the event of any conflict between provisions of the California Fire Code, 2022 Edition, Title 32 of the Los Angeles County Code, or any amendment to the Fire Code contained in the City of Lomita Municipal Code, the provision contained in the latter listed document shall control.
A copy of Title 32 of the Los Angeles County Code and the California Fire Code, 2022 Edition, has been deposited in the office of the City Clerk and shall be at all times maintained by the City Clerk for use and examination by the public.
Section 3: Ratification of Building Standards. Pursuant to Health and Safety Code section 13869.7, subdivision (a), as part of its amendments to Title 32 (Fire Code), the Consolidated Fire Protection District of Los Angeles County proposed building standards relating to fire and panic safety that are more stringent than those building standards adopted by the State Fire Marshal and contained in the California Building Code. Pursuant to Health and Safety Code section 13869.7, subdivision (c), by adoption of this ordinance, the City Council hereby ratifies the building standards included within the ordinance amending Title 32 (Fire Code) as amended and in effect on March 2, 2023.
The City Council hereby finds that the more restrictive building standards contained in the District Fire Code are reasonably necessary due to the local climatic, geological, or topographical conditions in the City and adopts by reference the specific findings made by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors regarding these local conditions, a copy of which is attached as Exhibit 1.
Accordingly, the City Council finds the modifications in this Ordinance to the State Fire Code to be necessary for the protection of the public health, safety, and welfare.
Section 4. To the extent the provisions of this ordinance are substantially the same as previous provisions of the Lomita Municipal Code, these provisions shall be construed as continuations of those provisions and not as new enactments.
Section 5. Adoption of this ordinance is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in that it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the ordinance may have a significant effect on the environment pursuant to State CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3). The adoption of the proposed ordinance is covered by the general rule that CEQA applies only to projects that have the potential for causing a Ordinance No. 864
significant effect on the environment. As the proposed ordinance adopts local amendments to the California Building Standard Code reasonably necessary to mitigate threats to the public health and safety posed by local climatic, geological, or topographical conditions, the City’s adoption is largely administrative in nature and designed to improve environmental quality; therefore, the action poses no potential of causing significant adverse effects to the environment.
Section 6. If any section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase of this ordinance or any part hereof is for any reason held to be invalid, such invalidity shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance or any part thereof. The City Council of the City of Lomita hereby declares that it would have passed each section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase hereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, subdivisions, paragraphs, sentences, clauses or phrases be declared invalid.
Section 7. Effective Date. This ordinance shall take effect thirty (30) days after the date of its passage; and prior to fifteen (15) days after its passage, the City Clerk shall cause a copy of this ordinance to be published in accordance with the provisions of the law. The City Clerk shall certify the adoption of this ordinance. The City Clerk shall file a certified copy of this ordinance with the California Building Standards Commission.
PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 19th day of November 2024.
Bill Uphoff
Mayor
ATTEST:
Kathleen Horn Gregory, MMC, City Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
Trevor Rusin, City Attorney
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FINDINGS IN SUPPORT OF ADOPTION OF MORE RESTRICTIVE BUILDING STANDARDS.
The provisions of this ordinance contain various changes, modifications, and additions to the 2022 California Fire Code. Some of those changes are administrative in nature in that they do not constitute changes or modifications to requirements contained in the building standards adopted by the State Fire Marshal and published in the California Building Standards Code. Pursuant to Health and Safety Code Sections 17958.5, 17958.7, and 18941.5, the Board of Supervisors hereby expressly finds and determines that all of the changes and modifications to requirements contained in the building standards published in the California Building Standards Code, contained in this ordinance, which are not administrative in nature, are reasonably necessary because of local climatic, geological, or topographical conditions in the County of Los Angeles and in the Consolidated Fire Protection District of Los Angeles County (“District”). This expressed finding is supported and based upon the following more specific determinations:
CLIMATIC – The County of Los Angeles/District is located in an area subject to climatic conditions with long periods of low humidity and hot weather, combined with unpredictable seasonal high winds (Santa Ana wind conditions), resulting in increased exposure to fire risk. This combination of events creates an environment that is conducive to rapidly spreading fires. Control of such fires requires rapid response.
Exhibit 1 - Findings
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With the time that is required to deal with potential obstacles from the wind, such as fallen trees, street lights, and utility poles, in addition to the time required to climb 75 feet vertically up flights of stairs, the ability to respond rapidly is negatively impacted.
Additionally, there is a significant increase in the amount of wind at 60 feet above the ground. Use of aerial-type firefighting apparatus above this height would place rescue personnel at increased risk of injury. High winds will also cause burning embers to become airborne resulting in the rapid spread of a fire to nearby structures. Immediate containment of a fire is the only method by which it can be controlled during high wind conditions. In high fire severity zones, a unique combination of low humidity, strong winds, and dry vegetation exists.
GEOLOGICAL – The County of Los Angeles/District is located in the middle of the seismically active area identified as Seismic Zone 4. The viability of the public water system would be questionable at best after a major seismic event. Tall buildings would become vulnerable to uncontrolled fires due to a lack of available water and an inability to pump sufficient quantities of any available water to floors above the 55-foot level. A severe seismic event has the potential to negatively impact any rescue or fire suppression activities because it is likely to create significant physical obstacles and logistical challenges. With the probability of strong aftershocks, there exists a need to provide increased protection for anyone on upper floors.
Geological conditions created by the numerous faults will result in increased fire danger to structures, delayed Fire Department response, and unique rescue challenges.
Seismic events of sufficient magnitude will cause substantial damage to structures.
These damages are likely to be accompanied by a substantial number of fires that may HOA.103903238.11 275
exceed the Fire Department suppression capabilities. Accordingly, built-in fire suppression systems provide the only adequate measure to mitigate the potential hazards from and damage caused by such fires.
The County of Los Angeles/District is subject to occasional severe rainstorms.
The impacts from these rainstorms are exacerbated if hillside areas have been burned by wildland fires because significant mud and debris flows can occur. Mud and debris flows can impair Fire Department access or delay response times if access roads are obstructed by mud or debris.
TOPOGRAPHICAL – The topographical conditions of the County of Los Angeles/District includes many mountains, hills, and canyons which tend to accelerate the periodic high-velocity winds by means of a Venturi effect. These canyon winds and the significant growth of vegetation of a combustible nature increase the fire danger. Additionally, long periods of dry, hot weather, combined with unpredictable seasonal winds (Santa Ana wind conditions) result in increased exposure to fire risk.
The hillside areas have access roads that are narrow, steep, and contain many sharp curves, all of which makes timely response by large fire apparatus difficult.
The specific sections of this code that constitute more restrictive building standards are identified in the table set forth below. The more restrictive building standards contained in this code and identified in the table below shall be applicable only in those cities served by the District which have ratified the aforesaid sections in accordance with California Health and Safety Code Section 13869.