CITY OF POMONA
COUNCIL REPORT
December 5, 2022
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: James Makshanoff, City Manager
Submitted By: Anita D. Gutierrez, Development Services Director SUBJECT: INTRODUCTION AND FIRST READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 4326 AMENDING SECTIONS 74-1 AND 74-31 OF THE POMONA CITY CODE TO ADOPT THE 2022 EDITION OF THE CALIFORNIA BUILDING STANDARDS CODE RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the City Council introduce, read by title only, waive further and give first reading to the following ordinance:
ORDINANCE NO. 4326 - AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF POMONA, CALIFORNIA, AMENDING SECTIONS 74-1 AND 74-31 OF ARTICLE I, CHAPTER 74 OF THE POMONA CITY CODE BY ADOPTING THE 2022 EDITION OF THE CALIFORNIA BUILDING STANDRADS CODE AND RELATED MODEL CODES WITH APPENDICES AND AMENDMENTS THERETO EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The California Building Standards Commission (CBSC) is the regulatory body that is responsible for the review and adoption of building standards to be used throughout the state of California. These regulations are the minimum standard used in order to preserve life, safety, and welfare in the construction, alteration, and repair of the built environment. The CBSC updates these codes every three years. Ordinance 4326 provides the required updates to comply with State law (Attachment No. 1).
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact resulting from this action. Also, there are no changes to Building & Safety fees proposed by this action.
PUBLIC NOTICING REQUIREMENTS:
In November, staff implemented an information campaign to inform the public regarding the impending code changes. Notice of the changes were posted on the City’s website and posted at the Building Department counter PREVIOUS RELATED ACTION:
The Building Code was last updated in December 2019 via Ordinance 4277 and in 2016 via Ordinance 4231.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT:
This action is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to section 15061(b)(3) of the State Guidelines to implement CEQA in that there is no possibility that the action could cause a significant effect on the environment.
DISCUSSION:
In July of 2022 the CBSC adopted the 2022 edition of the California Building Standards Code, which is based upon a group of codes promulgated by the International Code Council’s (ICC) family of codes, the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO) and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). It is this collaboration of codes that make up the California Code of Regulations, Title 24, also known as the California Building Standards Code. The 2022 California Building Standards Code goes into effect on January 1, 2022.
Health & Safety Code Sections 17922 and 17958 mandate that counties and cities adopt an ordinance adopting by reference the California Building Standards Code. However, cities are allowed to make amendments to the California Building Standards Code due to the existence of unique regional and/ or local climatic, topographical or geographical conditions. Findings must be made supporting the amendments and submitted to the State Department of Housing and Community Development for confirmation.
The 2022 California Building Standards Code includes the California Building Code, the California Administrative Code, the California Plumbing Code, the California Mechanical Code, the California Electrical Code, the California Residential Code, the California Fire Code, the California Energy Code, the California State Historical Building Code, the California Existing Building Code, the California Reference Standards Code, and the California Green Building Standards Code. Additionally, the 2021 International Property Maintenance Code is not published by the State, but is recommended to be adopted in to Pomona City Code. The accompanying ordinance will bring all of the City’s building and construction regulations into compliance with the latest codes adopted by the CBSC. The benefit of adopting the additional codes is to provide building and fire inspectors/officials and plan examiners with further clarification of the intent and the applicability of the California Building Code when presented with a variety of construction issues.
California Building Standards are applicable to all occupancies throughout California, whether or not the local government takes an affirmative action to adopt those California Building Standards. However, the standards enforced by statute will be without added appendices and amendments. In order to make changes to Building Standards, the local agency must make an express finding that the amendments are necessary due to local climatic, geological, or topographical conditions. These findings must be reported to and accepted by the State. No changes to Building Standards are being recommended for Pomona at this time. There are changes recommended to the Administrative Standards that do not require findings supporting their adoption.
There are two significant changes to the in the California Building Standard Code to highlight.
Permit Expiration
The language included regarding permit expiration mirrors that contained within the recently added sections of the Health and Safety Code and expands all building permits and their expirations from 180 days to 12 months. The Health and Safety Code language was a result of the natural disasters throughout the state and the impact on the construction industry and their timelines. This allows a permit to not be expired for 12 months after issuance, thereby alleviating some of those concerns moving forward.
Large Family Day-Cares
Pursuant to Senate Bill 234 (Skinner), regulations pertaining to large family day-care homes, providing care for up to 14 children was changed to mandate they be treated as a residential use of the property. Additional changes pertaining to large family day-care homes is as follows:
A city or property owner may not restrict the ability for a large family day-care to operate through conveyances, leases, mortgages or even business license payments.
A local jurisdiction shall not impose a business license, fee or tax for the privilege of operating a small or large family day-care home.
Use of a home as a small or large family day-care home shall not constitute a change of occupancy for purposes of Part 1.5 (commencing with Section 17910) of Division 13 (State Housing Law) or for purposes of local building codes.
A small or large family day-care home shall not be subject to the provisions of Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code.
The provisions of this chapter do not preclude a city, county or other local public entity from placing restrictions on building heights, setback or lot dimensions of a family day-care home, as long as those restrictions are identical to those applied to all other residences with the same zoning designation as the family daycare home.
For purposes of this chapter, “small family day-care home or large family day-care home” includes a detached single-family dwelling, a townhouse, a dwelling unit within a dwelling or a dwelling unit within a covered multifamily dwelling in which the underlying zoning allows for residential uses. A small family day-care home or large family day-care home is where the family day-care provider resides and includes a dwelling or dwelling unit that is rented, leased or owned.
No new fees or changes to the current building permit fee structures are proposed as part of this building code adoption process. The new codes will be effective January 1, 2023 and any first plan review submitted on or after that date will be required to comply with the new codes. Any previously submitted applications in the review process will have until July 1, 2023 to pull their building permits, if permits are not pulled by this time they will be required to comply with the new code.
Prepared by:
____________________________
Anita D. Gutierrez
Development Services Director
ATTACHMENT:
Attachment No. 1 – Ordinance No. 4326
2022 Building Code Update – Ordinance No. 4326