CITY COUNCIL ACTION REQUEST
DEPARTMENT(S):
Planning, Building, and Code
Enforcement, Housing, City
Manager’s Office of
Emergency Management
CEQA:
Not a Project File No.
PP17-008, General
Procedure and Policy
Making resulting in
no changes to the
physical
environment.
COORDINATION:
City Attorney’s
Office
Director Approval:
/s/ Chris Burton
/s/ Erik L. Soliván
/s/ Raymond Riordan
COUNCIL DISTRICT(S):
Citywide
CMO Approval:
3/13/25
SUBJECT: Amendment to the Effective Date of the Soft Story Seismic Retrofit Ordinance
RECOMMENDATION
Approve an ordinance to amend the effective date of the Soft Story Seismic Retrofit Ordinance from April 1, 2025, to April 1, 2026, along with the compliance deadlines in San José Municipal Code section 17.41.550, which requires seismic retrofit of certain wood-frame target story residential buildings.
BASIS FOR RECOMMENDATION
On September 24, 2024, City Council approved an ordinance amending Title 17 of the San José Municipal Code to add Chapter 17.41 to require seismic retrofit of certain wood-frame target story residential buildings effective April 1, 2025. Development of the Soft Story Retrofit Ordinance (Ordinance) and initial program implementation was funded by a $6 million Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Hazard Mitigation Grant award overseen by the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. The Phase 1 grant was awarded in 2021. In August 2023, the City applied for an additional $25 million FEMA grant.
Implementation of the Ordinance includes a Retrofit Financing Program, a public-private partnership, to defray the retrofit costs for property owners. Housing Department staff conducted an analysis of Apartment Rent Ordinance units to understand the projected number of buildings and units that can be impacted by the Ordinance. The data analysis provided the context for designing a Retrofit Financing Program to complete the retrofits by incorporating rebates offered through the FEMA grants and leveraging City funds to offer participating property owners a low-cost retrofit financing while mitigating tenant rent increases.
With recent federal government actions, uncertainty of FEMA programs and the slow movement of the City’s $25 million FEMA grant application, along with the City’s limited Measure E funding, staff recommends that the effective date of the Ordinance be changed from April 1, 2025, to April 1, 2026.
Table 1 below shows the corresponding extension of compliance dates for each of the groups impacted by the Ordinance.
TABLE 1. Compliance deadlines in total years commencing from the effective date of the Ordinance Compliance Group Screening Phase Construction Completion Group 1 18 months
(October 1, 2027)
5 years
(April 1, 2031)
Group 2 18 months
(October 1, 2027)
6 years
(April 1, 2032)
Group 3 18 months
(October 1, 2027)
7 years
(April 1, 2033)
COUNCIL AGENDA: 3/25/25
FILE: 25-299
ITEM: 2.12
After City Council action, staff will post the new effective date of the Ordinance on the Planning, Building, and Code Enforcement Department and the Housing Department websites and conduct outreach to housing providers, tenants, and other stakeholders. Housing Department staff will continue to investigate other potential funding sources for the Retrofit Financing Program and may pursue a small-scale test program during the one-year implementation delay. Staff will also issue an Information Memorandum as information becomes available from FEMA.
COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION AND INPUT
No commission recommendation or input is associated with this action.
COST AND FUNDING SOURCE
There are no costs associated with this action or no additional funding is needed for the time extension of this agreement.
FOR QUESTIONS CONTACT: Lisa Joiner, Deputy Director, Planning, Building, and Code Enforcement at [email protected]