Agenda Item: 8
CITY OF SANTA CLARITA
AGENDA REPORT
CONSENT CALENDAR
CITY MANAGER APPROVAL:
DATE: June 27, 2023
SUBJECT: FIRST READING OF AN ORDINANCE TO ADOPT THE 2023 LOS ANGELES COUNTY FIRE CODE - TITLE 32
DEPARTMENT: City Manager's Office
PRESENTER: Michael Villegas
RECOMMENDED ACTION
City Council introduce an ordinance entitled “AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA CLARITA, CALIFORNIA, UPDATING THE CITY FIRE CODE – TITLE 22 OF THE SANTA CLARITA MUNICIPAL CODE AND ADOPTING BY REFERENCE THE 2023 LOS ANGELES COUNTY FIRE CODE – TITLE 32;” waive reading of text and consent to read by title only as listed on the agenda; pass to second reading; and set the public hearing for July 11, 2023.
BACKGROUND
On January 31, 2023, the Los Angeles County (County) Board of Supervisors adopted amendments to the Los Angeles County Fire Code (LACFC) Title 32 for the Consolidated Fire Protection District of Los Angeles County (District). The 2023 LACFC is now active in all areas within the jurisdiction of the District, and it is required to be adopted/ratified by reference through official action by the governing bodies of the constituent/contracting cities of the District.
The 2023 edition of the LACFC (as established by County Ordinance 2023-0008), which is codified as Los Angeles County Code (LACC) Title 32, serves to express the County and District amendments to the 2022 edition of the California Fire Code (CFC). These local amendments are a set of regulations for the safeguarding of life and property from fire and explosion hazards arising from the storage, handling, and use of hazardous substances, materials and devices, and from conditions hazardous to life or property in the occupancy of buildings and premises.
The CFC, being Part 9 of the California Building Standards Code (i.e., Part 9 of CCR Title 24), is limited in scope to only address building standards. As such, the State of California (State)
does not adopt many portions of the CFC publication, and many essential fire- and life-safety regulations are left out, including basic fire apparatus access provisions. The unadopted portions of the CFC come from the International Fire Code (IFC), and they serve as suggested provisions for local fire authorities to consider for adoption. The State permits these unadopted provisions to remain in the CFC publication because it is expected that the local fire authority will promulgate local amendments to the CFC publication as necessary during the local fire-code adoption proceedings.
While local fire codes are required to incorporate the State-adopted portions of the latest CFC, these local fire codes are not limited in scope the way the CFC is; and local fire codes can be more restrictive than even the State-adopted portions. As such, local fire codes adopt the latest CFC by reference and then amend and add to it as necessary to be more specific and restrictive in order to address local safety and administrative needs. For these reasons, the County adopted the 2023 LACFC to meet the unique needs of County residents and cities.
The most recent amendment to Title 22 - City Fire Code was adopted by the City Council on December 13, 2022, and became effective on January 1, 2023. The practice of adopting the LACFC by reference has been the City’s standard practice and occurs approximately every three years. Included in this agenda is Exhibit A, which was provided by the County and District to support the updates to the 2023 LACFC. If approved, this item would be brought back before the City Council for a second reading and public hearing on July 11, 2023, and would become effective 30 days after approval.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION
Other action as determined by the City Council.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact associated with this item.
ATTACHMENTS
Ordinance
Exhibit A