In May 2019, the City of Pasadena adopted an ordinance that required owners of almost 500 “soft story” buildings within the city to retrofit their property to comply with updated seismic standards.
Fast forward three years and some property owners are nearing the deadline within which they must submit plans and obtain permits for their properties’ retrofit.
In an interview with Pasadena Now, Tom Robinson, Senior Advisor for Optimum Seismic Inc., a leading earthquake retrofit company in California, detailed the importance of modifying existing structures to make them more resistant to seismic activity.
He said the cost of seismic retrofit depends on the size and configuration. It could range from tens of thousands to up to millions but for Robinson, it is a very prudent investment to make. Retrofitting of buildings, he said, is “another form of insurance.”
“You’re protecting your tenants and you’re protecting your workers if you have workers in or around the building.”
“So there’s a lot of things you’re protecting, but also, and perhaps very importantly, property owners are protecting themselves from what is called liability for earthquake damage or injuries.”
On July 21, Robinson will speak about seismic retrofitting during a free workshop to be held in partnership with the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce.
“The workshop is intended to educate apartment building owners and condo associations about the requirements as well as the reasons retrofitting makes sense for vulnerable structures such as soft-story buildings,” said Pasadena Chamber President and CEO Paul Little.
While the Chamber opposes mandates on private property owners in general, it is supportive of the retrofit ordinance, “given the abundance of soft-story buildings and the real possibility of injury and fatalities in the event of an earthquake, and the fact that landlords can pass the costs on to tenants over time.”
Pasadena’s retrofit ordinance covers “soft story” buildings, which are usually wood-framed buildings with more than one story that typically have extensive ground-story windows, garage doors, or open-air spaces used as tuck-under parking, with little or no enclosing solid wall.
These buildings are relatively soft or weak in terms of load resistance and are generally more vulnerable to collapse during an earthquake.
Properties requiring a retrofit are categorized as follows: Priority 1 (parcels containing buildings with 3 or more stories or containing 25 more dwelling units in total); Priority 2 (parcels containing 10 to 24 total units); and Priority 3 (parcels containing non-historic, 2-story buildings with 5 to 9 units in total).
The ordinance requires owners of the priority properties to submit plans and secure necessary permits for the retrofit within three years of receiving a notice from the City. But due to the pandemic, the 3-year deadline was extended to 4 years.
According to data provided by the city, Priority 1 property owners received their notices in December 2019, Priority 2 property owners received notices in December 2020 while Priority 3 owners received notices in March 2021.
With the four-year time frame required by the ordinance, this means that those who received notices in December 2019 only have until December 2023 to submit plans and secure permits.
The City will soon send reminder letters to property owners as the first deadline to get permits approaches, according to city Public Information Officer Lisa Derderian.
According to the ordinance, owners who fail to comply with the timeframes or those who fail to complete the retrofit requirements, shall be charged with a misdemeanor and may be subject to administrative fines of up to $1,000 per day, or imprisonment for not more than six months, or both fines and imprisonment.
For more information regarding the ordinance visit:
https://www.cityofpasadena.net/planning/soft-story-retrofit-ordinance/.For more information regarding the upcoming PCC workshop visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/pasadena-chamber-optimum-seismic-free-seismic-retrofit-workshop-tickets-370616232127
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