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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010/10/11 Board of Appeals & Advisors Minutes MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING BOARD OF APPEALS AND ADVISORS CITY OF CHULA VISTA, CALIFORNIA October 11, 2010 Conference Room #137 5:15 PM 276 Fourth Ave. Cfiula Vlsta, CA 91910 MEMBERS PRESENT: Sides, Jones, Sanfilippo, Meservy MEMBERS ABSENT: Jose Lopez (Unexcused) CITY STAFF PRESENT: Lou EI-Khazen, Building Official; Justin Gipson, Deputy Fire Chief/Fire Marshall and Rosemarie Rice, Secretary OTHERS PRESENT': None CALL MEET'ING'TO ORDER: Lou EI-Khazen, Building Official called the meeting to order at 5:20 p m He informed the committee that Chairperson Jan Buddingh took another position on the Parks and Recreation Commission and had to resign from the Boards of Appeals and Advisors In addition, Member Bejarano and Vice Chair, Rita Buencamino-Andrews chose not to extend their second term so now there would be three vacancies to fill Mr EI-Khazen said the committee would need to elect a Chair and Vice Chair for the new fiscal year 2010-2011, and asked the commission to go through the election first before they go on to other items on the agenda I 1 ROLL CALL: Members present constituted a quorum 2 APPROVAL OF MINUTES: September 14, 2009 MSC (LM/AS) (4-0-0-1) Approve the minutes of September 14, 2009 Motion carried with Member Lopez absent I i 3 NEW BUSINESS:, A Election of Chair and Vice-Chair for fiscal year 2010-11 MSC (TJ/AS) (3-0-1-1) a motion was made to nominate Chuck Sanfilippo as Chairperson Motion carried with Member Sanflippo abstaining and Member Lopez absent. ! i MSC (AS/TJ) (3-0 1-1) a motion was made to nominate Albert Sides as Vice-Chair. Motion carried with Member Sides abstaining and Member' Lopez absent. B Ordinances adopting the various 2010 building codes and local amendments Building Official, Lou EI Khazen, presented the proposed ordinances and amendments outlined in the staff report He stated that the majorily of the proposed amendments are currently in the Municipal Code (MC) and are carried over as the City adopts the updated codes Mr EI-Khazen noted that all but two of the 2010 California codes are updated editions to the current codes. The 2010 California Residential Code (2010 CRC) is a completely new code to California and the 2010 California Green Building Standards Code (2010 CGBSC), which was entirely voluntary, now contains mandatory and voluntary requirements for both residential and non-residential projects. Mr. EI-Khazen stated that the 2010 CRC requires all new one and two family dwellings and townhouses (including attached garages) to have fire sprinkler' systems He mentioned this was the first time a State building code has such requirements on one and two family dwellings Board of Appeals & Advisors Page 2 October 11, 2010 Meeting Minutes Mr EI-Khazen said the Deputy Fire Chief, Justin Gipson has been working with the water districts to see how the cost for additional meters or enlarging the size of the meters could be minimized so that the financial impact to the residents and builders is minimized Justin Gipson stated that he has been working with three water districts (CA American, Sweetwater Authority and Otay Water) In the past what had driven the cost of putting in home sprinklers was a capacity fee These utility companies have agreed to not charge the additional capacity fee when a sprinkler system is required which will help minimize the cost The building official discussed the 2010 CGBSC He noted it wasn't a new code but now it has mandatory requirements. He slated that the City's current Green Building Standards (GBS), MC Chapter 15..12 adopted October 2009, are based on the early adopfion of the State Housing and Community Development's (HCD) Green Building Standards found in the all-voluntary 2008 California Green Building Standards Code (OS CGBSC), and that they are required on all new residential and non-residential buildings and additions and alterations to existing residential and non-residential buildings. He also stated that the proposed ordinance amends MC Chapter 15 12 by adopting the 2010 CGBSC and local amendments Member Jones commented That the proposed standards are more stringent than the state's 2010 CGBSC in that the City is amending the scope to include additions and alterations and amending the ~ I effective date of the indoor water conservation measures fo be 1/1/2011 instead of 7/11201 i Mr EI- Khazen explained that these measures are currently required in our MC and the purpose of the proposed amendments is to maintain what is required today Member Jones stated that essentially he wasn't against the 2010 CGBSC, as he believed in conservation measures and practiced them himself tie was concerned about the additional construction cost to additions and remodels, especially in today's economy, and these amendments would only burden the consumer' further ultimately affecting the construction industry Member Jones j thought our civic leaders were imposing these standards onto Chula Vista residents unfairly He j suggested to staff that the amendments be reconsidered, or delayed for one to two years in order to allow the economy time to recover Mr EI-Khazen stated that because City Council adopted the ~ current GBS just last year and required them on addifions and alterations, it would be Council's expectation that they are carried forward when adopting new measures Mr EI-Khazen offered to ~ I include Member Jones' concerns in the staff report to Council. There was discussion amongst the Board on what the outcome to the residential consumer would be i j if these amendments were passed Member Meservy acknowledged Member Jones' concerns and j commended him for practicing conservation measures However, he didn't feel the majority of the public would be as conscientious and felt the proposed amendments are valid and supported them j i Mr EI-Khazen pointed out that the products required under the mandatory residential requirements are readily available at local home improvement stores and soon may be the only products that can be found on the market Mr EI-Khazen also stated that the cost difference between complying and ' I non-complying products is small if any Member Meservy wanted clarification of consultant services noted in section 102 4, if this was a City j of Chula Vista requirement? Mr EI-Khazen stated this amendment is a carryover of what the City ~ currently has in the MC It is intended to allow the building official to require the opinion of a third- I party consultant when complex energy efficiency or green building measures are proposed, and the i, City does not have the required expertise 'to verify compliance at the time of plan review, He also stated that the code itself has language that addresses special inspection and third party certifications. Member Meservy said he had to leave, (6:40 p m) however, he had read the material and was willing to leave a standing vote to accept all of the proposed amendments T'he Chair and Mr EI-Khazen discussed the pre-plumbing for photovoltaic systems and solar water , heaters Mr EI-Khazen explained the requirement is to have stubbing from the roof. so at a later time when the owner wants to install Phis system they are not penetrating the roof, which may void the Board of Appeals & Advisors Page 3 October 11, 2010 Meeting Minutes roofing warranty The cost to do this is very minor it would run about $200- $30D for material and labor A similar procedure would apply to solar water heater The building official and Deputy Fire Chief Gipson presented the proposed ordinance adopting the 2D10 California Fire Code and amendments Member Jones noted the State Fire Marshal's Guidelines was not included in the packets, he actually found it on line He saw nothing wrong with fhe guidelines His only recommendation to staff would be that this kind of information be provided in the future for any department that wants to come before this committee 'this would help the committee make informative decisions about the items being presented before them Mr Et•Khazen said that Member Jones made a good paint and this kind of information would be provided in the future Chair Sanfilippo and Deputy Fire Chief Gipson discussed the operational permit for Christmas tree lofs The Chair wanted to ensure that the permit addresses the residual of unsold trees and their expedient removal from the lots because of fire hazards Deputy Chief Gipson stated these conditions could be established in the permit before it is issued After further deliberation, the Board of Appeal and Advisors unanimously recommended that City Council adopt the various 2010 Editions of the California building codes I MSC (AS/CS} (4-0-0-1) Recommend to City Council adoption of the various 2010 Editions of the California building codes and that staff include Member Janes' concerns with the amendments to the 2010 CGBSC in the staff report to Council Motion carried with Member Lopez absent 4 MEMBERS COMMENTS/CHAIRMAN'S COMMENTS/REPORTS., i Chair Sanfilippo thanked all the committee members for attending tonight's meeting and taking the I time to review the information 5 BUILDING OFF'ICIAL'S COMMEN'T'S/REPORTS: Mr EI-Khazen stated that possibly in November or December he may be bringing an updated fee study for the Board's consideration Member Jones asked if the building permit fees were going to be raised again Mr EI-Khazen stated ~I ~ that the study addresses current cost recovery rates and the fees in some cases may go up or may go down and that he had not reviewed the final draft. Chair Sanfilippo asked if the City still intended to keep the permit streamline efforts in play Mr EI- Khazen confirmed and offered to include Chair Sanfilippo to the Oversight Committee 6 COMMUNICATIONS (PUBLIC REMARKS/ WRITTEN CORRESPONDENCE): None 7 ADJOURNMENT: i Chair Sanfilippo adjourned the meeting at 7:15 p m to a regular meeting on November 8, 2010 at 5:15 p m in Planning an<d Building Conference Room #137 I MINUTES TAKEN BY: ROSEMARIE RICE, SECRETARY DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DEPARTMENT -BUILDING DIVISION