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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Resolution No. 25-092 Factual findings with respect to local geological, topographical, and climatic conditions necessary to make local amendments to the California Building RESOLUTION NO. 25-092 A RESOLUTION OF THE CUPERTINO CITY COUNCIL MAKING FINDINGS RELATING TO LOCAL CLIMATIC, GEOGRAPHICAL, OR TOPOGRAPHICAL CONDITIONS SUPPORTING AMENDMENTS AND CHANGES TO THE 2022 CALIFORNIA BUILDING STANDARDS CODE. WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Cupertino, intends to pass an ordinance adopting the California Building Standards Code which consists of the 2025 editions of the California Building Code, Residential Code, Electrical Code, Mechanical Code, Plumbing Code, Energy Code, Wildland-Urban Interface Code, Historical Building Code, Fire Code, Existing Building Code, Green Building Standards Code, Referenced Standards Code, Uniform Housing Code, and Property Maintenance Code, and making modifications and changes thereto; and WHEREAS, as more specifically set forth in the memorandum of Sean Hatch, the City’s Building Official, a departure from the Building Standards Code is reasonably necessary due to local climatic, geological, or topographical conditions; WHEREAS, as more specifically set forth in the memorandum of Sean Hatch, the City’s Building Official, a departure from the Building Standards Code is reasonably necessary due to local climatic, geological, or topographical conditions; and NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that: 1. The City Council does hereby find the following facts to be true: A. The Bay Area region is a densely populated area with buildings constructed over and near a vast array of fault systems capable of producing major earthquakes, including, but not limited to the recent 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake; B. Cupertino is situated adjacent to active earthquake faults capable of producing substantial seismic events. The San Andreas and Sargent-Berocal faults run through the lower foothills and the Monta Vista Fault is closer to the valley floor area. The Hayward fault is North East of the City which would also presents a risk to Cupertino in the event of an earthquake; C. Vehicular traffic through Cupertino is significant, and continues to increase as Cupertino is an employment center as well as the location of residential projects; Resolution No. 25-092 Page 2 D. Cupertino is divided by major freeways and expressways, the occurrence of a major earthquake could impact the ability of fire crews to respond to emergencies should one or more of the freeways or expressways collapse, be substantially damaged, or become gridlocked; E. Fire suppression capabilities would be severely limited should the water system be damaged during an earthquake; F. Cupertino experiences low humidity, high winds and warm temperatures during the summer months creating conditions which are particularly conducive to the ignition and spread of grass, brush and structural fires; G. Cupertino’s topography contains remote, steep hillsides which further limits the ability of emergency responders to extinguish or control wildland or structural fires; H. The local geographic, topographic and climatic conditions require amendments to the California Codes to establish more restrictive conditions to improve structural integrity of the buildings in the event of a seismic incident and provide other protections to protect against the increased risk of fire. 2. The City Council hereby finds the following facts from prior exceptions to the Code to continue to be true: A. The waste water treatment facilities serving Silicon Valley cities are operating at or near maximum capacity. The discharge of treated waste water into San Francisco Bay is detrimental to its sensitive ecosystem; and B. Cooling coil and comfort cooling equipment condensate waste discharge does not contain pollutants which require treatment before being discharged into sanitary sewers or the ground. 3. Based on the above facts, the City Council makes the following finding: that Cupertino’s local geographic, topographic and climatic conditions require amendments to the California Codes to establish more restrictive conditions to improve structural integrity of the buildings in the event of a seismic incident, provide other protections to protect against the increased risk of fire, and protect the San Francisco Bay as more specifically set forth in the memorandum from Sean Hatch, the City’s Building Official and as summarized in the chart attached hereto as Exhibit A. Resolution No. 25-092 Page 3 4. Based on the above finding, the City Council determines that it is necessary to make local amendments to the California Codes based upon the local conditions. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this Resolution is not a project under the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act, together with related State CEQA Guidelines (collectively, “CEQA”) because it has no potential for resulting in physical change in the environment. In the event that this Resolution is found to be a project under CEQA, it is subject to the CEQA exemption contained in CEQA Guidelines section 15061(b)(3) because it can be seen with certainty to have no possibility that the action approved may have a significant effect on the environment. CEQA applies only to actions which have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. Where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is not subject to CEQA. In this circumstance, the proposed action would have no or only a de minimis effect on the environment. In addition, the adoption of this Resolution is regulatory action authorized by state law to assure the maintenance, restoration, enhancement, or protection of the environment and is therefore exempt from CEQA under CEQA Guidelines section 15308. The foregoing determination is made by the City Council in its independent judgment. PASSED AND ADOPTED at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Cupertino this 4th day of November, 2025, by the following vote: Members of the City Council AYES: Chao, Moore, Fruen, Mohan, Wang NOES: None ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None Resolution No. 25-092 Page 4 SIGNED: ________ Liang Chao, Mayor City of Cupertino _11/14/2025_______________________ Date ________ Kirsten Squarcia, City Clerk _11/14/2025______________________ Date EXHIBIT A MATRIX TABLE FOR JUSTIFICATION AND FINDINGS FOR LOCAL AMENDMENTS MUNICIPAL CODE SECTION TO CALIF. CODE FROM CALIF. CODE OR AMENDED FROM CALIF. 16.02 Reference changes were made to reference the 2025 California Administrative Code. (State Mandated) X A 16.04.010 through 16.04.015 Reference changes were made to reference the 2025 California Building Code based on the 2024 International Building Code (State Mandated). Removed section 16.04.015 to not adopt any appendix chapters and the Historical, Existing and Reference codes are now in their own part X 16.04.040 through Reference changes were made to reference and updated to match the administrative requirements within the 2025 California Building Code. (State Mandated) X 16.04.220 through These sections previously existed in the Municipal Code. Reference changes were made to reference the 2025 California Building Code. Changes in this section to reference the Wildland- X 16.04.320 Results from studies after the 1994 Northridge earthquake indicated that a lot of the damages were attributed to lack of quality control during construction. The proposed amendment improves quality control during construction and therefore needs to be incorporated into the Code. This proposed amendment is a continuation of an amendment adopted during the previous code X C through These sections previously existed in the Municipal Code. Reference changes were made to reference the 2025 California Building Code. (Local Amendment) X D 16.06.010 This section previously existed in the Municipal Code. Only a reference change is made to reference the 2025 California Residential Code based on the 2024 International Residential Code. X A 16.06.015 This section previously existed in the Municipal Code. This section modifies the CBC by adopting specific appendix chapters in the code. A reference change is made to reference the X 16.06.020 through These sections previously existed in the Municipal Code. Reference changes were made to reference the 2025 California Residential Code. (Local Amendment and State Mandated) X 16.06.060 This section was deleted due to the creation of the Wildland-Urban Interface code book (Part 7) where all the WUI requirements are now located for reference. (State Mandated) X 16.06.060 This section previously existed in the Municipal Code. Reference changes made to reference the 2025 California Residential Code. This proposed amendment to the CRC is made to be consistent with TUCC amendment that modifies the plain concrete provisions in CBC Section 1905.1.7 and ACI 318 Section 14.1.4. (Local Amendment) X B 16.06.080 This amendment existed in the previous Municipal Code. Reference changes were made to be consistent with the new section and table in the 2025 CRC Code. The amendment modifies the CBC and CRC to limit the use of gypsum wallboard and Portland cement or stucco as shearwalls. The proposed amendment addresses the problem of poor performance of gypsum wallboard and Portland cement plaster as wall bracing materials in high seismic areas. This amendment reflects the recommendations by the Structural Engineers Association of Southern California (SEAOSC) and the Los Angeles City Joint Task Force that investigated the poor performance of these X B These sections previously existed in the Municipal Code. Reference changes were made to reference the 2025 California Residential Code. (Local Amendment) X A 16.06.120 These sections previously existed in the Municipal Code. Reference changes were made to reference the 2025 California Residential Code. (Local Amendment) X 16.06.140 Adoption of Swimming Pool Safety Act. Updated to match Health and Safety Code 115922 and amendments per SB522. (State Mandated) X 16.10.010 through Section shows the adoption of the new 2025 California Wildland-Urban Interface Code with minor amendments per SCCFD. Based on the 2024 International Wildland-Urban Interface Code. X 16.16.010 through These sections previously existed in the Municipal Code. The reference changes were made to reference the 2025 California Electrical Code based on the 2023 National Electrical Code. (State X 16.16.030 Language from the previous code is revised to reflect when general building contractors are allowed to do electrical work. The municipal code is now consistent with the requirements of the X 16.20.010 and This section previously existed in the Municipal Code. The reference changes were made to reference the 2025 California Plumbing Code based on the 2024 Uniform Plumbing Code. (State X 16.20.015 Removed the adoption of any appendix from the 2025 California Plumbing Code. (Staff Clean- up) X 16.24.010 through This section previously existed in the Municipal Code. The reference changes were made to reference the 2025 California Mechanical Code based on the 2024 Uniform Mechanical Code. X 16.40 Reference changes are made to reference the 2025 California Fire Code based on the 2024 International Fire Code. (State Mandated and Local Amendment) X E 16.42 X A 16.54 This Chapter previously existed in the Municipal Code. Reference changes were made to reference the 2025 California Energy Code. Removed the electric make ready provisions added because these provisions are now part of the 2025 CA Energy Code. (State Mandated / Local X 16.58 This Chapter previously existed in the Municipal Code. Reference changes were made to reference the 2025 California Green Building Standards Code. Amended electrical vehicle requirements to match up with the Tier II requirements as required within the Housing Element. X F 16.62 This Chapter previously existed in the Municipal Code. Reference changes were made to reference the 2025 California Historical Building Code. (State Mandated) X A 16.64 This Chapter previously existed in the Municipal Code. Reference changes were made to reference the 2025 California Existing Building Code. (State Mandated) X 16.68 This Chapter previously existed in the Municipal Code. Reference changes were made to reference the 2025 California Referenced Standards Code. (State Mandated) X 16.80 Amended the chapter to clearly define the differences between safety assessment, stop work, and code enforcement placards. (Local Amendment) KEY TO JUSTIFICATIONS FOR AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 24 OF THE CALIFORNIA CODE OF REGULATIONS A B plain or under-reinforced concrete footings during a seismic event. This amendment reflects the recommendations by the Structural Engineers Association of Southern California (SEAOSC) and the Los Angeles City Joint Task Force that investigated the poor performance of plain and under-reinforced concrete footings observed in 1994 Northridge earthquake and based on the following: 1. The San Francisco Bay area is densely populated and located in an area of high seismic activity. Cupertino is bounded by the Hayward and San Andreas faults capable of producing major earthquakes. 2. Concern for fire-life safety associated with a structural failure due to a seismic event considering the increasing number of buildings in the region, the use of new structural systems, the poor performance of certain materials, and the quality of construction. 3. Severe seismic events could disrupt communications, damage gas mains, cause extensive electrical hazards, and place extreme demands on the limited and widely dispersed resources of the Fire Department to meet the fire life-safety needs of the community. 4. The local geographic, topographic and climatic conditions pose an increase hazard in acceleration, spread, magnitude and severity of potential fires in the City of C amendment improves quality control during construction and therefore needs to be incorporated into the Code. Revise CBC Section 1705.3 exception No. 1 to allow special inspection not to be required for isolated spread footing where the structural design of the footing is based on a specified compressive strength, f’c, no greater than D ISSUE: Revise section 1905.1.7. ACI 318 Section 14.1.4 that allows the use of plain concrete in residential structures assigned to Seismic Design Category C, D, E or F. RATIONALE: The proposed amendment addresses the problem of poor performance of plain or under-reinforced concrete footings during a seismic event. This amendment reflects the recommendations by the Structural Engineers Association of Southern California (SEAOSC) and the Los Angeles City Joint Task Force that investigated the poor E Association. The amendments have been provided to all Cities within the Santa Clara County Fire Department jurisdiction, which includes Campbell, Los Gatos, Los F