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City Council Meeting: November 27, 2007 Santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBER 2245 (CCS)
(City Council Series)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
ADDING SECTION 8.32.070 TO THE SANTA MONICA MUNICIPAL CODE
TO REQUIRE THE INSTALLATION OF APPROVED GAS SHUTOFF DEVICES IN
BUILDINGS, STRUCTURES AND MOBILEHOME PARKS
PRIOR TO SALE OR EXCHANGE, WHEN NEWLY CONSTRUCTED OR
WHEN THE COST OF ADDITIONS OR ALTERATIONS EXCEED $10,000
WHEREAS, is generally accepted that Santa Monica will experience moderate
and severe earthquakes in the foreseeable future; and
WHEREAS, a serious threat to life and property resulting from these earthquakes
is the threat of fire resulting from earthquake damage; and
WHEREAS, properly installed gas shutoff valves can reduce the occurrence of
fires stemming from moderate and severe earthquakes and thereby reduce the risks to
health, safety and welfare of Santa Monica residents caused by such earthquakes; and
WHEREAS, according to Section 19181 of the Health and Safety Code,
notwithstanding any other provision of law, the governing body of any city, county, or
city and county may enact an ordinance requiring the installation of earthquake
sensitive gas shutoff devices in buildings open to the public.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
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SECTION 1. Section 8.32.070 is hereby added to the Santa Monica Municipal
Code to read as follows:
8.32.070 Seismic Gas Shutoff Devices
(a) Purpose. The purpose of this Section is to reduce the risks of
fires caused by leaks in fuel gas piping caused from earthquakes by use
of earthquake-actuated automatic gas shutoff systems.
(b) Scope. The provisions of this section shall apply to:
(1) Any new building, structure or mobilehome park with fuel gas
piping, for which an application for permit for construction was first
submitted on or after January 1, 2008.
(2) Any existing building or structure or mobilehome park with fuel
gas piping for which an application for alteration or addition is submitted
on or after January 1, 2008, when such alteration or addition is valued at
more than $10,000.
(3) Any existing building or structure or mobilehome park with fuel
gas piping on or after January 1, 2008 for which an agreement for sale or
exchange was first entered into.
(c) Definitions. For the purpose of this Section, certain terms,
phrases, words and their derivatives shall be construed as specified in this
Section. Where terms are not defined, they shall have their ordinarily
accepted meanings within the context with which they are used.
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(1) "Agreement of sale or exchange" shall mean any agreement or
written instrument which provides that title to any property shall thereafter
be transferred from one owner to another owner.
(2) "Customer-owned gas piping" means all parts of the gas piping
system downstream of the gas utility point of delivery, including, but not
limited to, downstream of the gas utility meter and service tee (also known
as a bypass tee).
(3) "Application for Permit" means a written document submitted to
the City in order to obtain a permit to erect, construct, enlarge, alter,
repair, move, improve, convert or remove a portion of any building,
structure or building service equipment including but not limited to
combination building permits and single trade permits.
(4) "Seismic gas shutoff device" means a seismic gas shutoff
device installed on customer-owned gas piping certified by the State
Architect pursuant to Section 18202 of the Health and Safety Code.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, "seismic gas shutoff device"
does not include any device installed on a gas distribution system owned
or operated by a public utility.
(d) Duty to Install and Maintain Device.
The owner of any building, structure or mobile home park subject to
the provisions of this Section shall obtain a permit, install and maintain a
seismic gas shutoff device on the customer owned gas piping when one of
the triggering events specified in subsection (b) of this Section occurs.
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(1) For agreement of sale or exchange or qualifying alterations or
additions to individual condominium units, the owner of the individual
condominium shall obtain a permit, install and maintain a seismic gas
shutoff. device on the portion of the customer owned gas piping that serves
the individual condominium unit if such a device does not exist on the
customer owned gas piping that serves the entire building.
(2) Seismic gas shutoff devices installed prior to January 1, 2008
on either customer owned gas piping or on a gas distribution system
owned or operated by a public utility are deemed to comply with the
requirements of this section provided they remain installed and maintained
according to the terms of their original approval.
(e) Unreasonable Hardship. The Building Officer may grant
exceptions to the provisions of this Section when legal, physical or
economic constraints will not allow compliance without creating an
unreasonable hardship. Unreasonable economic hardship shall be
deemed to exist when the Building Officer determines that the fair market
value of the cost of installation of the seismic gas shutoff device exceeds
20% of the valuation of other alterations being proposed.
(f) Effect on Sale and Exchange of Property. No sale or exchange
of property shall be invalidated solely because of the failure of any person
to comply with any provision of this Section unless such failure is an act or
omission which would be a valid ground for rescission of such sale or
exchange in the absence of this Section.
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(g) Incentives. All such applications shall receive priority service as
defined in Santa Monica Municipal Code Chapter 1.20.
(h) Administrative regulations. The Building Officer shall have the
authority to promulgate and or adopt administrative regulations to
implement the provisions of this section
SECTION 2. Any provision of the Santa Monica Municipal Code or
appendices thereto inconsistent with the provisions of this Ordinance, to the
extent of such inconsistencies and no further, is hereby repealed or modified to
that extent necessary to effect the provisions of this Ordinance.
SECTION 3. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase of
this Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a
decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the
validity of the remaining portions of this Ordinance. The City Council hereby
declares that it would have passed this Ordinance and each and every section,
subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase not declared invalid or unconstitutional
without regard to whether any portion of the ordinance would be subsequently
declared invalid or unconstitutional.
SECTION 4. The Mayor shall sign and the City Clerk shall attest to the
passage of this Ordinance. The City Clerk shall cause the same to be published
once in the official newspaper within 15 days after its adoption. This Ordinance
shall become effective 30 days from its adoption.
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APPROVED AS TO FORM:
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MAR HA JO '" MOU ~ IE
City ttorney
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Approved and adopted this 27th day of November, 2007.
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Richard Bloom, Mayor
State of California )
County of Los Angeles) ss.
City of Santa Monica )
I, Maria M. Stewart, City Clerk of the City of Santa Monica, do hereby certify that the
foregoing Ordinance No. 2245 (CCS) had its introduction on November 13, 2007, and
was adopted at the Santa Monica City Council meeting held on 27th day of November,
2007, by the following vote:
Ayes: Council members: Censer, Holbrook, McKeown, O'Connor, Shriver
Mayor Bloom, Mayor Pro Tem Katz
Noes: Council members: None
Abstain: Council members: None
Absent: Council members: None
A summary of Ordinance No. 224; (CCS) was duly published pursuant to California
Government Code Section 40806.
ATTEST:
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Maria M. Stew ,City Clerk