Appeal 33528

Portland Title 24 section 24.85.040

24.85.040 Change of Occupancy or Use:

A. Occupancy Change to a Higher Relative Hazard Classification. An occupancy change to a higher relative hazard classification will require seismic improvements based upon the factors of changes in the net floor area and the occupant load increases as indicated in Table 24.85-B below. All improvements to either the OSSC or ASCE 41 improvement standard shall be made such that the entire building conforms to the appropriate standard indicated in Table 24.85-B.

This appeal requests that this building be approved to change occupancy of a portion of the ground floor from its current B occupancy, and baseline M occupancy, to an B and A occupancy without triggering a seismic upgrade.

The Lovejoy Building is an existing 2-story type IIIB low rise office building in Portland, OR. This is an existing permitted building constructed in 1910. The office building is protected with an automatic fire sprinkler system throughout. The occupancy of the building based on the 2004 Baseline documents were Mercantile (Group M), Storage/Loading (Group S), and Office accessory (Group B) on the first floor and Office (Group B) on the second floor.

This appeal proposes to modify a portion of the ground floor Mercantile (Group M) to a future Assembly and Office area including;

• 1,246 SF of the ground floor will be converted to an A occupancy assembly space.

o Changing from an occupant load of 1:30 to an occupant load of 1:15. Adding 43 occupants.

• 1,654 SF of the ground floor will be converted to a B occupancy assembly space.

o Changing from an occupant load of 1:30 to an occupant load of 1:100. Subtracting 39 occupants.

• Resulting in a total occupant load change of +4 occupants.

The proposed A and B occupancy changes will not increase the occupancy threshold by more than the 149 occupants with respect to the legal building occupancy as of October 1, 2004, before the seismic upgrade requirements mandated by section 24.85.040 are applicable.

The building owner is proposing these future modifications to the interior layout to accommodate a prospective long-term tenant and potential buyer of the building. The agreement is based on these revisions to the occupancy and occupant load not triggering additional seismic upgrade. The attached drawings with occupancy calculations (based on the 2004 baseline) demonstrates that a seismic upgrade is not required in order to permit these modifications, due to the limited change in occupants. Including;

• 2004 Baseline Permit Drawing
• 2024 1009 - NPAIHB Code Analysis
• 2024 1009 - Future Tenant Plan

Based on Title 24 section 24.85.040 allowances, multiple occupancy changes to a single building may be made under this section without triggering a seismic upgrade provided the cumulative changes do not exceed 1/3 of the building net floor area or add more than 149 occupants with respect to the legal building occupancy as of October 1, 2004. The added 4 occupants associated with this proposed change of occupancy is the only building area occupancy changes on record for this building since the 2004 baseline occupancy was established, thus staying under the 149-occupant increase.

We understand that the Portland seismic code requirements were implemented to protect the life and safety of the building occupants when buildings are being significantly changed. This change in occupancy is a minor modification to the occupant load that doesn’t result in a more hazardous condition for a large occupant count. We hope you agree and support this appeal/occupant load clarification to not trigger a seismic upgrade.