Appeal 33639

1006.2.1

Per 2022 OSSC 1006.2.1 Egress Based on Occupant Load and Common Path of Egress Travel Distance: "Two exits or exit access doorways from any space shall be provided where the design occupant load or the common path of egress travel distance exceeds the values listed in Table 1006.2.1."
Table 1006.2.1 lists A Assembly space to have a Maximum Occupant Load of 49, therefore, any A Assembly space with 50 or more occupants shall have 2 exits.

Appeal to permit one exit from Education Center 121.
(Current space is 820 SF - Using A-3 Occupancy calculation of 1 occupant / 15 SF, occupancy calculated to be 55 occupants:
820 sf / 15 = 55 Occupants)

1. Existing conditions to remain for exiting from Education Center 121 - one exit existing / currently provided. Existing exit door will be replaced with a new door and frame with new panic hardware that will swing in the direction of egress.
2. A sign shall be posted within the room noting a maximum occupancy for the room to be 49.

Refer to attached .pdf document "250107 - APPEAL REQUEST - FLOOR PLANS.pdf": A2.1 Building Code Appeal plan, drawing 2 for proposed conditions.
Refer to attached .pdf document "250107 - APPEAL REQUEST - FOR REFERENCE.pdf": Fire Life Safety Plan and Project Information sheets for information that was originally submitted to plan check for this project under IVR #5085672.

1. Current (existing) use / function of space is not being changed.
2. Per the tenant, current programming to be held within Education Center 121 does not exceed 40 occupants:

"The space will be used for program trainings, where we train teachers and support group facilitators to lead our free programs back in their home communities. Those trainings are capped at 16, although on some occasions we’ll have as many as 20 trainees if the state trainers are OK with exceeding the cap. We can’t do more than that in a training due to rules set by our national organization and because beyond 16-20, it’s too much for our trainers to handle in a weekend training.

We also will use the space for our classes and support groups. Both are capped at between 16-24 participants, depending on the program. Again, we follow rules set by National. And we have to watch enrollment because anything larger becomes impossible for our teachers or facilitators to handle.

We monitor participant numbers via registrations for classes and trainings. For support groups, we monitor attendance reports. If we see a support group routinely reaching 16 participants or so, we form a new group. Ideally, support groups have no more than 10-15 participants. Otherwise, there isn’t enough time for everyone to speak and receive support.

The caps apply to hybrid programs as well. So, let’s say we have 8 participants via Zoom and 8 in person. That’s 16 total participants. So we’d hit the cap for a class or program training and cease enrollments. Or we hit the mark where we’d start a new support group.

There isn’t anything we do in our normal course of business where we’d have more than 25-30 participants total. Even when we did a one-off event for a book signing last year, we required registration and capped attendance at 40."
Chris Bouneff
Executive Director
NAMI Oregon