Appeal 33735

505.2

OSSC 2022 505.2 Mezzanines. A mezzanine or mezzanines in compliance with Section 505.2 shall be considered a portion of the story below. Such mezzanines shall not contribute to either the building area or number of stories as regulated by Section 503.1. The area of the mezzanine shall be included in determining the fire area. The clear height above and below the mezzanine floor construction shall be not less than 7 feet (2134 mm).

Per City of Portland BDS standard (From Steve Freeh via e-mail on 02/12/2025):

“The City of Portland has a consistent way of reviewing these spaces originally set up by the building official and life safety seniors and supervisors. The standard we are tasked to follow is if plywood is provided on the top of a space for storage of any kind, the options are to close off the space with a wall that is a minimum of 5’-9” high or treat the space as a mezzanine meeting the requirements of the code for a mezzanine.”

Requesting that the area proposed as storage is not considered a mezzanine or requires a 5’-9” wall

The proposed use is a coffee roastery with offices to support the use. The coffee roastery is a manufacturing type use where coffee beans will be roasted and packaged. The owner has requested the need to store coffee beans above the offices, breakroom and restroom in order to organize and clear floor space during operations. Refer to Exhibit A for location of proposed storage above offices, breakroom and restroom highlighted in yellow. The proposed storage area will be accessed by forklift only. The offices, breakroom and restroom have been fully engineered to support this type of storage loading. Refer to Exhibit C and D that state the owner’s intent of the storage area and their consent to not store anything above 12’.

The proposed storage area has a clear floor height ranging from 3'-8" at its lowest point to 6'-8" at its highest point. Refer to Exhibit B for dimensions. According to section 505.2, a mezzanine must have a minimum clear floor height of 7'-0". Therefore, the proposed area does not meet the definition and requirements of a Mezzanine as outlined in section 505.2. The maximum height of the proposed storage above the offices, breakroom, and restroom will be 3'-4", with a maximum height of 12'-0" from the finished floor (see Exhibit B for dimensions). Additionally, the proposed max height of the physical storage is less than 5’-9” and would fall under work exempt from permit outlined in OSSC 2022 105.2.8. The intended use of this area is to store material and will have no direct access other than forklifting material on and off, it therefore should be classified as storage shelving. As such we are requesting an exemption to the requirements to provide life safety and egress components for this building element.