Appeal 34927

Table 24.85-B

ARGUMENT 1 (THIS IS A NEW ARGUMENT AS PART OF THE RECONSIDERATION OF APPEAL 34912.1)
No seismic upgrade required if no more than 149 occupants are added.

Allow pre-2004 baseline calculations to utilize retail occupant load for 1st floor.

A proposed renovation of an existing bar includes adding new patron space in the basement of the building. Appeal argument proposes revising the plans to allow for a maximum of 388 building occupants without triggering a seismic upgrade rather than the current proposal of 236 maximum occupants.

Per Chanel Horn’s Life Safety review, we have been asked to use the 1929 bank permit (permit #199635) as our baseline pre-2004 permit numbers. Although this permit is the last time the whole building was under a building permit with record plans, permit records show that this building has had many other uses between 1929 and 2004, some of which have a higher occupant load than the 1929 bank permit. We’ve included the full table of our permit record search results for the property. The two most recent, but pre-2004, results are for businesses called Classic Tile in 1985 and Budget Office Supply in 1983, both of which are retail uses. The Classic Tile sign permit includes plans, and the signage states “CLASSIC TILE & INTERIORS KOHLER SHOWROOM,” further proving that this was a retail use. The occupant load factor of Mercantile grade floor areas in 2004 OSSC was 30 gross. The building has a 6,500sf first floor, which would make an occupant load of 217 for the first floor. The occupant load factor of Mercantile storage and stock areas is 300 gross. The building has a 6,500sf basement, which would make an occupant load of 22 for the basement. This would combine for a total of 239 occupants for the pre-2004 baseline. This would allow us to add 149 occupants without triggering a seismic upgrade, for a total of 388 maximum total building occupants under this permit. The proposal provides equivalent fire and life safety.

Table 24.85-B

ARGUMENT 2 (REVIEW ONLY IF ARGUMENT 1 IS DENIED. THIS IS A NEW ARGUMENT AS PART OF THE RECONSIDERATION OF APPEAL 34912.1)
No seismic upgrade required if no more than 149 occupants are added.

Allow pre-2004 baseline occupancies to assume bank building occupant load factor for the entire 13,000sf building, rather than just the 1st floor.

A proposed renovation of an existing bar includes adding new patron space in the basement of the building. Appeal argument proposes revising the plans to allow for a maximum of 279 building occupants without triggering a seismic upgrade rather than the current proposal of 236 maximum occupants.

Per Chanel Horn’s Life Safety review, we have been asked to use the 1929 bank permit (permit #199635) as our baseline pre-2004 permit numbers. Under this permit, it’s clear that the whole building was being used as a bank. The record plans include multiple rooms without any labels as to their use, including the basement. Looking at these plans, there is no way to know if the basement was being used as bank offices or storage. The basement shows windows and circulation up to the 1st floor and gives no indication that this would not be a space suitable for office space. We would like to be allowed to assume that the basement was being used as bank offices and attribute the same 1:100 bank occupant load factor throughout the whole building. For a 13,000 sf building, this would equal 130 baseline occupants. This would allow us 279 maximum total building occupants without triggering a seismic upgrade. The proposal provides equivalent fire and life safety.

Table 24.85-B

ARGUMENT 3 (REVIEW ONLY IF ARGUMENT 2 IS DENIED)
No seismic upgrade required if no more than 149 occupants are added.

Allow occupant load of adjoining daytime tenant to be used by nighttime tenant. Proposal does not request any additional occupants, but rather a reallocation of occupants to reflect hours of tenant businesses.

ORIGINAL APPEAL TEXT
A proposed renovation of an existing bar includes adding new patron space in the basement of the building. Per permit 2016-156037-CO the current total number of occupants in the building is 249 which is an increase of 29 occupants from the pre-2004 condition of 220 occupants. However, that permit did not include basement floor area of 6,500 sf of storage, so 22 occupants should be added to the baseline, bringing the total pre-2004 baseline to 242 occupants. The permit currently under review proposes increasing the number of occupants by 120 for a total of 149 additional occupants from the pre-2004 condition. The total proposed occupant load for the building would then be 242 +149 = 393 occupants. These occupant numbers include the adjacent retail tenant in the building, which is not part of the current permit. That retail tenant comprises 150 occupants per the 2016 permit. Appellant proposes to add that 150 occupants to the proposed bar tenancy because the retail tenant is never in operation during the hours that the bar is open. A sign will be posted in the basement of the bar stating “Maximum Occupancy 127 before 6:00 pm, Maximum Occupancy 277 between the hours of 6:00 pm and 3:00 am”.

RECONSIDERATION TEXT
The previous Proposed Design was using out-of-date occupancy calculations. Per Chanel Horn’s Life Safety plan review, we have been asked to use the 1929 bank permit (permit #199635) as our baseline pre-2004 permit numbers. While there are no occupancy counts in this permit, the 1929 bank permit occupancies seem to be 87 total occupants (65 1st floor occupants and 22 basement occupants). Of the 65 1st floor occupants, 44 of those occupants are currently in the existing adjacent tenant space, as the building has been divided into two separate tenants since the 1929 permits. The permit currently under review proposes adding 149 occupants from the pre-2004 baseline, for a total of 236 occupants. The adjacent tenant comprising 44 occupants and the tenant space under this permit are never open and occupied at the same time. For this reason, appellant proposes to add the 44 occupants in the adjacent tenant space to the proposed occupant load of the tenant space under permit for a total of 236 occupants. A sign will be posted in the tenant space stating “Maximum Occupancy 192 before 6:00pm; Maximum Occupancy 236 after 6:00pm”.

ORIGINAL APPEAL TEXT
The retail tenant’s hours are 10:00 am to 6:00 pm seven days a week. The bar’s hours are 8:00 pm to 2:00 am seven days a week. The two tenant spaces are never occupied at the same time. Under the proposed occupant count transfer, the maximum total occupants of the building will remain 393. During the day the occupants are divided between the two tenants, but in the evening all occupants will be in the bar. Since the occupant load remains 393 then no seismic upgrade should be triggered per Title 24.85. The proposal provides equivalent fire and life safety.

RECONSIDERATION TEXT
The retail tenant’s hours are 10:00 am to 6:00 pm seven days a week. The bar’s hours are 8:00 pm to 2:00 am seven days a week. The two tenant spaces are never occupied at the same time, so the total occupancy of the building will never exceed the 236 maximum occupancy. With this proposal, the maximum total occupants of the building will remain 236. During the day the occupants are divided between the two tenants, but in the evening all occupants will be in the bar. Since the occupant load remains 236 then no seismic upgrade should be triggered per Title 24.85. The proposal provides equivalent fire and life safety.