Community Development Director Phil Dunsmore and Fire Chief Casey Bryson led the presentation
ATASCADERO — The Atascadero City Council met for its regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 14, at 6 p.m. The hybrid meeting was held in the City Council Chambers.
Both the agenda for the evening and the Consent Calendar passed with a unanimous vote.
The council was then presented with a Public Hearing on the 2022 California Building and Fire Code Updates, Title 4 Public Safety Text Amendments, and Title 8 Building Code Text Amendments by Community Development Director Phil Dunsmore, Fire Chief Casey Bryson, Batallion Chief Dave Van Son, and Building Official Dave Muehlhausen.
“Every couple of years, we do this routine, updating the building code consistent with the state building code. They delivered the draft code to us last year, we’ve been reviewing that, and now we’re ready to locally adopt state building code along with some amendments that fit Atascadero,” Dunsmore said. “Every three years, we do this, and it is already in effect. It comes into effect Jan. 1, whether we like it or not, so we’re already getting construction permits that are consistent with that 2022 code right now, but this process is what we do to formalize it, put it into our municipal code, make some tweaks as we need to for our local community, and organize the code in a fashion that is legible for us.”
Mayor Heather Moreno suggested that they go over the Fire Code (Title 4) and Building Code (Title 8) separately.
Fire Chief Casey Bryson gave the presentation on Title 4 Public Safety for consistency with the 2022 California Fire Code.
He presented the council with the notable changes to the fire code, mainly having to do with battery storage and electrical storage systems (ESS), bounce house design, and the wildlife urban interface.
He also presented local amendments to the fire code that included: fire access to solar facilities, driveway widths for fire access, automatic fire sprinklers, solar panels, and fire access road width with fire hydrants.
Dunsmore returned to present the council with the Title 8 Building Code for consistency with the 2022 California Building Code.
“There is a little bit of overlap,” he said. “Fire Code and Building Code tend to talk about the same kind of things in different ways.”
According to Title 8, Efficiency Dwelling Units now only need to be 190 square feet, shipping containers can now be seen as buildings, aging in place and fall protection, energy storage system locations, surge protection, and electrical boxes for ceiling fans have changed. Houses that are mandated to do solar now also have to do battery storage.
The staff recommendation was to:
- Introduce Draft Ordinance A, for first reading, by title only, to approve amendments to Title 4 Public Safety for consistency with the 2022 California Fire Code; and
- Introduce Draft Ordinance B, for first reading, by title only, to approve amendments to Title 8 Building Code for consistency with the 2022 California Building Code.
The motion passed unanimously.
The next Atascadero City Council meeting will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 28, at 6 p.m.
