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LS 8.6.15 <br />ORDINANCE NO. NS -XXXX <br />AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF <br />SANTA ANA AMENDING CHAPTERS 8 AND 14 OF THE <br />SANTA ANA MUNICIPAL CODE REGARDING THE <br />DEFINITION OF A HIGH -RISE STRUCTURE /BUILDING <br />THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA ANA DOES ORDAIN AS <br />FOLLOWS: <br />SECTION 1. The City Council of the City of Santa Ana hereby finds, determines, and <br />declares as follows: <br />A. Prior to municipal amendment of the 2013 California Building Code, the definition <br />of high -rise building is "any building of any type of construction or occupancy <br />having floors used for human occupancy located more than 75 feet above the <br />lowest floor level having building access ". <br />B. Historically and locally, the high -rise building definition was established at 55 feet <br />above the lowest floor level having building access due primarily to previous reach <br />limitations of fire apparatus such as ladders to this level or height. This revised <br />definition has been traditionally carried over for the past several code cycles <br />including the last code cycle authored by the Orange County Fire Authority <br />(OCFA). It maintained the revised definition in part to simplify the transition of the <br />City to OCFA and to encourage consistency of said high -rise building definition in <br />all of Orange County. The amendment was not based on topographic, geologic, or <br />climatic provisions that is allowed and required of any code amendment by the <br />California Building Standards Commission. <br />C. Building codes and building technology continue to evolve affording increases in <br />passive and active life safety provisions. Automated fire suppression systems, <br />smoke control, fire - rating of assemblies, and compartmentalization are but a few <br />elements that make buildings safer to occupy, egress, and ingress by fire <br />personnel to fight fires. Additionally, firefighting methods and fire technology <br />continue to also advance. This joint progression is what allows the building code <br />to be amended back to the State Fire Marshal's minimum of classifying high -rise <br />buildings per the original adopted code language of 75 feet above the lowest floor <br />level having building access. <br />D. In the International Building Code, the nation's model code and on which the <br />California Building Code is based; high -rise is also defined at 75 feet. Reverting <br />back to the original code language benefits development in not having to impart <br />code criteria that is developed for taller structures. <br />110-3 <br />