Culver City Council August 9th Meeting: Mandatory Seismic Retrofit and Refuse Fund Rate Increases

Mandatory Soft-Story Seismic Retrofit Ordinance

It is anticipated that the Culver City Council will be conducting a public hearing and voting to adopt, on 1st reading, an ordinance establishing a mandatory seismic retrofit program at the upcoming August 9th City Council meeting.

At the July 12th City Council meeting, the Council received a presentation from the Degenkolb Engineers who conducted a citywide survey of buildings to identify and assess the scope of vulnerable structures. The majority of buildings identified as vulnerable were buildings of six or fewer units and the estimated costs, as noted in the 2019 Degenkolb Engineers study, were between $40,000 to $160,000 with the average cost of $80,000. City Staff also reviewed the draft ordinance provisions which includes a process for property owner notification and 5-year compliance timeline, priority designations based on building size, and an appeals process.

During the July 12th Council meeting, Council also discussed several issues related to the proposed 5-year compliance timeline, proposed ordinance applicability to multifamily residential and commercial buildings, and not single-family homes, relaxing parking standards for buildings during the retrofitting project, percentage of allowable pass-through to renters, establishment of a Tenant Mitigation Plan and related requirements, outsourcing of plan checks and inspections, and the provision of plan and permit fee waivers. Generally, the Council agreed on the 5-year compliance timeline, relaxing parking standards for those buildings subject to retrofit requirements and the establishment of a Tenant Mitigation Plan. The Council deliberated but did not reach consensus as to the allowable pass-through percentage for seismic retrofit or the inclusion of a plan and permit fee waiver.

Refuse Collection Increases

At the upcoming August 9th City Council meeting, it is also anticipated that the Council will vote to adopt refuse collection rate increases with the new rates effective July 1, 2021.

Previously, in May 2021, the Council received a presentation from the City’s Department of Public Works staff on the City’s Solid Waste Revenue Sufficiency Analysis, the current refuse fund revenue losses and bad debt, and other factors including compliance with State laws that have resulted in cost increases and will affect future costs. The presentation also included a comparison of rates in surrounding cities that provide similar services.

At the time, Council was presented with three possible options: Option 1- institute no increases, Option 2- adopt a one-time major increase of 35.87%, or Option 3- advance incremental increases over the course fiscal years 2021/22 through 30/31. The incremental approach would impose an increase of 15% in fiscal year 2021/22, a 10% increase in fiscal year 2022/23 and fiscal year 2023/24, followed by more inflation-based increases of 2.25% in fiscal year 2024/25 and annually through fiscal years 2030/2031.

At the May 24th Council meeting, the Council adopted a resolution declaring their intention to levy and collect refuse, recycling and organics user’s service charges, Option 3: incremental increases over the course of fiscal years 2021/22 through 30/31.

The Association has engaged with the City Council and expressed our concerns on both of these matters. We will continue to monitor these issues, advocate for our members interests and provide updates once the City Council agenda and related materials are posted.