BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2362
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 2362 (Skinner and Blakeslee)
As Amended July 1, 2010
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: | |(June 2, 2010) |SENATE: |34-0 |(August 9, |
| | | | | |2010) |
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(vote not relevant)
Original Committee Reference: REV. & TAX.
SUMMARY : Allows redevelopment funding to be used to
rehabilitate a "soft-story building." Defines a "soft-story
building" as a wood frame, multi-unit residence built prior to
January 1, 1978, where the ground floor of the structure
contains parking or other open floor space that causes soft,
weak, or open front wall lines.
The Senate amendments delete the Assembly version of the bill,
and instead:
1)Clarify that redevelopment funding may be used to rehabilitate
a "soft-story building."
2)Define a "soft-story building" as a wood frame, multi-unit
residence built prior to January 1, 1978, where the ground
floor of the structure contains parking or other open floor
space that causes soft, weak, or open front wall lines.
3)Correct cross-references to the California State Building
Code.
EXISTING LAW allows redevelopment funds to be used to
rehabilitate or construct buildings in a project area to bring
the building in to seismic compliance.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill created a 10-year new
construction exclusion from property tax for improvements made
to pre-1978 wood frame multi-unit residential buildings,
so-called "soft-story buildings," as specified.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
AB 2362
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COMMENTS : According to the author, "The United States
Geological Society, California has said that there is a 99.7%
chance that it will be hit by an earthquake of 6.7 magnitude or
higher in the next thirty years. Wood-frame, multi-unit
residential buildings with soft, weak or open-front first
stories, commonly known as soft-story buildings, have a great
likelihood of collapse if an earthquake of 6.7 magnitude or
higher occurs. Of the 16,000 housing units that were rendered
uninhabitable by the Loma Prieta earthquake, 7,700 housing units
were in soft-story buildings. Thirty-four thousand housing
units that were rendered uninhabitable in the Northridge
earthquake were soft-story buildings. Soft-story buildings have
made up a large majority of the buildings that are destroyed by
a major earthquake. Moreover, major earthquakes often make
these buildings uninhabitable for residents and therefore
displace hundreds of thousands of residents. According to the
State of California, Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan of 2007, there
are 46,000 soft-story buildings in seismically unstable areas of
the state. Those buildings have over 730,000 residential units
and over a million residents."
As passed by the Assembly, this bill would have allowed for an
exclusion from property tax assessment for the portion of
reconstruction or improvement made to a soft-story building. A
soft-story building is defined as a wood frame, multi-unit
residential building constructed before January 1, 1978, where
the ground floor portion of the structure contains parking or
other similar open floor space.
The Senate amendments delete the contents of the bill and allow
redevelopment agencies to use redevelopment funds to
rehabilitate a soft-story building as defined above, within a
project area. When a redevelopment agency is rehabilitating or
constructing buildings in a project area, the agency can provide
for seismic retrofits. State law requires the seismic retrofit
work to follow the requirements of the building codes that apply
to unreinforced masonry buildings, historical buildings, and
other buildings. The current law doesn't mention soft-story
buildings; this bill adds soft-story buildings to existing law.
Analysis Prepared by : Lisa Engel / H. & C.D. / (916)
AB 2362
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319-2085
FN: 0005333