19.39.020 Scope and applicability.
A. The provisions of this Chapter shall apply to all existing wood frame multi-unit residential buildings that contain five or more dwelling units, as defined in BMC Title 23, and that were designed under a building permit applied for before January 1, 1978, where:
1. The ground floor, whether itself constructed of wood or other materials, of the wood frame structure contains parking or other similar open floor or basement space that causes soft, weak, or open-front wall lines and there exists one or more levels above, or;
2. The walls of any story or basement of wood construction are laterally braced with nonconforming structural materials as defined in this IEBC Chapter A4 and there exist two or more floor levels above.
Such buildings are referred to in this Chapter as potentially hazardous buildings with "soft, weak, or open front" conditions or "SWOF."
B. Potentially hazardous SWOF buildings listed on national, state or local historical registers shall also comply with the provisions of this Chapter. At the Building Official’s discretion, reasonably equivalent alternatives to the structural standards established in this Chapter may be permitted when such alternatives are consistent with the provisions of the State Historical Building Code. (Ord. 7318-NS § 1 (part), 2013: Ord. 6883-NS § 1 (part), 2005)