Issue: DS-2014-163 Petitioner Robert S. Fine, Esq., AIA., representing All Aboard Florida, seeks a Declaratory
Statement on 2010 Florida Building Code Building, Chapter 1, Sections 102.2(b)
and 105.
Background:
Situation:
All Aboard
Florida, a wholly-owned
subsidiary of Florida East Coast Industries, LLC
("FECI"),
is constructing an express, intercity passenger rail service scheduled to be in
operation by 2016. The All Aboard Florida route is
approximately 235 miles, with stops in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach
and Orlando International Airport. As such, it will be constructed in, and run
through, at least eight counties and numerous local jurisdictions with
(building) permitting authority. In order to meet the requirements of various
federal regulations, and provide a high quality and safe system, Petitioner
will be engaging the services of qualified private provider(s) to perform plan
review and inspections of its construction.
According to the
Petitioner, by doing so this will eliminate the risk of building code inter interpretations
varying from jurisdiction to jurisdiction for what amounts to a single system
tied to a continuous set of rails running through the numerous counties and
cities described above. It is petitioner's position that it is exempt from the
provisions of the Florida Building Code ("FBC"), including its
permitting requirements, because it is a railroad.
2010 Florida Building
Code, Building
102.2 Building. The provisions
of the Florida Building Code shall apply to the construction, erection,
alteration, modification, repair, equipment, use and occupancy, location,
maintenance, removal and demolition of every public and private building,
structure or facility or floating residential structure, or any appurtenances
connected or attached to such buildings, structures or facilities. Additions,
alterations, repairs and changes of use or occupancy group in all buildings and
structures shall comply with the provisions provided in Chapter 34 of this
code. The following buildings, structures and facilities are exempt from the
Florida Building Code as provided by law, and any further exemptions shall be
as determined by the legislature and provided by law:
(b) Railroads
and ancillary facilities associated with the railroad.
105.1 Required. Any owner or
authorized agent who intends to construct, enlarge, alter, repair, move,
demolish, or change the occupancy of a building or structure, or to erect,
install, enlarge, alter, repair, remove, convert or replace any impact resistant
coverings, electrical, gas, mechanical or plumbing system, the installation of
which is regulated by this code, or to cause any such work to be done, shall
first make application to the building official and obtain the required permit.
CHAPTER 2 DEFINITIONS
SECTION 201 GENERAL
201.4 Terms not defined. Words
not defined herein shall have the meanings stated in the Florida Building Code,
Plumbing, Mechanical and Fuel Gas, or the Florida Fire Prevention Code. Words
not defined in the Florida Building Codes, shall have the meanings in Webster’s
Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged.
Webster’s Third New International
Dictionary
an·cil·lar·y /ansəˌlerē/
adjective
1. Subordinate,
Subsidiary
1.1. Auxiliary
1.2. Related
1.3 Subordinate
or auxiliary to a primary or principal legal document, proceeding, office, or
officer
rail·road /rālˌrōd/ noun
1. Railway
2a. A permanent
road having a line of rails fixed to the ties and laid to gauge usually on a
leveled or graded ballasted roadbed and providing a track for freight cars,
passenger cars, and other rolling stock designed to be drawn by locomotives or
sometimes propelled by self-contained motors.
2b. such a road
together with all of the lands, buildings, rolling stock, franchises, and other
assets relating thereto and constituting a single property.
341.8203 Definitions.
(4) “High-speed rail system” means any
high-speed fixed guideway system for transporting
people or goods, which system is, by definition of the United States Department
of Transportation, reasonably expected to reach speeds of at least 110 miles
per hour, including, but not limited to, a monorail system, dual track rail
system, suspended rail system, magnetic levitation system, pneumatic repulsion
system, or other system approved by the enterprise. The term includes a
corridor, associated intermodal connectors, and structures essential to the
operation of the line, including the land, structures, improvements,
rights-of-way, easements, rail lines, rail beds, guideway
structures, switches, yards, parking facilities, power relays, switching
houses, and rail stations and also includes facilities or equipment used
exclusively for the purposes of design, construction, operation, maintenance, or
the financing of the high-speed rail system.
(6)
“Rail station,” “station,” or
“high-speed rail station” means any structure or transportation facility
that is part of a high-speed rail system designed to accommodate the movement
of passengers from one mode of transportation to another at which passengers
board or disembark from transportation conveyances and transfer from one mode
of transportation to another.
(7)
“Railroad company” means a person
developing, or providing service on, a high-speed rail system.
553.73 Florida
Building Code
(10) The
following buildings, structures, and facilities are exempt from the Florida
Building Code as provided by law, and any further exemptions shall be as
determined by the Legislature and provided by law:
(b) Railroads
and ancillary facilities associated with the railroad.
Staff Analysis
Note: The answers to the questions below are
those of the Petitioner’s answers as provided in the declaratory statement
request. Staff is in support of the
Petitioner’s answers.
Question 1: Is All Aboard Florida, the passenger
rail system being constructed and to be operated by the Petitioner (including
the ancillary facilities associated with it) a railroad that is exempt from the
FBC (including but not limited to Section 105 of the FBC) by the language
itself at Section 102.2(b), and as mandated by Section 553.73(10)(b) of the Florida Statutes?
Answer: Yes, the passenger rail system being
constructed, and to be operated and maintained by the Petitioner is a railroad
and ancillary facilities associated with the railroad as set forth in Section
102(b) of the FBC and Section 553.73(10)(b) of the
Florida Statutes and is therefore exempt from the provisions of the FBC,
including but not limited to Section 105 of the FBC’s permitting requirements.
Question 2: Do structures such as rail lines, rail
beds, guideway structures, switches, parking
facilities, power relays, switching houses and (notably) rail stations that are
essential to the operation of the rail line fall within either the definition
of railroad, or the definition of ancillary facilities associated with the
railroad as set forth in Section 102.2 (b) of the FBC and therefore
exempt from the FBC including its permitting requirements?
Answer: Yes. As set forth in Section 341.8203,
Florida Statutes, structures such as rail lines, rail beds, guideway
structures, switches, parking facilities, power relays, switching houses and
rail stations that are essential to the operation of the rail line fall within
the definition of railroad and are
therefore exempt from the FBC and its permitting requirements based on the
exemptions provided in Section 102.2 (b) of the FBC and Section 553.73(10)(b)
of the Florida Statutes.
Question 3: Do
some or all of the following elements of the rail stations included
in the response to Question 2 of the Petition fall within the definition of railroad and ancillary facilities
associated with the railroad as
set forth on Section 102.2(b) of the FBC and Section 553.73(10)(b) of the Florida Statutes and are therefore exempt from
the provisions of the FBC including Section 105 of the FBC’s permitting
requirements:
buildings and facilities designed to accommodate the
movement of passengers from one mode of transportation to another including
platforms and facilities at which passengers board or disembark from
transportation conveyances (e.g., trains);
ticketing facilities, information stands, waiting areas,
sanitary facilities for passengers and staff, and offices for railroad staff;
demised areas and other spaces intended to contain retail
sales and/or service establishments, and restaurants and/or other food or beverage
service establishments;
retail sales and/or service establishments, restaurants and/or other food or
beverage service establishments that will be tenants in the rail stations’
“demised areas and other spaces” mentioned immediately above;
surface or structured parking serving the passengers and railroad staff may be
adjacent to, or integral with the rail stations;
crew
and other train staff rest areas; and
facilities
to service the trains including food supply (including kitchen) facilities.
Answer: The
elements of the rail stations proposed
by Petitioner that are exempt from the FBC pursuant to Sec 102.2(b) and Section
557.73(10)(b), Florida
Statutes are:
buildings and facilities designed to accommodate the
movement of passengers from one mode of transportation to another including
platforms and facilities at which passengers board or disembark from
transportation conveyances (e.g., trains);
ticketing facilities, information stands, waiting areas,
sanitary facilities for passengers and staff, and offices for railroad staff;
demised areas and other spaces intended to contain retail
sales and/or service establishments, and restaurants and/or other food or
beverage service establishments;
surface or structured parking serving the passengers and
railroad staff adjacent to, or integral with the rail stations; and
crew and other train staff rest areas; and
facilities to service the trains including food supply
(including kitchen) facilities.
Retail
sales and/or service establishments, restaurants and/or other food or beverage
service establishments that will be tenants in the rail stations’ “demised areas and other spaces” are not exempt
from the FBC pursuant to Section 102.2(b). However, ticketing facilities,
information stands, waiting areas, sanitary facilities, and offices for
railroad staff—elements that are “essential to the operation of the railroad
occupying the “demised and other spaces” are exempt from the FBC pursuant to
Section 102.2(b) and Section 553.73(10)(b) of the Florida Statutes.