Would Affect 51 Buildings : Culver City to Consider Earthquake-Safety Law

The Culver City Fire Department has presented an earthquake-safety ordinance to the City Council that requires owners of 51 unreinforced brick buildings to either strengthen or demolish the structures within five years.

The buildings were constructed before 1940, some of them in violation of earthquake safety standards established by the state in 1933, said Fire Chief Mike Olson.

The main intent of the proposed law, offered last week, is to require that the buildings be upgraded to better withstand an earthquake. Owners of the buildings would not have to meet the earthquake standards required of new buildings, nor would they be required to meet city building codes other than those for earthquake safety.

“This is a life-safety issue,” said Olson. “We do not want an earthquake to occur and have some buildings collapse and kill people. The idea of the ordinance is to shore these buildings up to withstand earthquakes so that (occupants) will be evacuated after the earthquake occurs.”

Many of the unreinforced buildings on the city’s list are in the downtown area, including the City Hall and Fire Station No. 1, Olson said. The city does not want to release the names of the other buildings until it has notified the owners, said Rocco Serrato, a Culver City building official.

Single dwelling units and complexes with five units or fewer would be exempt from the ordinance. Historical buildings are affected by the law, but the city has approved special standards for historical structures intended to preserve the building’s original architecture, Olson said.

The law would require owners of the affected buildings to hire consultants to analyze the buildings and suggest ways to correct deficiencies, Olson said. The consultant’s report would then be reviewed by the city Building Division.

If building officials determined that the structure needed reiniforcement, the owner would be ordered to perform the changes needed to make it safe or demolish it.

Notice of the city’s order to improve the building would be filed with the building’s title at the County Recorder’s office to inform prospective buyers that it needs earthquake safety improvements. Once the improvements were made, the notice would be removed from the county file, Olson said.

The law also would give building officials the authority to order owners to bring the buildings to city standards or demolish them at the owner’s expense. If owners disagreed with the Building Division, they could appeal the decision to a special appeals board appointed by the City Council.

The city would allow owners “extended time periods” to reinforce their buildings, Olson said, depending on the number of occupants in the building. The more people, the higher the priority, he said.

Buildings given highest priority for modification are hospitals and public buildings, Olson said.

All buildings not considered earthquake-safe would have to be reinforced or demolished by 1991 if the city passes the ordinance this year, Olson said.

Serrato said that the earthquake safety measures would include reinforcing walls with wooden or steel frames and concrete, either inside or outside the building.

According to a city survey, the cost of the fortifying buildings generally runs from $8 to $11 a square foot, and in some cases as high as $15 per square foot, Serrato said.

The proposed law was based on recommendations by the state Seismic Safety Commission. Culver City is preparing the ordinance to comply with a state law requiring all California cities to adopt earthquake safety laws by 1990. Cities that have similar ordinances include Santa Ana, Long Beach and Palo Alto, Olson said.

The city of Los Angeles passed a similar law in 1981 governing the city’s nearly 8,000 unreinforced brick buildings.

The survey of Culver City buildings was performed by Oxnard-based Richard S. Miyahira Associates and the city staff.

A separate study of buildings in the city performed in 1985 by an architectural consultant identified 84 as not earthquake-safe. The city has determined since that 33 were reinforced and are safe, Olson said.