City to Seek More HUD Retrofit Funds
Oxnard plans to ask the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for $4.66 million to earthquake-proof public housing.
Following the 1994 Northridge earthquake, the city received $5.6 million from HUD to upgrade and retrofit its two highest-risk public housing sites. Those were identified as a 100-unit complex at Squires Drive and Pleasant Valley Road and a 70-unit site on Colonia Road.
But the $5.6 million was only enough to retrofit 86 of the Pleasant Valley units, said Sal Gonzalez, the city’s housing director.
“The majority of the two-story units have been done,” he said.
The new request to HUD will cover the remaining 14 units in that development, as well as the 70 Colonia Road units, he said.
The beams and walls will be reinforced, which should allow them to better withstand earthquakes, Gonzalez said. The city prefers to spend money ahead of time bracing the units rather than trying to clean up after a quake, he said.
The City Council will discuss the HUD request at a 7 p.m. meeting Tuesday at City Hall, 305 W. 3rd St.
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