LA Approves Nation's Toughest Earthquake Safety Rules

 

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti on Friday signed the nation's strongest earthquake safety laws, requiring that the owners of an estimated 15,000 buildings most at risk of collapse during a major quake make the structures stronger.

Garcetti's move came after the Los Angeles City Council voted 12-0 in favor of the plan, which caps decades of debate over whether the city -- located in the heart of California earthquake country -- should force building owners to retrofit structures that could fail.
Studies estimate that a massive earthquake in the Los Angeles area could kill 3,000 to 18,000 people and cause up to $250 billion in damage.

The ordinance targets two of the most dangerous types of buildings: brittle concrete buildings and wood apartment complexes with weak first stories, which have killed more than 65 people in Los Angeles’ last two major earthquakes.

The mandatory upgrades will be costly. Many wood apartment retrofits can cost $60,000 to $130,000, and taller concrete buildings can cost millions of dollars to strengthen.

Owner groups now say they agree that fixing the buildings is essential.

“We want the buildings to be safe,” said Martha Cox-Nitikman, vice president of the Building Owners and Managers Assn. of Greater Los Angeles. “But we need to figure out how we get people there without ruining businesses.”

Wood apartment buildings will be given seven years to complete construction once an owner is ordered by the Department of Building and Safety to retrofit the building. Owners of brittle concrete buildings will have 25 years to do the work.

How the retrofits will be paid for is a work in progress.

The City Council has not decided how costs will be shared between tenants and owners of residential buildings. The law currently allows owners to increase rents up to $75 a month to pay for a required earthquake retrofit, but both sides say they do not think Los Angeles renters can afford such a hike.

The city’s housing department has suggested that renters and owners pay for the retrofit on a 50-50 basis, allowing owners to charge a monthly maximum surcharge of $38 to pay for the seismic retrofit. (Apartments in Los Angeles built before Oct. 1, 1978, are generally under rent control, which means the city restricts how much the rent can be increased annually.)

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