Report: Santa Monica To Spend $100K To Identify Unsafe Buildings During Major Quake
SANTA MONICA (CBSLA.com) — The city of Santa Monica is planning to spend more than $100,000 within the next year on a survey that will identify potentially dangerous buildings during a major earthquake, according to the Los Angeles Times.
KCAL9's Brittney Hopper reports the study, which would cover hundreds of buildings in the city, including steel office towers, older concrete buildings and wood multi-story apartment houses, would require seismic retrofitting for structures deemed unsafe.
It will be up to property owners, however, to show that the building is safe or they will be responsible to fix it.
Bill Dawson, a property manager in Santa Monica and a board member with the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles, said the cost of retrofitting could be difficult for some property owners.
"I'm hoping that the city of Los Angeles can come up with a plan that the implementation is over a reasonable period of time, at a reasonable cost, and will help make the buildings safe for everyone to live in," he said.
Santa Monica would become the first city in the state to implement such strict inspections, Hopper reported.
