Deadline for Quake Repair Is Extended

The Torrance City Council voted unanimously to extend by two months a deadline for obtaining building permits for renovation of pre-1933 masonry buildings to meet new earthquake codes.

The extension, which was approved with little discussion Tuesday, gives owners of older brick and wood buildings until Sept. 1 to take out the building permits.

City officials said the extension also gives the city time to create a board of appeals to review applications for further deadline extensions. The board will be made up of one representative of the city Redevelopment Agency, the fire marshal and the city manager’s office.

As a result of the Whittier-Narrows Earthquake in October, 1987, the City Council in December, 1987, passed an ordinance requiring owners of pre-1933 buildings to reinforce walls and ceilings with steel bolts.

It required that property owners complete all repairs by July, 1991.

About 14 landlords have requested an extension of the deadline, saying they could not find engineers to design renovation plans in time to meet the July 1 cut-off date, city officials said. Some landlords have said the new requirements brought a backlog of contracts to many builders and engineers.

There are 50 buildings, mostly in Old Downtown Torrance, that need earthquake-safety improvements. Renovations have been completed on six of those buildings, city officials said.

An estimated 200 to 300 people occupy those buildings during the day and as many as 500 people live in them at night, city officials said. Most of them are apartments or restaurants.