LAGUNA BEACH : Earthquake Safety Ordinance Passed

A new ordinance requires owners to make improvements to 35 commercial buildings deemed unsafe in an earthquake.

The unreinforced masonry structures, built before 1947, are primarily in the downtown area along Forest Avenue and Coast Highway, building official John Gustafson said. City building officials say costs for seismic improvements range from $15 to $25 per square foot. Some of the owners have testified that the costs and deadlines would pose a hardship, adding that financing is available to rebuild destroyed buildings after an earthquake but not to prepare buildings to save lives.

City officials sympathized with owners but said the real issue is safety.

Councilwoman Martha Collison, who wanted to postpone voting on the ordinance until possible financial support sources could be examined, cast the only dissenting vote. Mayor Lida Lenney was absent.

The ordinance was prompted by a 1986 state law requiring cities and counties in areas at risk for seismic damage to identify hazardous buildings, develop a program to improve them and report to the Seismic Safety Committee in Sacramento by Jan. 1, 1990. So far only nine Orange County cities have submitted mitigation plans, committee spokesman Ed Hensley said.