THE SIERRA MADRE EARTHQUAKE : Sierra Madre Pulls Together for Family Hit Hard by the Quake

In the spirit of a barn-raising, two benefits are scheduled in the coming week to help a Sierra Madre family displaced from a decades-old adobe house heavily damaged in the June 28 earthquake.

Although there are many families facing extensive earthquake repairs, Rick and Debbie Allor and their two children “seem to be the most hardship case,” said organizer Judy Webb-Martin.

The Allors bought the house only six months ago, Webb-Martin said. City building inspectors condemned it after the quake. The Allors had no insurance. Rick Allor is a landscaper in the area, she said.

On Sunday from noon to 6 p.m., a “shake, rattle and roll” $15-a-ticket party will be held at the residence of Cathy and Fred Crockett, 32 W. Carter Ave. Information is available by calling (818) 355-2383.

Next Wednesday, Robin’s Restaurant, 395 N. Rosemead Blvd. in Pasadena, will donate 25% of the total sales that day to the Allors.

* Pasadena homeowners and some owners of commercial buildings damaged by the Sierra Madre earthquake will be exempt from building and plan check fees under a waiver granted Tuesday by the City Council.

Permit fees range from about $100 to repair damaged chimneys to more than $2,000 for commercial building repairs, said Don Nollar, the city’s director of Planning, Building and Neighborhood Services. The council Tuesday unanimously voted to suspend charging the fees through Nov. 29.

The waiver applies to single-family homes and duplexes, as well as commercial buildings that had already been seismically reinforced before the earthquake, Nollar said.

In addition, the council adopted an urgency ordinance allowing owners of older structures damaged in the 5.8-magnitude earthquake to tear down the buildings without first filing building plans for a replacement. The move will enable unstable and unsafe buildings to be torn down faster, Nollar said.

Under the city’s cultural heritage ordinance, plans for a replacement building are required before any structure more than 50 years old is demolished.

Less than half a dozen buildings may need to be demolished, Nollar said. They could include the Crown Hotel and the building housing Kinko’s Copies, both on Colorado Boulevard, and a Bank of America-owned building at the northwest corner of Green Street and Madison Avenue.

* Monrovia victims of the Sierra Madre earthquake will not have to pay standard city fees for permits and plan reviews for repair work on their homes and chimneys, the City Council decided unanimously Tuesday.

The fee waiver will be in effect until Nov. 2.

Also on Tuesday, Mayor Robert Bartlett announced that residents who have reported their damage to the city will be eligible for a 10% discount for repair materials at Home Depot.

Acting City Manager Jeanne Kennedy said that information on other discounts and instructions on applying for disaster assistance loans has been sent to quake victims and can be picked up at City Hall.

* Arcadia residents may apply for low-interest loans for earthquake damage until July 30, thanks to a resolution approved Tuesday by the City Council extending the city’s local emergency declaration.

City Manager George Watts said state law requires the city to review the emergency status every 14 days. He said the emergency will remain in effect until building officials finish inspections and complete damage assessments.

This will allow residents the opportunity to apply for the low-interest loans from the Small Business Administration, he said.

Damage to homes and businesses in Arcadia has totaled an estimated $7.2 million, said Planning Director Bill Woolard.

A temporary SBA office is open Monday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., at Arcadia County Park Senior Citizen Center, 405 S. Santa Anita Ave. For information, call (800) 468-1713.