O.C. Leaps Into Metric on Jan. 1

It’s been prophesied, joked about and feared for years.

But the future finally arrives at Orange County’s planning department on Jan. 1, when officials will begin using the metric system for many planning documents, tract maps, building permits and other materials.

The impending conversion has set off a flurry of questions and complaints from some of Orange County’s top builders and developers, who fear changing all those inches into centimeters could prove confusing and costly.

Orange County is ahead of most local government agencies in going metric, though many state agencies--including Caltrans--are also in the process of changing systems. After numerous delays, the federal government plans to complete its conversion by 2002.

Some developers say the county is moving too fast and at an inappropriate moment--just as Orange County’s building industry is beginning to pick up steam.

“We have a housing boom here, and we’re afraid this kind of a change is going to bring confusion,” said Christine Diemer, executive director of the Building Industry Assn. of Southern California.

The Building Industry Assn. said that because most Orange County cities continue to measure in feet and inches, developers with multiple projects will have to use two systems, depending on which jurisdiction is processing the plans. Some water and sewer districts that review county plans might not accept plans with metric measurements, they add.

Officials said they have met with builders over the last few weeks and are attempting to address their concerns.

“We know some people feel the [change] will have an adverse impact on them, but we are trying for a smooth transition,” said Tom Mathews, the county’s planning director. “If we were to postpone this until 1999, I think we’d be having this same discussion next October.”

The conversion will apply to many types of planning and zoning documents for projects in unincorporated areas, which have seen a sharp increase in new housing and commercial developments over the last two years.

Beginning Jan. 1, blueprints showing the layout of homes will use meters and centimeters. A 12-foot driveway, for example, would become a 3.6-meter driveway. Two-inch wood paneling would become 5-centimeter wood paneling.

The county’s building and safety permits and documents will be slowly converted over the next two years in concert with the conversion of state building codes.

Officials acknowledged that it will probably take several years for all local governments to embrace metric. But they said most builders should not have much trouble making the transition, noting that computer programs can make the calculations in the wink of an eye.

“This is a fairly straightforward issue for engineers,” Mathews said.

Los Angeles County is also in the process of converting its public works department to metric and is expected to process its first fully metric project within the next few months, said James Erpenback, assistant deputy director of the Department of Public Works.