Martinez Buildings Vulnerable to Quakes
By Corey Lyons
Contra Costa Newspapers
Jan. 21, 2004
Less than half of the city's unreinforced masonry buildings have undergone some earthquake retrofit work, leaving dozens of shaky structures vulnerable to a serious tremor.
Martinez, which was established in 1876, has 58 unreinforced brick buildings, which are often the first kind of structure to collapse during sizable earthquakes.
Of those, 25 buildings, or 43 percent, have had at least minimum seismic-safety upgrades, according to city records. Only three of them have undergone full seismic facelifts, and another at-risk building has been demolished.
The slow pace of retrofitting the brick-and-mortar structures in the aging Contra Costa County seat raises questions about the effectiveness of a 14-year-old city seismic mitigation ordinance.
In 1989, the council passed a single-page resolution in which property owners of unreinforced brick buildings were encouraged to make minimum seismic improvements. Compliance was, and remains, voluntary.
"It is my intention to amend our unreinforced structure ordinance to make it mandatory, bringing all these buildings to at least our minimum standards," Mayor Rob Schroder said Friday.
The 6.5-magnitude quake that struck the Central Coast Dec. 22, killing two people and toppling old brick buildings in Paso Robles, rekindled the concern about seismic safety.
In California, 25,500 unreinforced masonry structures affected by a 1986 state law remain standing. Slightly more than half of them have been upgraded.
The state Seismic Safety Commission, which advises the Legislature, recommends that hundreds of cities in the most seismically active areas develop mandatory programs.
So far, 52 percent of these governments have followed this advice, compared with 16 percent that use a voluntary program. According to state records, cities and counties with mandatory retrofit programs are three times more likely to get their at-risk buildings upgraded compared with those with voluntary laws.
In Martinez, the majority of the city's unreinforced brick buildings sit along Main Street, where antiques dealers, bail bond shops and restaurants are located.
The city's voluntary program requires the "correction of structural inadequacies in the support of roof-ceiling and parapets and walls adjacent to areas open to the public."
Most property owners have declined to fork over the money to do it. About two-thirds of the retrofit work occurred during the first three years after the ordinance passed, said Dave Scola, the city's chief building inspector.
"Whenever a building becomes vacant," he said, "a new person comes in and we encourage them to retrofit."
Scola, who grew up in Martinez, said many buildings downtown have all sorts of code issues to address, including old electrical wiring, a lack of emergency exits and doors and bathrooms that are not suitable for handicap use.
While the city plans to revisit its earthquake-retrofit ordinance, he said, "we also need to address the whole package of problems."
The 1989 Loma Prieta temblor damaged a parapet and caused some bricks to crumble in downtown Martinez, though no one was hurt.
Councilman Mark Ross said redevelopment could provide a financial tool to help property owners deal with the staggering cost of retrofitting buildings.
Martinez, which does not have a redevelopment agency, will go to the polls March 2 to decide if it wants one.
Opponents of redevelopment, including resident Harlan Strickland, said many property owners are wealthy enough to upgrade their own buildings.
"I don't see why the government should bail them out," he said. "There may be a handful of people who could not do it. But the city can be hard-nosed: fix it or sell it. It would sell instantly."
Contra Costa Newspapers
Jan. 21, 2004
Less than half of the city's unreinforced masonry buildings have undergone some earthquake retrofit work, leaving dozens of shaky structures vulnerable to a serious tremor.
Martinez, which was established in 1876, has 58 unreinforced brick buildings, which are often the first kind of structure to collapse during sizable earthquakes.
Of those, 25 buildings, or 43 percent, have had at least minimum seismic-safety upgrades, according to city records. Only three of them have undergone full seismic facelifts, and another at-risk building has been demolished.
The slow pace of retrofitting the brick-and-mortar structures in the aging Contra Costa County seat raises questions about the effectiveness of a 14-year-old city seismic mitigation ordinance.
In 1989, the council passed a single-page resolution in which property owners of unreinforced brick buildings were encouraged to make minimum seismic improvements. Compliance was, and remains, voluntary.
"It is my intention to amend our unreinforced structure ordinance to make it mandatory, bringing all these buildings to at least our minimum standards," Mayor Rob Schroder said Friday.
The 6.5-magnitude quake that struck the Central Coast Dec. 22, killing two people and toppling old brick buildings in Paso Robles, rekindled the concern about seismic safety.
In California, 25,500 unreinforced masonry structures affected by a 1986 state law remain standing. Slightly more than half of them have been upgraded.
The state Seismic Safety Commission, which advises the Legislature, recommends that hundreds of cities in the most seismically active areas develop mandatory programs.
So far, 52 percent of these governments have followed this advice, compared with 16 percent that use a voluntary program. According to state records, cities and counties with mandatory retrofit programs are three times more likely to get their at-risk buildings upgraded compared with those with voluntary laws.
In Martinez, the majority of the city's unreinforced brick buildings sit along Main Street, where antiques dealers, bail bond shops and restaurants are located.
The city's voluntary program requires the "correction of structural inadequacies in the support of roof-ceiling and parapets and walls adjacent to areas open to the public."
Most property owners have declined to fork over the money to do it. About two-thirds of the retrofit work occurred during the first three years after the ordinance passed, said Dave Scola, the city's chief building inspector.
"Whenever a building becomes vacant," he said, "a new person comes in and we encourage them to retrofit."
Scola, who grew up in Martinez, said many buildings downtown have all sorts of code issues to address, including old electrical wiring, a lack of emergency exits and doors and bathrooms that are not suitable for handicap use.
While the city plans to revisit its earthquake-retrofit ordinance, he said, "we also need to address the whole package of problems."
The 1989 Loma Prieta temblor damaged a parapet and caused some bricks to crumble in downtown Martinez, though no one was hurt.
Councilman Mark Ross said redevelopment could provide a financial tool to help property owners deal with the staggering cost of retrofitting buildings.
Martinez, which does not have a redevelopment agency, will go to the polls March 2 to decide if it wants one.
Opponents of redevelopment, including resident Harlan Strickland, said many property owners are wealthy enough to upgrade their own buildings.
"I don't see why the government should bail them out," he said. "There may be a handful of people who could not do it. But the city can be hard-nosed: fix it or sell it. It would sell instantly."
posted by Corey at 1:43 PM
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