The City of West Hollywood invites residents and community members to a meeting, which will provide an overview of the City’s Seismic Retrofit Program.

The community meeting will be held on Thursday, July 28, 2016 from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at West Hollywood City Hall, located at 8300 Santa Monica Boulevard, in the Community Conference Room on the first floor.

The presentation will provide information about the City’s Seismic Retrofit Program and the types of buildings that are included in the City’s forthcoming Seismic Retrofit Ordinance, which is currently in development.

“California is one of the most seismically active states in the nation, yet we still have vulnerable buildings that have still not been retrofitted,” said City of West Hollywood Councilmember John J. Duran. “In West Hollywood, we’re looking at all of our structures and we’re engaging the community so that we can work together to reduce our vulnerability to the potentially devastating dangers of a high-magnitude earthquake.”

In December 2015, the City’s Building and Safety Division launched a comprehensive seismic analysis and evaluation project with Degenkolb Engineers. During the course of three months, structural engineers surveyed the City’s existing building stock and cataloged every building in West Hollywood.

The City of West Hollywood is a densely populated city with many buildings that are not retrofitted to withstand larger earthquakes. The City’s goal is to take a proactive approach to increase life-safety and minimize damage in the event of a major earthquake. While no building is absolutely earthquake-proof, retrofitting existing buildings will protect the safety of the people who live and work in West Hollywood, and lessen the economic impact following a major earthquake.

For additional information, please contact Cynthia Zabala, the City’s Seismic Retrofit Program Project Manager, at (323) 848-6892 or at czabala@weho.org. For people who are deaf or hearing impaired, please call TTY (323) 848-6496.