The City of West Hollywood has been added, for the first time, to a statewide incentive program developed by the California Residential Mitigation Program to help homeowners to defray the cost of seismic retrofits to their houses.
Earthquake Brace + Bolt (EBB) has expanded to include owners of houses in ZIP zones 90046, 90048 and 90069, who will now be eligible for an incentive payment of up to $3,000 to help pay costs associated with retrofitting houses to lessen earthquake damage.
Registration for the EBB Program will open for applications on Wednesday. Homeowners can find participation details online. Registration will be open for one month; once registration ends, qualifying homeowners will be selected through a random drawing, after which they will be notified if they have been selected, or if they have been placed on the waiting list.
Residential seismic retrofitting strengthens older homes, making them more resistant to incurring damage during an earthquake. This is done by bolting a house to its foundation to improve the connection between the wood framing and the concrete foundation, and by adding plywood bracing around the perimeter of the crawl space to keep the house from toppling off of its foundation.
This opportunity to obtain assistance to retrofit older houses follows an announcement last month by the City of West Hollywood about its comprehensive seismic building survey, which is cataloguing the city’s existing building stock in order to help the city determine steps forward for a seismic retrofit program. The current survey is continuing through February.
The California Residential Mitigation Program is a joint-exercise-of-powers entity formed by its members, the California Earthquake Authority and the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.
Information about the EBB Program or the California Residential Mitigation Program and registration is available online. For information regarding obtaining building permits or general building and safety questions, please call the City of West Hollywood at (323) 848-6475. For people who are deaf or hearing impaired, please call TTY (323) 848-6496.
