Supes Stand Hard on Soft Stories

"Total waste of time." So says one anonymous Supe in response to Gavin's plan to help property owners seismically retrofit their soft-story buildings (those with garages or large storefronts on the ground floor). The plan, which was voted down by Supervisors yesterday, would have waived permit fees and expedited the review process for seismic upgrades. But opponents said the city would lose $200,000 in fees and the plan wouldn't really bring about all that many new retrofits. Do the pessimistic Supes really think the city's property owners would show such a lack of foresight? All this comes after a neglected 2000 study that found the majority of casualties, should "The Big One" hit SF, would be the direct result of soft-story buildings.
· Mayor Newsom's plan for soft-story units rejected [SF Examiner]
· San Francisco's Earthquake Plan: Run. Like Hell. [Curbed SF]
· Newsom: SF Homeowners Accountable for Retrofits [Curbed SF]For more stories from Curbed SF, go to sf.curbed.com.

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