City officials say there's no active earthquake fault under Hollywood development site

Los Angeles building officials have signed off on geologist reports that found no active earthquake fault under the site of a proposed 16-story residential-office development in Hollywood.

"We agree with their finding that there is no active fault on that specific parcel," Department of Building and Safety spokesman Luke Zamperini said Thursday of the property on Yucca Street, former site of the KFWB-AM radio studio.

The determination came after the city asked the developer's geologist to do additional seismic trenching earlier this year, the Los Angeles Times reported (http://lat.ms/10CISp5 ).

A possible fault was found buried deep underground the parcel just east of the Millennium Hollywood project, but tests showed it last moved so long ago that it was considered inactive.

California law defines faults that ruptured within the last 11,000 years as active.

The department's approval letter said "no building restrictions relative to potential fault-rupture are recommended for the subject site."

The developer wants to build an apartment featuring 95 residential units and 14,000 square feet of office space.

The approval came just before the state geologist is expected to finalize a regulatory map of the Hollywood earthquake fault, scheduled to be released by mid-November, the Times said.

The preliminary map has been the subject of debate because it placed the Hollywood fault zone through the KFWB site, as well as the iconic Capitol Records tower and Millennium project, where a developer plans to build Hollywood's tallest skyscrapers, at 39 and 35 stories.

___

Information from: Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com