B of A to Close 15 Branches of 56 Located in North O.C. : Consolidation: Action follows April acquisition of Security Pacific. Layoffs will be delayed until staffing is sorted out.

Bank of America said Monday that it will close 15 of its 56 branches in north Orange County in its second wave of Orange County office closings following last April’s acquisition of Security Pacific National Bank.

Among the branches to be eliminated early next year are the main offices of Security Pacific in downtown Anaheim and downtown Fullerton, which combined had total deposits of nearly $165 million at the end of June, 1991.

Employee layoffs will be delayed until after staffing needs are determined, probably a month or two after the consolidations, said Charles Coleman, a B of A spokesman. The bank estimates that 12,000 employees out of a worldwide work force of 91,000 will be laid off, but industry experts expect the number to hit 20,000 or more.

The bank refuses to divulge its staffing levels, but using standard industry estimates, the 15 Orange County branches to be closed would have about 300 employees. Banking experts believe that at least half that number would be laid off.

Customers are being notified about where their accounts will be transferred, he said.

“These branch closings are strictly real estate decisions and have nothing to do with decisions on employees,” Coleman said. Normally, wherever two branches are within a mile of each other, he said, one will likely be closed.

Two weeks ago, the bank said 14 of 36 branches in South Orange County would be closed as B of A continues to digest the merger of the state’s two biggest banking companies.

The fate of 37 remaining Orange County branches, all in the central part of the county, will be disclosed soon, Coleman said.

In the bank’s North County district, two B of A branches and eight Security Pacific branches out of a total of 37 branches will be consolidated during the weekend of Feb. 13-14. More than $490 million in deposits will be transferred to nearby branches, according to figures compiled by the Findley Reports, an Anaheim consulting firm.

In addition, the bank’s Long Beach district is closing five of 19 Orange County branches--a Security Pacific branch and four B of A offices--during the weekend of Jan. 23-24. More than $170 million in deposits will be affected.

The two biggest branches to be closed are Security Pacific’s downtown Anaheim branch, at 100 S. Harbor Blvd., and the downtown Fullerton branch, at 101 N. Harbor Blvd. They will be merged, respectively, into B of A’s main offices at 300 S. Harbor, Anaheim, and 401 N. Harbor, Fullerton.

Other Security Pacific branches to be closed are: 255 W. Orangethorpe Ave., Fullerton (merged into B of A’s 401 N. Harbor office); 9862 Chapman Ave, Garden Grove (joins with B of A’s 9591 Chapman office); 3200 E. Yorba Linda Blvd., Fullerton, known as the Placentia branch (into B of A’s 160 E. Yorba Linda branch in Placentia).

Also closing are branches at 230 S. State College Blvd., Brea (into B of A’s 290 S. State College branch); 191 S. Imperial Highway, Anaheim Hills (into B of A’s 5640 E. Santa Ana Canyon Road, Anaheim); 17769 Santiago Blvd., Villa Park (into B of A’s 17861 Santiago office), and 770 Pacific Coast Highway, Seal Beach, (into B of A’s 208 Main St. branch).

Among the six B of A branches being consolidated into Security Pacific branches are ones at 1901 N. Euclid St., Fullerton (into 2121 N. Harbor); 11887 Valley View St., Garden Grove (into 12421 Valley View); 3166 Admiralty Drive, Huntington Beach (into 16811 Algonquin St. in Huntington Harbour).

Also closing are the B of A branches at 15672 Springdale St., Huntington Beach (into 5812 Edinger Ave.); 5305 Beach Blvd., Buena Park (into 6210 Beach); 7855 La Palma Ave., Buena Park (into 8061 Stanton Ave.).