Home Care In Pacific Palisades, CA

Amid criticism that the city of Los Angeles is not moving fast enough to rebuild the Pacific Palisades after the Palisades Fire, Mayor Karen Bass said Wednesday the city will offer "pre-approved, code-complaint" designs for homes while expanding eligibility for environmental requirement waivers.

Under the new executive orders, the city is widening the eligibility category for single-family homes so they can bypass some land-use plans and zoning ordinances typically required under the California Coastal Act and the California Environmental Quality Act known as CEQA.

“Emergency Executive Order 8 ensures everyone looking to rebuild – including those seeking to build a home that’s different than what they had before or to take this opportunity to expand or redesign their home – benefit from the same streamlined process as those building like-for-like,” the mayor’s office said in a statement.

Also as the city plans to release a library of “pre-approved, code compliant” home designs, rebuilding can be fast-tracked by using one of the plans.

The city is also asking architects to submit their mockups for the virtual library of pre-approved home designs.

“Now is the time to remove barriers, accelerate progress, and ensure that every Angeleno has a clear path towards rebuilding their home,” Bass said in her directive. “By reducing both permitting timelines and design costs, this program will provide a faster, more affordable pathway to recovery for Angelenos impacted by the wildfires.”

The pilot program to launch the virtual library of pre-approved designs should be available within 30 days of her executive order .

City officials said more than 85% of debris from the homes destroyed in the Palisades Fire has been removed while nearly 300 rebuilding plans have been approved.

Despite the city’s efforts, Palisades residents have expressed their concern for the pace at which rebuilding permits for fire-ravaged properties that were damaged or destroyed during January’s brush fire.

As of early July, unincorporated Los Angeles County received 1,207 rebuild applications, but only 90 permits were issued.

The Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety reported receiving rebuilding applications for 360 addresses affected by the Palisades Fire. Of those, 70 addresses received permits.

Rich Caruso, one of the critics as well as former mayoral candidate who lost to Mayor Bass, has said the city and the state were not moving fast enough to rebuild the Palisades.

“The real issue is the culture and attitude. You've got to wipe the tables clean of red tape,” Caruso told NBC Los Angeles on July 7.

Six months after California's most devastating wildfire, a recovery is underway. Land is changing hands, developers are coming in, permits are being approved, homes are under construction. Yet, for many, the process is still moving slowly.

"This process is going to take time, money and patience," said real estate agent Laura Alfano, who specializes in Malibu and the Pacific Palisades properties. "And that will lead to a combination of developers, investors and then families who have legacy wealth. And that’s what we’re seeing in terms of purchases. Not only smoke-damaged homes, but of the actual lots themselves."

Of the 123 lots sold in the Palisades since the fire, about half have been bought by corporations, the other 50% by individuals. Whereas northeast of L.A. in Altadena, many homes are being snapped up by investors. One company bought 16 properties, another 13.

"I don't want an ADU (Accessory Dwelling Unit). I’d rather die," says Terry Kilgore, 70, who is living out of an RV on his Altadena lot, waiting for an insurance settlement. "What the hell, I don't like RVs. I don't want to live in one, but at this point in time, it’s a godsend."

Many homeowners now realize they were underinsured. They can’t afford to pay off the old mortgage of the destroyed home, two years of rent in a tight market and have enough money left over for a rebuild.

In Altadena, each month, more vacant lots are coming on the market, depressing prices by as much as $100,000 on a $1 million lot.

In the Palisades, it’s the opposite. The number of properties coming on the market is going down, helping fire victims wanting to cash out. The average price is $2.2 million for a vacant lot.

"Construction time, as I'm hearing, could be a year, year and a half, so I think you're going to see six months from now framing," said Larry Vein, head of Pali Strong, a citizen group formed after the fires.

"The trauma has been really tough. A lot of people are still really confused about it. They don't know what to do. A lot of people are moving forward with their plans. A lot a people are just kind of on hold," said contractor Michael Shirley.

Right now, about 50 homes are under construction in the Palisades. More are in the pipeline. Of roughly 900 permit applications submitted to the city and county of Los Angeles officials approved 274 to begin construction. Between the two, about 13,000 homes were destroyed. Both entities say they’re approving permits in under 2 months – down from 8 to 18 months before the fires.

Yet on more complicates sites and larger homes, experts say homeowners are looking at a year or more to get approval. To speed up the rebuilding process, Governor Newson extended executive orders to suspend the California Coastal Act as the primary agent in granting permits. This suspension lasts through at least Oct. 1. With the order still in place, homeowners looking to rebuild can start construction with up to 10% increase in size. However, for those looking to expand beyond 10%, they face a $11,579 base fee and a 12-24 month process.

Ross Greenberg lost his home in the Palisades fire. And although his rebuilding permits were approved in early June, Los Angeles County still isn’t letting him break ground.

"I’ve paid over $12,000 in my permit fees right now just to get my process moving," Greenberg said.

Besides battling with regulations, many residents are more focused on their fight with insurance companies.

Before the fires spread across southern California, State Farm dropped 1,600 policies in the Palisades last July. The insurance company faces lawsuits from homeowners who claim they were left "grossly underinsured." With poor support by insurance providers, many residents solely rely on the California FAIR Plan, which may barely cover the cost of foundational and septic tank development in places like Malibu, which lost 600 homes in the fire, including 300 along the beach.

"You’re going to spend two to three million dollars on just your foundation, your septic system and your seawall," said Don Schmitz, president and principal planner of real estate consulting company Schmitz & Associates. "And that’s before you put up the very first stick to build the actual house."

PACIFIC PALISADES, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order on Wednesday to prevent overcrowding in the rebuilding of the Pacific Palisades.

The order weakens Senate Bill 9 (SB 9), which was signed into law to help address homelessness and California's housing crisis. The state bill -- which was signed into law four years ago -- would build more housing on lots that used to hold just one home. Palisades neighbors are concerned about over-density and the ability to safely evacuate.

The executive order will allow local governments to limit SB 9, specifically in high fire danger areas.

Eyewitness News spoke to some concerned residents on Tuesday, before Newsom signed the executive order.

"I want to go home. I don't want to die during the next evacuation," said Palisades resident May Sung.

The residents agree that the law has good intentions but unintended consequences for rebuilding fire-ravaged communities like the Pacific Palisades.

"The proposal is not just for a duplex. The proposal is for a two-unit project with parking and ADU, so essentially, you have three single-family homes on a lot. It needs to be looked at community by community. It can't just be enforced without consideration," said Sung.

Sung is referring to a series of applications submitted to the building and safety department over the past few weeks that would turn a destroyed single-family home lot into multiple residences, thanks to SB 9.

Sung lost two homes in the fire and still has nightmares about how difficult it was to evacuate back on January 7. Her neighborhood has narrow, windy streets, and she says it took her two hours to get out of the Palisades with Sunset Boulevard at a standstill.

"I am concerned these statues are being exploited by speculators and developers when so many thousands of property owners are struggling because of the insurance crisis and the lack of resources available to make it affordable for them to rebuild. Until we are satisfied that we have the infrastructure to support added density as well as adequate evacuation routes and access for our emergency responders, we have got to put a pause on this type of development," said Los Angeles City Councilwoman Traci Park -- before the executive order was signed.

On Tuesday, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass came out against SB 9 in terms of rebuilding the Palisades, and along with Park, asked Newsom to use his executive power to exempt the Palisades from the law so developers don't take advantage of all the empty lots now on the market.

"We will continue to assist communities in rebuilding safely in ways that are responsive to local concerns. This executive order responds directly to requests from local officials and community feedback, recognizing the need for local discretion in recovery and that not all laws are designed for rebuilding entire communities destroyed by fires overnight," Newsom said in a press release.

As rebuilding ramps up in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles leaders are restricting the building of duplexes on single-family-home lots.

The move follows an executive order issued Wednesday by Gov. Gavin Newsom that allows exemptions for the Palisades and other areas devastated by January’s Palisades and Eaton fires from Senate Bill 9. The landmark 2021 law, passed in response to the state’s housing shortage, lets property owners divide single-family-home lots and build up to four units.

In recent days, Palisades residents have raised alarms about SB 9, worrying that their historically single-family-home community would be transformed by the additional density allowed under the law and become more dangerous in the event of future fires. On Jan. 7, the chaotic evacuation amid the flames led residents to abandon their cars on Sunset Boulevard and escape on foot, forcing bulldozers to clear the road so that emergency responders could enter the area.

No outcry has erupted over the addition of accessory dwelling units in the Palisades, even though they could bring similar increases in building, and have been far more common in permit applications.

Some 4,700 single-family homes were destroyed or severely damaged in the Palisades fire, the majority of which were in the city of Los Angeles.

Newsom’s order applies to the Palisades and parts of Malibu and Altadena — areas that burned and that are designated as “very high fire hazard severity zones” by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. It mandates a weeklong pause on SB 9 projects to allow the city and county of Los Angeles and Malibu to develop restrictions.

In response, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, who alongside City Councilmember Traci Park had urged Newsom to act this week, issued an executive order blocking future SB 9 development in the Palisades.

“I thank Governor Newsom for working with my office to provide some sense of solace for a community working to rebuild,” Bass said in a statement accompanying the order.

Since the fire, the prospect of greater density, including increased affordable housing, has raised tension in the neighborhood. Some of the debates have been mired in misinformation and conspiracy theories falsely asserting that the wealthy community would be rezoned for mass building of low-income apartments.

But residents retain deep scars from January’s tumultuous evacuation and fear that such a situation would be even worse with a larger population, said Larry Vein, founder of wildfire recovery group Pali Strong. They also want the area to return to the predominately single-family-home neighborhood it was, he said.

“The community does not want higher density,” Vein said.

Officials’ push to restrict SB 9 construction stands in stark contrast to their efforts to allow more building on single-family-home lots through different means.

Newsom and Bass each issued earlier executive orders to streamline permitting reviews for accessory dwelling units on single-family-home properties in burn zones.

There are some practical distinctions between the two ways of adding homes. Generally, ADU law permits up to three units on a lot. SB 9 can allow four or potentially more if combined with ADU law. SB 9 units often can be larger than ADUs as well.

Yet the possibility of increased ADU construction has not attracted the same opposition in the community; instead, data indicate that it’s been popular.

The Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety does not specifically track permit requests for ADUs or SB 9 projects among home rebuilds, and could not immediately verify their numbers. However, department rebuilding data analyzed by The Times includes a description of each proposed development that is supposed to note if an additional unit is planned.

As of July 28, 500 homeowners had submitted permitting applications to rebuild in the Palisades, The Times’ analysis of department data found. Of those, 73 — nearly 15% — included at least one ADU, according to project descriptions. Per the descriptions, three intend to use SB 9, but that number is an undercount, said Devin Myrick, the department’s assistant deputy superintendent of building. Myrick said the department was still analyzing its data to come up with the actual number of SB 9 projects.

Property owners have cited ADU construction as a way to return to the Palisades more quickly, with some planning to build an ADU before tackling their primary home. For others, the opportunity for building any additional unit, under ADU law or SB 9, provides a financial benefit that could be used to cover gaps in the cost to rebuild.

Vein said Palisades residents are friendlier to ADUs because their construction may not necessarily lead to a larger population. Many people, he said, would use an ADU to work from home, as a guesthouse or allow members of multigenerational families to have their own space. By contrast, he said, SB 9 duplexes inevitably will add people.

“You’ve just doubled the density,” he said.

Some pro-development organizations are blasting the SB 9 restrictions. Matthew Lewis, a spokesperson for California YIMBY, which advocates for greater home building across the state, said that residents’ evacuation concerns are legitimate but that officials should focus on resolving that issue rather than limiting duplexes.

Lewis said the proliferation of ADUs in the area’s rebuild shows that it’s not actually the potential for increased building that’s motivating the opposition. Instead, he said community groups and L.A. politicians are using that argument to thwart a law they’ve long disliked because it expressly calls for changes to single-family-home neighborhoods.

“What we’re talking about is a powerful constituency making enough noise to cause a suspension of laws that were duly passed by the state Legislature,” Lewis said. “That’s very concerning.”

Bass believes her backing of ADUs and opposition to SB 9 in the Palisades do not conflict, mayoral spokesperson Zachary Seidl said. SB 9 was not anticipated to be used after a major wildfire, he said, while streamlining ADU permitting assists property owners with reconstruction.

“The mayor with both of these positions is supporting community members in the Palisades rebuild,” Seidl said.

Times staff writer Doug Smith contributed to this report.

"The emergency declarations are necessary to expedite reconstruction but may have an unintended consequence."

LOS ANGELES, CA — The Los Angeles City Council requested an analysis Wednesday on the impacts of emergency declarations on workforce regulations, as elected officials seek to rebuild the fire-torn community of Pacific Palisades with local hands.

In a 13-0 vote, council members instructed the Bureau of Contract Administration with assistance from the Emergency Management Department to report on recruitment and hiring practices being used by the city and its contractors for reconstruction of the coastal enclave that suffered as a result of January's wildfires.

Council members asked staff to provide details on public and private reconstruction work. The report is expected to include recommendations to incentivize private reconstruction work to encourage the use of local labor and businesses.

Additionally, the council instructed the Chief Legislative Analyst's Office to provide a report on how local, state and federal emergency declarations related to the wildfires impact established workforce regulations when public funds are being used.

Council members Bob Blumenfield and Adrin Nazarian were absent during the vote.

No additional comments were made during Wednesday's meeting.

Council members Monica Rodriguez and Traci Park introduced the motion calling for such reports on March 28.

"The emergency declarations are necessary to expedite reconstruction but may have an unintended consequence of suspending policies regarding workforce regulations," the motion reads. "Policies such as local hire and apprenticeship training may not be implemented consistently for reconstruction work associated with the Pacific Palisades."

Through the Targeted Local Hire Program and Public Infrastructure Stabilization ordinance, the city supports creating employment opportunities for residents.

"Utilizing public funds for the maximum benefit of the community should always be the priority," according to the motion. "It is incumbent upon the city to use every public dollar to realize multiple goals from reconstruction, to job creation to supporting the local economy.

"As we continue to reinvest in the Pacific Palisades reconstruction, we must make sure the workforce is reflective of our city and that employment opportunities are prioritized for city residents," the motion continues.

City News Service