Photo by Sarah Shmerling
By LILY TINOCO | Assistant Editor
As the multiple agencies battling the Palisades fire gain more control, local officials present plans and legislation for rebuilding and beyond.
Councilmember Traci Park, who represents Council District 11, including Pacific Palisades, introduced a package of 24 motions at the January 14 LA City Council meeting—its first day back following the Palisades fire—to establish a recovery plan.
“[The package] includes everything, from missing animals, to criminal activity, debris removal and small business assistance, to housing relief, and long-term financing for infrastructure and facilities,” Park explained during the meeting.
At the Palisades Fire Town Hall at Sinai Temple on Thursday, January 16, Park said “we may be looking at many months before we can even begin rebuilding.”
“I am committed to moving this as quickly as possible,” Park continued. “I introduced a package of legislation—more than two dozen motions—that will lay the framework for wildfire recovery here in Los Angeles.”
Among other things, Park said, the package called for an “outside, independent inquiry” and after-action incident review: “I think you all are entitled to transparent, clear answers about what happened with this fire. How did it start? What contributed to the causes? What went right? And what went wrong?”
“We are going to get to the bottom of those issues,” Park said, “and I am going to ensure that you have the answers.”
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass issued an executive order to “clear the way” for residents to rebuild their homes lost in the ongoing fires on Monday, January 13.
The order will coordinate debris removal from all impacted areas, uniting with the California Office of Emergency Services and other city, county, state and federal agencies.
“The debris removal program shall ensure clean-up occurs in compliance with all local, state, and federal hazardous materials and contamination regulations intended to protect human health and protect against groundwater and air contamination,” according to the order.
The order will also allow for a “swift” issuance of permits in all impacted areas, and direct city departments to expedite all building permit review/inspections—bypassing state CEQA discretionary review, waiving city discretionary review processes and allow rebuilding “like for like.”
The January 13 order will also direct the Department of Building and Safety to expedite approvals—known as temporary certificates of occupancy—for 1,400 units of housing across the city.
“This unprecedented natural disaster warrants an unprecedented response that will expedite the rebuilding of homes, businesses and communities,” Bass said in a statement. “This order is the first step in clearing away red tape and bureaucracy to organize around urgency, common sense and compassion. We will do everything we can to get Angelenos back home.”
Steve Soboroff—real estate developer and former police commission president, with decades of ties to Pacific Palisades—has been named by Bass as “chief recovery officer” for the city, which will entail working directly with Bass and various city departments to craft a strategy for rebuilding and allowing the safe return of residents, businesses, workers and other institutions to areas affected by the fires.
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