Four key development services departments released written guidelines on how they will identify and process eligible fire rebuild projects, 101 days after the Palisades Fire destroyed thousands of homes and structures.
The 23-page memo – prepared by the departments of Building & Safety, City Planning and Housing and the Bureau of Engineering – explains the criteria for projects to be an eligible rebuild and then provides an explanation of how each department will review those eligible projects.
The memo was written in response to Executive Order No. 1, issued by Mayor Bass shortly after the Jan. 7 fire, that called on city departments to streamline the rebuild process for property owners who lost homes and businesses in the fire. EO1 said that property owners who proposed to rebuild within 110% of the previously permitted structure(s) on their property would be deemed “eligible rebuilds” and would be given an expedited review and pay fewer fees than non-eligible rebuilds.
EO1 left a lot of questions unanswered, starting with what modifications could be made to the previously permitted residence while still remaining an “eligible rebuild.”
The departments’ memo provides answers to many of these questions, such as whether basements can be added to an eligible rebuild (“no”) and whether “historic” prevailing setback is allowed (also “no”).
The memo also states that non-eligible projects will be given priority over “standard” plan-checks, just not the expedited process offered to eligible rebuilds.
