Erik Yesayan | LA Land Use

Is single stair egress allowed now?

Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898 - Wikipedia

How does this compare with: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotham:...

Usually pretty quick like a 2 day turnaround from when you request it.

Thank you to Dr. Siqi Zheng for hosting, and to the students for a great discussion!

I had the privilege last week to present to Professor Siqi Zheng's class at the MIT Center for Real Estate on rebuilding after the LA fires. My presentation covered the costs and challenges of rebuilding, as well as opportunities to rebuild more resilient neighborhoods.

If the rebuild increases the height by more than 10%, a Coastal permit will likely be required.

Also, you run into view protection regulations that can add another layer of restriction.

Many beachfront and other fire rebuilds will face the challenge of maintaining their previous height while complying with current flood elevation requirements, which mandate a certain amount of clearance beneath new structures.

Yes, that’s the issue. Nolan is on point.

Yes, with the County of LA.

Just means the additional 10% has to comply with local zoning and other local requirements.

This combined with the Governor's new order N-9-25 exempting new ADUs from coastal review will help people rebuild quickly.

ADUs can also get CofO before the main house gets it, which will also help people get temporary housing built quickly before the main house is completed.
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ZIMAS can tell you what property is under the categorical exclusion zone. Projects here just need to comply with the underlying zoning maximums and your project will be considered by-right.
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Unlike Malibu, much of Palisades is exempt from coastal review or outside the coastal zone.

If a property is in the "categorical exclusion" zones of Palisades, then you can build beyond the 110% of the existing house and still be exempt from coastal review.
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Hopefully not too much to lead
to bad mudslides.

The authorizing code in the Coatal Act that allows for exemption for small additions to existing homes is Section 30610.

However, they were later much more limited after the City received backlash that these projects were circumventing the Coastal review by way too much. Consequently, many of these projects got stuck in limbo and some were made to get a CDP.

If you want to build slightly bigger, then an administrative permit is also possible. For the Woolsey Fire, these types of rebuilds were at first exempted in Malibu for up to 40% increases in floor area.

You’ll get some expediting help as a rebuild and will have much more flexibility in the size and scale of the rebuild too, but will be required a public hearing and discretionary review. This will take about 1-1.5 year to get.

Many of the fire rebuilds in the coastal area that want to rebuild bigger will just end up getting a Coastal Development Permit (CDP). 🧵

So if you want to split a lot between existing units, then you need to submit ASAP to be vested before July 1 this year.

Here's the limiting provision in SB 1123:

65852.28.(a).13 The proposed subdivision will not result in any existing dwelling unit being alienable separate from the title to any other existing dwelling unit on the lot.

One of the big limiting changes that will come to SB 684 as a result of SB 1123 in July is that you will no longer be able to split a lot between existing units.

You need to act ASAP to avoid this before July. See below.

The few surviving homes in fire damaged neighborhoods will be at major risk.

Unlike fire, flood damage is not covered by standard insurance policies.

No matter how much we prepare, mudslides are always an issue after major fires.

How do we do better?

Mudslides will be the next big thing we need to prepare for immediately after fires are contained.

February is considered the wettest month of the year in LA, so need to act fast.

With vegetation gone and drains clogged with debris, the impact can be massive.

How do we make this process faster and more affordable? I’m thinking things outside of government control.

I’ve done a bunch of fire rebuilds in and around Malibu. The truth is they take a long time to complete remediation, site prep, studies, design, and then building.

This is even with city or county having specific teams assigned to expedite applications.

Also, they are very costly to maintain, and if you don’t do your annual trimming, then they become an even bigger fire hazard.

This is a no brainer to me. Cut them all down in and near fire zones.

Palm trees are a very LA thing, but they need to be banned in and around fire zones.

Highly flammable trees that have a torch like effect, which release a ton of embers all around.

It does include other important items, including setting a timeline for HCD to come back with guidance on streamlining permits, but the Coastal exemption is the same as before.

Governor’s new order to suspend Coastal/CEQA review for fire rebuilds is nothing that isn’t already established in law. In-kind fire rebuilds have always been exempt.