Mayor Bass’ New Executive Order Aims to Hasten Rebuilding LA

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has issued an executive order to allow thousands of owners to rebuild faster after their homes and businesses burned down.

The mayor’s new Executive Order 1 requires city departments to complete project reviews within 30 days and waive discretionary hearings under zoning rules, the Los Angeles Times reported. Because it only applies to property in the city of Los Angeles, it mostly affects victims of the Palisades fire.

The order applies as long as property owners don’t increase the size of their homes and businesses by more than 10 percent.

The mayor’s order also establishes task forces for debris removal, mudslide mitigation and to help apartment development nearing completion receive temporary occupancy approval to put more homes on the market.

“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 clears away red tape and bureaucracy to organize around urgency, common sense and compassion.”

The mayor’s move came a day after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order waiving regulations under state environmental laws to speed up rebuilding in the Palisades, Altadena and fire devastated areas across Los Angeles County.

Bass had praised Newsom’s decision after signaling last week that a similar order would come from the city.

Long before the firestorm tore through L.A. and foothill neighborhoods last week, analysts criticized the city’s lengthy and bureaucratic building permit process as a major roadblock to home development.

While Bass and Newsom’s orders aim to streamline construction, brambles of red tape that hold up development in the Palisades and beyond mean that details of the government’s response — including the number of available staff to process permits, or even exemptions from permits — will determine its outcome, according to the Times.

The orders came after the city’s top real estate brokers called for Bass and Newsom to do more to address restrictive laws, regulations and building codes that could stymie rebuilding efforts.

Azeen Khanmalek, executive director of Abundant Housing LA, called Bass’ order a positive development in the process of rebuilding L.A.

Given the scale of the devastation, he called for Los Angeles to do more to fast-track new housing developments both in and out of areas affected by the fires.

“We were already in a housing crunch before and now there are thousands of new households and families looking for places to live,” Khanmalek told the Times.

— Dana Bartholomew