A prominent group of academics and real estate industry experts has crafted a far-reaching plan to hasten the recovery of Los Angeles County neighborhoods devastated by the January wildfires.
The authors identified roadblocks to recovery and proposed such solutions as speeding construction approval processes; addressing labor and supply chain issues; and stabilizing California’s property insurance market.
“We want to make sure that we’re moving as quickly as possible to try to get people back into their homes,” said report chairman Lew Horne, head of the Greater Los Angeles region for real estate services firm CBRE.
The 172-page “Project Recovery” report was compiled by professors in the real estate graduate schools at USC and UCLA, along with the Los Angeles chapter of the Urban Land Institute, a real estate nonprofit education and research institute.
It’s the deepest look to date at what steps can be taken to speed revival as displaced residents weigh their options to return to Pacific Palisades, Altadena, Malibu and other affected neighborhoods.
More than 100 experts in land use, urban planning and economic development offered technical analysis and recommendations to help those working on rebuilding make decisions and collaborate, the Urban Land Institute said.
The report also draws on the institute’s experience advising disaster-affected communities including in Colorado after the 2021 Marshall fire and in New York and New Jersey after Hurricane Sandy.
“Project Recovery” is an independent report not connected with research underway by Steve Soboroff, wildfire chief recovery officer for Mayor Karen Bass.
The institute’s report, which has been submitted to city and county staffs, is “a blueprint for recovery from people who know a lot about various issues,” Soboroff said. “It’s the best thing that’s come out, far and away.”
Many of its suggestions are in sync with Soboroff’s “90 Day Report” of observations and recommendations that will be presented in the second week in April, he said.
A few key recovery steps have already been taken: The city has approved permits to rebuild three homes in Pacific Palisades. As of last week, 72 property owners had submitted rebuilding applications to the city. An additional 98 have filed with L.A. County for rebuilding in unincorporated areas.
In the new report, teams of experts working with the Urban Land Institute identified major obstacles to recovery from the widespread wildfires and proposed strategic solutions, including:
Standardizing debris removal protocols
Consultants and contractors, whether engaged by the Army Corps of Engineers or by private parties, should follow the same protocols for debris removal, the report said. For example, the research team found that waivers of certain requirements of South Coast Air Quality Management District rules relating to asbestos removal have been provided to contractors engaged by the Army Corps of Engineers but are not be extended to privately engaged contractors.
Soil sampling results should be reviewed for each property to ensure they meet accepted standards and a certificate of completion should be issued by a state or local environmental agency to document that the standards have been met and connected to the building permit file for each property as a permanent record.
Streamlining approvals
The report endorses a permit self-certification program being explored by Los Angeles officials. Eligible projects would include single-family homes, accessory dwelling units, apartments and small commercial projects. Licensed architects, engineers and design professionals could “self-certify” building plans and specifications as compliant with objective building code requirements.
There should be a digital application for permit self-certification used by project permit coordinators for consolidating all departmental reviews, clearances and sign-offs at on-site permitting centers.
“We think that you could take a one-year entitlement program and knock it down to 30 days,” Horne said.
Sequential reviews by multiple departments such as building and fire should also be eliminated and replaced with a program that would consolidate all reviews under a single project permit coordinator.
Addressing labor and supply chain issues
On-site rebuilding logistics centers should be created for each wildfire area capable of processing up to 350 permits per month within 30 days of applications.
The centers would provide logistics planning and management of peak concurrent construction activity of 1,000 to 2,000 residences per wildfire area and 30,000 to 40,000 workers. Logistics experts would address worker parking, housing and services; construction deliveries; haul routes; staging of materials; and work hours. The centers also would provide offices for inspectors and inspection scheduling services.
The restoration of infrastructure and utility services should be coordinated with residential construction to expedite new home construction.
Stabilizing California’s property insurance market
Insurance challenges faced by many homeowners who endured catastrophic losses underscored the need to address long-standing issues with fire policy coverage in the state that threaten California’s future prosperity, the report’s authors said.
“These wildfire disasters are a very thick coat of icing on an insurance crisis cake,” said economist Stuart Gabriel, director of the UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate. “There is a great imperative that it be addressed substantively.”
Among the recommendations: Require insurers to factor in home hardening, defensible space and communitywide mitigation efforts when setting rates or renewing policies; give homeowners clear guidance on how to prepare their properties to get the best rates; and offer a public-private reinsurance program to encourage insurers to reenter high-risk areas.
Additionally, require insurers to take forest management into account in their underwriting, and boost federal, state and local funding for forest and chaparral management strategies, such as controlled burns and fuel load reduction.
Creating community rebuilding authorities
These community rebuilding authorities would act as the general managers, empowered to plan and implement the rebuilding and recovery efforts. They would have oversight from independent governance boards but maintain operational autonomy and authority.
Mandates for the CRAs would include establishing a financial assistance fund to help property owners cover funding gaps, and creating a privately operated center for coordinating planning, permitting and inspections under one roof.
The report further recommends launching a consortium of builders that could offer turnkey rebuilding solutions to property owners who prefer not to undertake the rebuilding on their own.
A crucial part of the rebuilding process will be engaging with people in the affected communities to “find out what they want and what they expect,” said economist Richard Green, director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate. “Because while I agree that we need to bring economies of scale to the rebuilding, if they feel like it’s being imposed upon them, that would not go anywhere. Their emotions are so raw right now.”
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