Officials acknowledged there’s been a significant delay in restoring Altadena and the Pacific Palisades after the January wildfires. Lolita Lopez reports for the NBC4 News at 5 p.m. on Monday, April 7, 2025.
Since the Eaton Fire tore through Altadena in January, not a single building permit for an impacted homeowner was finalized even though more than 1,500 properties are ready for rebuilding, a Los Angeles County official said Monday.
LA County Supervisor Kathryn Barger acknowledged that restoring the once vibrant neighborhoods has met roadblocks and significant delays.
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WATCH HERE“To be candid, I am not satisfied with the pace today,” said Barger. “No building permits have been issued. That’s totally unacceptable.”
Barger added that a motion to cut through red tape will be voted on Tuesday by the LA County Board of Supervisors to create a permitting authority.
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SIGN UP “We need one point of contact that can override and really focus on getting it done real time,” Barger said, adding the slow process is an indication of the need to fix a broken permitting system and develop much needed housing not only for those impacted by the fire but for those building in the future.
“To me, it’s a total wakeup call to the bureaucracy that we are part of the problem, not part of the solution,” she said.
Altadena resident Margot Stueber is one of the wildfire victims frustrated by the sluggish process.
When Stueber and her architect Trinidad Campbell submitted their plans on March 2 to rebuild her home, they were promised by the county that there would be a two-week turnaround time for a first review and 30 days to issue a permit once the application is submitted.
But with three different departments (planning, fire, building and safety), each agency took two to three weeks to review their plan. In the end it meant there could be at least three months before they get their permit, according to Stueber and Trinidad.
Many homeowners said getting on the phone with insurance or various county departments has been like a second job for them while they live in expensive temporary housing or moving from spot to spot.
In the Altadena area affected by the Eaton Fire, LA County received 173 zoning reviews and initiated the permit process for 23 of them, a county official told NBCLA. In the same area, among 17 applications for temporary housing, such as a mobile or manufactured home, two have been issued.
In the Pacific Palisades neighborhood impacted by the Palisades Fire, the county has initiated the permit process for 13 homes out of 32 zoning reviews. Two temporary housing applications were approved in the area.
