Things have been very fluid, so the updates are going to be somewhat inconsistent.

For contractor and residents, you may obtain a pass that no longer expires at either the Disaster Recovery Center on 10850 Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90064 or at the second floor of the West LA Civic Center at 1645 Corinth Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90025. Please note that due to the upcoming rain this week, please note that PCH will be closed between Chautaqua and Carbon Beach. But as a resident, you can still enter off Chautaqua.

Per the Mayor’s Zoom meeting on 2/4/25, this is the new website for disaster relief. lacity.gov. LA DWP is still working on power restoration. However, Dept. of Public Health is still warning that the public should wear PPE when visiting the site. I was back at my destroyed home yesterday and today, EPA has already started the battery removals and they will be working on household hazardous waster removal in the next week. The gentleman I spoke with indicated that they should be done in a few weeks. The officer from the Army Corp of Engineers also indicated that once they have all of the ROE submitted (deadline March 31st, 2025), they will start the debris removal. They will call the homeowner 3 to 5 days before, and the homeowner will be invited to be present. It’s not necessary to be present, but one may observe at a safe distance.

There’s also on going PPCC online meetings. check the link HERE for future meetings. HERE is the link to the recording of the one from 2/4/25. Traci Park, Brad Sherman, and Steve Soboroff all gave good information. Traci Park indicated that they are working on eliminating the architect or structural engineer’s approval to access the existing plans. There are also talk of increasing the limit beyond 10% for smaller homes. Please reach out to Traci Park’s office Councilmember.Park@lacity.org or traci.park@lacity.org for more information. The special submittal office have not been set up yet. It should be coming soon. But both Traci Park and Steve Sodoroff seem to think that you should be able to submit it to LA DBS directly.

Here are a few items of information I’ve found out from the LA DBS plan checker at the disaster relief center:

10% increase per the Mayor’s executive order applies to height, bulk, and footprint. However, you still have to meet the current code. Malibu is allowing up to 25% increase if your building is below 2500 s.f.. Stay tuned for this development in LADBS.
Garage will still be exempted from the square footage calculation.
If you are putting back as-is, you won’t need a Title-24 and LID is waived.
Yes, you can keep all of the exceeding retaining walls, even if it exceed the current code.
You will need a permit to remove pools.
A few items I’m still not getting answers for, do you still need an arborist and Urban Forestry approval for tree removal. Do you still need a grading bond? No one seems to know the answer. I’ll update as I find out the answers.