Mayor Bass touts opening of 'one-stop rebuilding center' in aftermath of Eaton and Palisades fires
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- As the effort continued to clear fire debris from residential properties in the Eaton and Palisades burn areas, the city of Los Angeles on Thursday opened a specialized planning office designed to expedite the rebuilding process for residents who lost their homes.
The Centralized Permit Operation Center opened at 1828 Sawtelle Blvd.
Since taking office, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass says she's been shocked at how slow the city moves with too much red tape, permitting taking too long. But after the Palisades Fire destroyed thousands of homes, Bass says that's finally going to change and is committed to rebuilding at lightning speed.
"Here's the thing I don't want Palisadians to think: that this is never going to happen, they should just move away," she said. "I don't want that to happen so to me, doing things as fast possible. Getting Phase 1 over with, getting Phase 2 started and then getting people to think about Phase 3, hopeful people will then say, I know 'I will be able to rebuild' and go home to the Palisades they knew."
On Wednesday, the city opened a one-stop rebuilding center in West Los Angeles, located at 1828 Sawtelle Boulevard.
Representatives of various city departments are on hand at the center to help with expediting permits and other documents needed to begin the rebuilding process, including the Department of Water and Power, Bureau of Sanitation, City Planning, Bureau of Engineering and the city Housing Department. Southern California Gas Co. officials are also on hand, and representatives from other non-city agencies, such as the county Department of Public Works, could also be added.
"We have a dedicated team just to check projects in the Palisades so as soon as they submit," said Osama Younan, the General Manager of the Department of Building of Safety. "We're assigning it to this dedicated experienced, plan check engineers and they're turning it around expeditiously."
The city has hired the firm Hagerty Consulting out of Illinois, which specializes in disaster recovery, to help the city bring back residential neighborhoods safer than before.
For bringing back the Pacific Palisades business district, that will be the job of civic leader and activist Steve Soboroff, who signed on for just three months and has now agreed to work for free.
"What we have to remember is that there are people still living in the Palisades," said Bass. "Their houses are not damaged or needed minor repairs. We want to make sure that those individuals feel they have a town square to go to and I'm hoping the non-residential area will be a source of community for people who are building. What his goal is to focus on the non-residential area especially the city property. There's a library, a rec center, a playground."
The one-stop rebuilding center will stay open for however long there is a need.
City News Service contributed to this report.
