As debris cleaning continues in Altadena five months after the Eton Fire, homeowners continue to struggle to obtain a timely reconstruction permit.
There were still some damaged structures and as of Thursday there was a burning aftermath of twisted metal, dust and soot. NBC Los Angeles saw almost 12 dirty lots in one block.
By June 1, homeowners and business owners who opted out of the U.S. Army clearing program or were not qualified, were expected to have submitted fire department removal permission.
“We have 71 properties we are monitoring,” said Luis Ramirez of the LA County Public Works Department.
“We will work with them throughout June to secure those permissions and to work with people who have already obtained permission to make sure they are done with the job,” Ramirez added, adding that property owners must remove the debris by June 30th.
The Army Company declared last week 90% of Altadena’s properties that chose to serve them, and the cleanup process is much faster than planned.
The delay is the issuance of building permits.
In late April, the LA County website said four building permits approved by the Eaton Fire Burn Neighborhood had approved the WER. About a month later, only 14 properties approved the rebuild permission and 600 applications were reported to be classified under the “Received” category.
As of Thursday, 21 building permits had been issued with an average turnaround time of 42 days. My goal is 30 days.
County officials said they have also been unhappy with the process that has slumped since the board of supervisors pushed them to streamline the permitting process.
Changes have self-certified, allowing architects and engineers to prove their plans to meet code requirements and move beyond the plan review process.
The Etonfire, which took place on January 7th, destroyed more than 9,400 structures, destroyed 1,000 more people and claimed 18 lives.
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