Homeowners hear updates on debris removal and FEMA compliance, as officials reaffirm deadlines
On April 15, city staff and consultants met for a second time with homeowners whose beachfront properties burned down, reviewing debris removal progress, addressing policies that apply to most, if not all beach lots, and providing answers to detailed questions unique to various lots.
Noting that the first beachfront homeowners meeting occurred five weeks previously, Yolanda Bundy, environmental sustainability director for the City of Malibu, showed a video demonstrating that there has been significant improvement in debris removal on beachfront lots. “It’s a sign of hope and that we are moving forward and that you will be rebuilding your homes,” Bundy said optimistically, adding that the city and its residents owe, “a big debt of gratitude to the Army Corps and the contractors who are helping with removal for those who opted in as well as those who opted out of having the Army Corps of Engineers remove their debris.”
She also showed a geotechnical team conducting studies and drilling to do the exploration required to develop a multi-parcel geotechnical report on a cleared parcel. Bundy informed that only 10 beachfront property owners have not communicated with the city regarding whether to have the Corps clean up their lots.
Providing new information to homeowners, she stated, “For those who opted out, in a meeting with Public Works of the county we have just established they have a new deadline of June 30 for debris removal.”
Lt. Col. Nathaniel A. Weander, deputy commander of the Corps’ Emergency Field Office for Pacific Palisades, stated that the Corps has 97 debris removal crews operating across a 37-mile fire impact area and that the teams are averaging more than 40 properties a day, amounting to 1,200 a month. He noted that approximately one-third of the families that haveopted in have elected to retain their foundations.
“The crews have removed 450,000 tons of fire, ash and debris — that’s four and a half aircraft carriers or if you had F150 trucks and parked them end to end, they would stretch from Malibu to Santa Fe, New Mexico,” he said. “We have received a total of 3,582 requests to enter property from Los Angeles County, all of which have been delegated to the Corps’ contractors. About 1,200 homeowners have opted out. Final sign off has been given for 1,021 parcels, or 8 percent of the total.”
Emphatically discussing the Corps’ target deadlines, Weander added, “We will clear all of the beachfront properties by the end of May per the Governor’s Executive Order which will allow the state to have the additional land to open the highway.”
View corridor concerns and FEMA elevation increases
Addressing the planning verification phase, City Principal Planner Tyler Eaton explained that if a homeowner is on the beachfront on La Costa or Carbon beaches there are homes adjacent to PCH that could have view corridor impacts when the beachfront lots are rebuilt with an additional 10 percent of square footage that is allowed by city policies.
“We’ve heard concerns from some of those living on the landside on Pacific Coast Highway who are worried about their previous views becoming impacted from building by beachfront owners who must rebuild homes higher than their old home to comply with new FEMA guidelines relating to sea level rise,” Eaton said. “One possible option for the landside owners is that they can put a rooftop terrace in as part of their additional 10 percent of square footage.”
Elaborating, Eaton said, “To address the concerns of the landside owners with regard to their view corridors, our policy requires that those rebuilding on the beach move their home laterally side to side on their properties before going vertical as they add up to 10 percent of their square footage. Clearly, those owners cannot build further toward the ocean. Your building cannot project further seaward and your deck cannot project further seaward or you require a State Lands letter.”
For those homeowners who had utility equipment under their beachfront homes, they have to have them elevated when they rebuild, according to Eaton.
Onsite wastewater treatment systems
Addressing beachfront lots’ onsite wastewater treatment systems and environmental health, Lauren Doyel, a geology, geotechnical, and coastal engineering contractor for the city, said there will be a meeting concerning the potential for building a sewer or sewers along the coast on April 24 and the outcome of that meeting may well affect how OWTS are treated on some or all beachfront lots.
Doyel also noted that all properties must comply with the city’s local agency management plan, MMC Section 15.40.090, which requires advanced wastewater treatment. “All beachfront homes must have advanced systems and there are about 60 homes that already have advanced systems,” she stated. “With an OWTS comes the issue of shoreline protection and seawalls — if you have an OWTS without a seawall, you must build one. It has to be code conforming and you must determine if any existing seawalls can be repaired or rebuilt.”
Doyel walked attendees through an assessment process. “One must first assess if he has a seawall and, if so, he must document that it is engineered and permitted,” she said. “Then, he must address whether it is structurally sound and, if so, he must ensure that it is code conforming. Finally, one must determine if it can be repaired or rebuilt or whether a new wall is required.
“A series of reports must be submitted to city staff to address all of those questions. First, owners must provide a structural evaluation written by a structural engineer with marine experience. Second, they must submit a coastal engineering report authored by a coastal engineer with design experience. Finally, a comprehensive geotechnical report must be submitted and must be prepared by a soils engineer and engineering geologist for the foundation and the seawall.”
Doyel noted that staff “will combine homeowners’ geotechnical and coastal engineering reviews” as a time-saving measure. Community guidelines for coastal engineering and geotechnical guidelines will be available as soon as all the community meetings are finished, according to Bundy. Staff also emphasized that multi-parcel reports are acceptable and that if owners collaborate with one another, they could save both time and expense.
Lengthy question and answer session focuses on property-specific questions and Caltrans’ role
The presentation was followed by a two-hour-plus question-and-answer session that focused on many site-specific questions unique to various parcels. Overall, one of the largest of attendees’ concerns focused on Caltrans’ retaining walls that held up Pacific Coast Highway on residents’ properties, with several homeowners noting that from their perspective, Caltrans should be constructing new retaining walls to ensure the highway does not falter and collapse on their property. Other homeowners opined that there are drain pipes that were under their structures, some of which crossed under PCH and Caltrans did not service them for years. Now that there has been a fire, those residents articulated frustration that Caltrans is not addressing their removal.
Deputy City Manager Alexis Brown stated, “Caltrans-specific questions concerning how to handle retaining walls is top of mind for Malibu and before we open PCH, we have to make sure it is safe. Caltrans should be having a plan about what it will do to support the highway and we are working with LA Public Works.”
“We had 70 coastal properties that have opted out,” Bundy said. “One of the conditions of cleaning those parcels is pumping the septic tanks on those properties. We have started to send letters, and I am receiving calls from differentcompanies that pump systems that there are some septic systems abandoned and we are keeping a close eye on that.”
Remediating the ocean and beaches?
A couple of frustrated residents noted that although the Corps has cleared their lot, there is a bathtub floating in the ocean and a lot of fire debris in the water. They queried which agency is working on cleaning ocean debris. Bundy stated that the city is working with LA Public works to address ocean debris.
Time allowed to rebuild
Eaton noted that “Fire victims have six years to get plan approval and building approval to rebuild a home — until Jan. 7, 2031, to how it was before the fire — after six years, they will have to come into code compliance.”
Elaborating, he noted that entitlement rights and benefits run with the land, meaning that subsequent purchasers have the six-year window to rebuild. However, he stated, “The City Council asked us to come back with a fee waiver program and,if that is approved, the fee waivers will only benefit the person or company that was a property owner at time of the fire.”
As attendees left the lengthy meeting, some of them had their questions answered, others planned to meet at the Rebuild Center with staff or consult with their design-build teams and all seemed concerned about having both the budget and bandwidth needed to rebuild.