During today’s Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors meeting, Chair Kathryn Barger introduced a motion focused on easing the financial burden of permitting costs felt by residents whose homes were destroyed by the January 2025 wildfires.
The motion directs several County departments to develop a plan to defer all permitting and inspection fees for like-for-like rebuilds in unincorporated areas, as well as a funding strategy to ultimately waive those fees.
The proposal also calls for a framework that allows County departments to receive direct insurance reimbursements for eligible permitting costs, ensuring both financial relief for survivors and cost recovery for the County.
“The survivors of the Eaton Fire have already lost so much and now they face enormous costs in their rebuilding journey,” said Supervisor Kathryn Barger. “I’m committed to doing everything possible to ease that burden. Waiving these fees is not just about cutting red tape. It’s about restoring hope, stability, and dignity to families who are still reeling from the devastation. This motion is a step toward making the rebuilding process more accessible and fair.”
Self-reported parcel-level data submitted to Los Angeles County Public Works (Public Works) through the right-of-entry (ROE) permits for the United States Army Corps of Engineers’ private property debris removal program reveal that almost ninety-four percent of property owners had some level of home insurance. However, each policy can vary, across the major insurers, and it is important for the County to work with the insurance industry to ensure that they cover costs they should otherwise reimburse property owners for.
The motion builds upon a broader County effort to modernize and streamline permitting for disaster recovery. This includes the launch of a self-certification option for licensed architects and engineers, which allows certified professionals to move quickly to building permit issuance; the deployment of software tools procured by the County that use artificial intelligence-powered compliance tools that ensure plans can be quickly checked for compliance by applicants; and the establishment of a Unified Permitting Authority for the Altadena One-Stop Permitting Center. The Unified Permitting Authority works across the four County permitting Departments to employ quick solutions to ongoing challenges, establishes pre-approved site and building plans and focuses on ensuring that applicants do not need to face unnecessary hurdles that can otherwise be resolved through policy updates.