Sorry for not posting last week, it’s been a busy week between the DLN design charrette and Design LA.

BIG NEWS!!! We asked for it, and we got it! Per the Implementation Guidelines for EO#1 (issued April 16, 2025), we were questioning that if a story can be added within the building footprint and height, why can’t a basement be added? Finally on Wednesday, May 7, 2025, I received word from LADBS that “the guidelines will be revised to allow basements whether one existed before the fire or not, provided the basement is within 110% of the original building footprint.” Once we received the official notice, I will post it. This is huge! We are still waiting for clarification from the LA County Tax Assessors. Typically basements and garage square footages are not part of the valuation. Thus this should fall under the 120% of the pre-fire and post building valuation, not 110% of square footage exemption.

What happens to my property’s assessed value when/if I rebuild my home?

The reduced value remains in effect until the property is fully repaired, restored or reconstructed. If the full cash value of the new replacement improvement does not exceed 120 % of the full cash value of the older damaged or destroyed improvement, then the trended base year value of the prior damaged or destroyed improvement will be restored without any adjustment. If the full cash value of the replacement property exceeds 120 percent, the amount of full cash value above 120 percent is added to the destroyed improvement's trended base year value.

However, don’t quote me on this. Please do your own homework.

Meanwhile, the Mayor issues these following Executive Orders.

EO #6 - Self-Certification Pilot Program - I’ve asked about this, and no one at LADBS seems to know about it.

EO #7 - Suspending Collection of Plan Check and Permit Fees - As usual, it’s not as simple as it was described. You will need to sign the Acknowledgement of Deferred Collection of Plan Check and Permit Fees Per the Mayor’s Emergency Executive Order No. 7 along with a copy of ownership documents such as grant deed or trust/LLC operating agreement.

EO #10 - Artificial Intelligence Pilot Program - This was discussed in Caruso’s webinar. However, LADBS is still figuring this out.

MORE GOOD THINGS TO COME!

We submitted our design package to welcome home the seniors and young families to the Palisades in Case Study 2.0 program. There are also many other fantastic architects involved that are providing a variety of floor plans at reduced cost for the rebuilding effort.

And we also participated in the Design Leadership Network’s Pattern Language Charrette over the weekend. The idea of this is to provide a visual dictionary for those working with a builder.

Lastly, we’ll be participating in the re-visioning of the commercial sector charrette in the coming week.

We will be revealing these as soon as they are available. The idea is to keep the cost down and bring everyone home. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions. Meanwhile, stay positive! Good things are coming.

Ask us

XO May

I’ve been getting a lot of questions on landscaping and what will our lush landscape look like after the rebuild. Here are some preliminary research I’ve done and wanted to share with the community. We can still bring back the lush landscape, but at a more conscientious level, like creating a defensible space zone around your home with no vertical path for the fire to travel up. Thus, start from your home’s perimeter and work outwards. HERE is a great resource to illustrate this.

Zone 0 (0-5 ft) - Avoid anything combustible in this zone. No wood mulch. Try using gravel.

Zone 1 (5-30ft) - Lean and Clean - the goal is to eliminate fire paths between vegetation by increasing spacing between trees, removing lower branches of trees and shrubs. Maintain the plants with proper irrigation and remove dead/dry material.

Zone 2 (30-100+ft) - reduce the density of trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants or grasses.

Does that mean no trees? No, it just means that you have to select your trees carefully. HERE is a good resource for selecting your trees.

Can you still have a privacy hedge? Yes and no. It depends on how far away the hedge is away from your structure. Again, maintenance is crucial. Plant selection is key.

CalFire also has a great site for guidance. https://readyforwildfire.org/prepare-for-wildfire/fire-smart-landscaping/

If you want to know which plants are fire hazardous, please check out this list prepared by the city of Marin. https://firesafemarin.org/create-a-fire-smart-yard/plants/fire-hazardous-plants/ The Fire Safe Marin website has a lot of great resources that is applicable to us in the Palisades.

Shelly Sparks RLA has also prepared this powerpoint addressing this issue: Don't Play with Fire