Newsom plans to let LA suspend duplex projects in fire burn zones

Months after the Palisades and Eaton Fires destroyed more than 16,000 structures, most of which were houses, homeowners are slowly starting to rebuild. As plans start to materialize, elected officials are calling for stricter limits on how many new homes can be added to neighborhoods that burned.

Citing concerns about future fire safety, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass asked California officials on Tuesday to block a recent state law from letting duplexes and other additional housing units replace burned-down single-family homes in the Pacific Palisades.

A spokesperson for Gov. Gavin Newsom said he plans to issue an executive order Wednesday allowing local governments to limit the law’s application in high severity burn areas, which would include the Palisades, parts of Malibu and Altadena.

Senate Bill 9 allows duplexes to be built on single-family home lots across California. The law — which took effect in 2022 — also allows lots to be split, resulting in up to four housing units on a site that previously held one.

In a written statement, Bass said California desperately needs more housing. But she said state lawmakers “could not have foreseen the bill’s impact on the Palisades community as it works to rebuild from one of the worst natural disasters in state history.”

She went on to say that denser housing could clog evacuation routes and make it difficult for firefighters to enter the Pacific Palisades in an emergency.

“I oppose this usage as it relates to rebuilding in the Palisades,” Bass said, “and I look forward to continuing to work with Governor Newsom and state leaders to advocate for the Palisades community and identify a path forward as we continue to rebuild.”

Palisades homeowners fear future congestion

Some Palisades residents cheered the mayor’s efforts. Pacific Palisades Community Council leaders have written to state and local officials calling for a suspension of SB 9 projects in the area.

They said SB9 projects could worsen fire safety and destroy the “distinctive character” of the “quiet, low-density community of predominantly single-family homes.”

“[Bass] has listened to us,” said Sue Kohl, the Community Council’s president. “She's out there supporting us, letting the governor and everyone else know that in our part of town, it's dangerous.”

Kohl recalled the chaotic evacuations during the Palisades Fire. Many residents had to abandon their cars in stalled traffic and flee on foot.

“Our roads are very, very narrow,” Kohl said. “So the thought of having single-family lots — where there were single-family homes — divided up into multiple-family situations is frightening to most of us.”

SB 9 has been rarely used so far

Kohl said it’s not clear how many SB 9 projects are in the works in the Palisades so far.

Since the law took effect, few projects in L.A. have come to fruition. A study from UC Berkeley’s Terner Center for Housing Innovation found that during the first year the law was in place, the city received 211 applications for new SB 9 units and 28 applications for lot splits.

Reasons for the limited uptake include high construction costs, complicated approval processes and limited development experience among homeowners, researchers said.

Another barrier to wider adoption has been a requirement for applicants to live on the property for at least three years after a lot split.

Azeen Khanmalek, executive director of Abundant Housing L.A., supports SB 9’s aim of bringing more housing to the 72% of residential land in the city of L.A. reserved for single-family homes. He said some people who lost their homes in the fires were renters, and SB 9 projects could give them new housing options.

“We want to ensure that everyone who wants to return to their community has an opportunity,” Khanmalek said.

He said SB 9’s owner-occupancy requirements prevent outside developers from swooping into the Palisades and transforming the neighborhood.

“Homeowners will have to proactively decide to say yes, as I rebuild, I would like to split my lot and have a smaller lot — or I would like to have two units on my lot and only occupy half of my former home,” Khanmalek said.

Palisades leaders push governor to suspend SB 9

However, concerns about neighborhood transformation have convinced some local officials that the Palisades should be exempt from the law.

L.A. City Councilmember Traci Park, who represents the Palisades, wrote a letter this week calling on Newsom to suspend SB 9 in the neighborhood as well as “other laws permitting increases in density.”

“Developers are purchasing single family properties and redeveloping them into mutli-family developments through SB9,” Park wrote.

She did not specify how many SB9 applications have been submitted for properties in the neighborhood since the fires.