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Los Angeles mayor announces online catalog of preapproved home plans for Pacific Palisades

City calls on architects, building professionals for design submissions

Rebuilding is already underway at some sites in Pacific Palisades, California. (VCG via Getty Images)
Rebuilding is already underway at some sites in Pacific Palisades, California. (VCG via Getty Images)

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The city of Los Angeles is creating a virtual library of preapproved home plans to speed up rebuilding in Pacific Palisades.

Mayor Karen Bass announced Thursday that the city is launching the “Pre-Approved Standard Plan Pilot Program” — an online collection of preapproved, code-compliant single-family home designs set to “fast-track rebuild projects.”

“While our recovery is on track to be the fastest in modern California history, I know that nothing will erase the unimaginable pain and loss that the Palisades community has endured,” Bass said in a statement. “With debris removal months ahead of expectations, construction underway, and new action taken today to further streamline the rebuilding process, we continue to push forward in our all-out effort to get families home.”

Officials have suggested that preapproved projects can offer homeowners a shorter, more predictable and less expensive review process because they’ve already been checked for compliance with zoning and building code requirements. That said, the plans will still require specific site-specific details to be fully approved.

As the city compiles the library, it's calling for submissions from architects and building professionals for preapproval.

Nongovernmental organizations have rolled out similar programs in recent months as the region works to recover from January’s fires. There’s the Case Study 2.0 program and The Foothill Catalog Foundation, for example.

Both initiatives have compiled plans for various kinds of single-family homes that have either been preapproved or are going through the process.

Another executive order makes permitting easier

The mayor also introduced an executive order expanding the types of single-family homes that qualify for the state’s emergency suspension of certain environmental requirements.

It gives more freedom to residents “seeking to build a home that’s different than what they had before or to expand or redesign their home."

Previously, the streamlined permitting process and environmental exemptions applied only to like-for-like rebuilds — those that stayed within 110% of the size of the previous structure.

As of Thursday, 85% of residential properties in the city that were destroyed by the Palisades fire had been cleared and received “final sign off,” according to the mayor’s office. More than 300 plans for rebuild projects have been approved.