Laguna Beach OKs Rebuilding Plan

Beginning the next phase of recovery from the devastating October wildfire, the City Council on Tuesday night approved a rebuilding plan for the 366 homes lost in the blaze.

The plan encourages property owners to reconstruct homes using the same general “footprint” of their previous house, while allowing them to enlarge homes by 10% without going through the city’s lengthy design review process.

But under a more complicated option that could drastically change the look of some neighborhoods, residents could increase their ground floor by up to 49% without a design review if they can meet a checklist of requirements, including showing that they would not block views or infringe upon the privacy of neighboring homes.

Also under the plan, no flammable shake roofs will be allowed on rebuilt homes.

When considering applications to build much larger homes, city staff could require letters of consent from neighbors and, if disputes arise, the project could be forwarded to design review.

Planning Commissioner Jeff Powers, who lost his Canyon Acres home in the blaze, said earlier Tuesday that the city should be flexible toward people who want to rebuild the same size home as they had before.

Until three years ago, the city only kept house plans for two years. Records were lost in the fire, so it may be hard for some residents to prove what their former homes looked like.

“I think this is going to be, in some cases, a very difficult and challenging part of the project,” Community Development Director Kyle Butterwick said.

While homes with “legal, nonconforming zoning conditions” may be rebuilt, Powers said, his eclectic Canyon Acres neighborhood is bound to change as a result of the council’s unanimous vote. Because many Canyon Acres homes were built almost haphazardly between the 1880s and 1940s, before uniform building and zoning codes were in place, much of the neighborhood will now be reconstructed in a limited time and likely with similar supplies.

“That alone is going to change Canyon Acres,” Powers said.

Points of contention about the plan involved whether new homes should be kept in rows and whether residents must place utilities underground as they rebuild.