Rebuilding Efforts Flourishing After Fire : Recovery: Healthy new-home construction shows positive spirit, Laguna Beach officials say.

The city’s hills are alive with the sound of rebuilding, 15 months after a merciless firestorm swept through Laguna Beach, destroying homes and changing lives.

Community Development Director Kyle Butterwick said the city has issued 108 building permits, and most of those homes are now under construction. Another 75 applications are in the final review stages.

“We’re off and running and certainly very much involved in it,” Butterwick said. “What’s happening is we’re issuing more and more building permits because people are graduating through the review process.”

One anticipated trend is now evident: People are building bigger. Of the 197 applications submitted so far, only 28 were for “in-kind” replacements, Butterwick said. Most applicants are seeking to boost the size of their homes by 10% to 50%.

“People are, by and large, adding square footage to their houses. There’s just no question about that,” he said.

While city officials said the rebuilding process is proceeding fairly smoothly, some residents whose homes were spared by the fire, which damaged or destroyed nearly 400 dwellings, are having a rough time with the jarring chorus of hammers and saws.

One couple complained to the City Council recently about the difficulty of living amid a blizzard of construction.

“I really feel that both my husband’s and my rights are being violated,” said Rita Carp, whose home was left standing when her neighbors’ burned down. “I need Saturday and Sunday to survive.”

Hoping to minimize the problems, the city has enlisted a full-time building inspector to monitor the construction sites to see that they are properly maintained and that materials and equipment are properly stored.

“Actually, we have had very few complaints about building construction, both during weekdays and weekends,” Butterwick said. “All we can ask and urge is for the property owners and contractors to be respectful and create as little disturbance and impact to the existing residents as possible.”