Malibu planning staff reports steady progress on Palisades and Woolsey fire rebuilds

Dan Horter, interim assistant planning director, told the Malibu Planning Commission on May 5 that planning submittals for recent fire rebuilds have increased and that the city is operating a rebuild center to help homeowners move through planning and permitting.

“The average time for corrections is 8, that's down to 1 day previous. And then the average time for approval is 20 days,” Horter said as he summarized recent processing times and case counts.

Horter described separate tallies for the two recent fire zones. For properties affected in the Palisades area he reported that planning submittals have risen to about 25 percent of affected properties, with 18 percent pending and 7 percent approved; of those submittals he said 15 percent are “like for like” and 10 percent are “like for like plus 10%.” He also said initial rebuild consultations have increased to 206 properties, up from 193, and follow‑up consultations rose to 85 from 64.

For the Woolsey Fire area, Horter said planning had approved 365 projects, with 194 properties having obtained certificates of occupancy (up two from the prior report) and 107 still under construction. He gave a rough program breakdown: about 77 projects (about 21 percent) were like‑for‑like rebuilds, roughly 54 (about 55 percent of a subgroup reported) were like‑for‑like plus 10 percent, and about 90 projects (about 25 percent) were categorized as major changes.

The city’s Malibu Rebuild Center is open to assist applicants, Horter said, and has a staffed kiosk (he named Akash Mans) with listed hours and an email contact for the center (asha@malibucity.org). He also warned residents about an ongoing permit‑fee scam in which fraudsters use spoofed email addresses and staff names and ask for wire transfers; he urged residents who receive suspicious requests to contact Public Safety Director Susan Duenas and law enforcement.

Resident Joe Drummond, speaking during public comment, thanked commissioners for supporting fire victims and said the Palisades rebuild task force is working with an ad hoc council team to establish a separate rebuild category that would limit studies for eligible like‑for‑like repairs. “We are just glad that, our plans are being accepted so far, so that's great news,” Drummond said, and said he would provide weekly updates to the commission and council.

Why it matters: commissioners and staff framed the rebuild work as an operational priority: the numbers indicate increased throughput of planning consultations and applications, but staff emphasized that building plan checks and certificates of occupancy lag planning approvals. Commissioners and residents raised continuing concerns about things that affect rebuild speed, including ADU rules and fixture counts, and urged neighborhood‑level attention to fire‑safety and road access.

The presentation was informational; no formal action was taken on the rebuild report at the May 5 meeting.

Practical details: Horter said there are currently no building plan checks or building plan approvals for many of these files yet and therefore no additional certificates of occupancy expected until those plan checks occur. He encouraged applicants to use the rebuild center and to contact staff with questions.