County unveils rebuilding "blueprint" and presses utilities to underground lines after fires

The Los Angeles County CEO’s office on Tuesday described a county “blueprint” to accelerate rebuilding after recent fires and windstorm events, and urged utility and telecom companies to commit to undergrounding power and communications lines in affected communities.

Chief Executive Officer Fesia Davenport presented the LA County Forward Blueprint for Rebuilding as a midterm road map focused on the next 120 days of recovery work. Davenport told the Board the plan organizes activity across six priority areas—financial pathways for homeowners, permitting and inspections, scaling builders and materials, restoring critical infrastructure, staffing/logistics, and restoring community services such as parks and schools.

Why it matters: large‑scale undergrounding of infrastructure is central to the county’s resilience goals and to reduce the risk of future fire starts from overhead lines. The board and CEO pressed providers to accept coordinated trenching and “dig‑once” approaches; the CEO said the county has set a 153‑mile undergrounding target within Southern California Edison’s service area and warned that “not undergrounding is not an option.”

What the blueprint covers - Immediate focus and pilot tools: The county has launched one‑stop permitting centers, a single unified building permit application, and an ArchaSTAR pilot—an AI tool designed to reduce plan resubmittals and speed approvals. - Financial measures: The CEO’s office said deferred permit fees already can save rebuilding owners up to $20,000 for like‑for‑like repairs, and the blueprint calls for more work to identify financing pathways and reduce cost barriers to returning home. - Utility undergrounding: County staff said Southern California Edison and the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power have committed to undergrounding efforts and to a coordinated approach to trenching. Telecom providers are mixed: Spectrum agreed to coordinate parallel trenching; Frontier and Verizon are considering microtrenching; Crown Castle, AT&T and T‑Mobile had not committed at the time of the hearing. The CEO said DPW will continue the utility task force process and that county counsel is preparing a draft ordinance to require undergrounding if providers do not commit.

Board direction and actions - The board accepted the blueprint overview and approved the regular emergency contracts report. Supervisors expressed a shared sense of urgency for undergrounding and for reducing permitting delays; the board approved the item on a unanimous voice roll call (4–0). - The CEO committed to issue the full blueprint and to finalize operational steps, while DPW and the governor’s office continue to press providers for commitments.

Public‑sector coordination and timing - Davenport emphasized the blueprint is scalable and does not require city participation but invited city partners to join. She said the county and the governor’s office set the undergrounding target during a June 11 meeting. DPW Director Mark Pastrella is leading the utility‑coordination work, and the CEO’s office asked for continued acceleration and said it would not recommend a county subsidy for telecom undergrounding; instead the county prefers coordinated trenching, microtrenching and regulatory leverage if necessary.

Public comment and community context - Residents and stakeholders urged clearer public messaging about permitting progress and saw parks and community gatherings as essential to recovery. Several speakers called for visible, frequent public updates on permitting metrics and rebuilding milestones.

Implementation note: The CEO said the full blueprint will be released later this week, and requested additional county coordination to mobilize materials, workforce, inspections and infrastructure work in the coming months.