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City reports steady rebuild progress; council hears residents urging faster approvals and equitable prioritization
Summary
City staff reported dozens of rebuild permits issued, fee waivers totaling about $6.3M for Woolsey fire victims and active outreach at the rebuild center, while public commenters urged faster approvals and questioned apparent differences in how developer activity was handled after the fires.
Yolanda Bundy, director overseeing rebuild operations, updated the council on Nov. 10 about recovery and permitting following the Woolsey and Franklin fires. Bundy said the city has made measurable progress in planning and building permits for destroyed properties and is continuing to streamline permitting and provide support to fire‑impacted families.
"Out of [approximately] 465 parcels we lost on Palisades, 375 have been submitted for our review," Bundy said, and she reported that many parcels have moved through planning and building processes with multiple certificates of occupancy issued and projects under construction.
Bundy also told the council the City has provided about $6.3 million in fee waivers for Woolsey fire survivors and has integrated a case manager at the rebuild center who has reached out to dozens of families. She described frequent outreach, weekly zone captain coordination and efforts to prioritize projects that are ready to proceed.
Several public commenters, including residents who lost homes, urged the council to expedite permitting further and said they had seen apparent differences in how developer‑scale work was handled. One speaker alleged fast grading activity on a large developer parcel and contrasted that with delays homeowners faced in obtaining rebuild approvals; council members and staff responded that emergency grading and cleanup followed fire damage and that staff would review any specific claims.
Council members pressed for transparency about prioritization, timetables and potential procedural changes. Staff said they are actively adding technical resources (additional geotechnical firms) to increase permit throughput and emphasized that many delays relate to complex technical and environmental reviews unique to coastal and hillside parcels.
What the council did: the council and staff discussed continuing streamlining efforts, and Bundy said staff will continue weekly rebuild center operations, increase outreach and report progress. The council later directed staff to develop clearer policy language in other agenda items (community lands and strategic planning) to maintain momentum on rebuild priorities.
Why it matters: many Malibu residents remain displaced and the pace of rebuild approvals affects housing, school enrollment and local business recovery. Public trust in consistent and transparent permitting was a recurring theme in public comments.
