7 Encinal Homeowners Cannot Rebuild Now, But 11 Others Can
Written by 991KBU on May 28, 2019
L A County’s fire chief has signed off on plans to allow 18 fire destroyed homes in western Malibu to be rebuilt … even though their water supply is currently insufficient to fight fires.
But 7 of those homeowners will have to wait until new pipe construction begins … the county fire chief says their water pressure is so low that the reconstruction effort cannot begin until a separate county agency starts repairing water lines.
The county water district has plans to expedite construction of new water pipes and tanks in the lower Encinal Canyon Road area … to bring those home sites up to county standards.
Construction will start in 2021 and take two years.
In the meantime … the county fire department says 7 of the destroyed houses have water pressure at their fire hydrants that is so low … it will not allow reconstruction to begin until construction of the new pipelines and tanks has begun.
That is expected in 2021.
Another 11 destroyed homes have pressure that is poor … but not that bad.
The fire department will allow those 11 homeowners to rebuild now … knowing that the pressure may be too low for a few years.
This is a significant change from the fire department … which had blocked construction in that area for years due to fire hydrants that cannot even produce 500 gallons of water per minute.
People who own vacant land and hope to build houses in that area are still blocked from construction … however … until the water pipes are finished in 2023.
Los Angeles County Waterworks District 29 will host an informational meeting ro explain this.
Homeowners in the Encinal Canyon area have been invited to the meeting …. Thursday at 6:30 P M at Malibu City Hall.
The local water district 29 has been amassing millions of dollars to rebuild critical sections of the Malibu water system.
For some inexplicable reason … it had dropped rebuilding the lower Encinal Canyon water system from its priority list.
That was quickly changed… after the Woolsey Fire destroyed homes and people discovered they could not rebuild under fire department policies.
The meeting is at 6:30 Thursday at City Hall.
