City Approves Rebuilding Fee Waivers For Next Year, OKs Loophole For Bigger Houses
Written by 991KBU on February 25, 2021
Fire victims will get their fees waived for another year .,. by the City of Malibu.
And the city council last night decided not to close a loophole … that allows fire victims to get their fees waived for a rebuild … and then come in to apply for a bigger house.
The vote came as the city got a grim assessment on the rebuilding process.
It’s been 27 months since the fire destroyed 488 houses in western malibu.
The city’s homebuilding coordinator … Yolanda Bundy … teared up at last night
NEWSCART 73285 YB 1 STILL GOING THROUGH A PROCESS
“This is devastation that the families are never going to forget.
“I get emotional about this because I get to see it.
“I get to see the devastation after more than two years … and they are still going through a process.”
Bundy said the city has only issued 169 reconstruction permits so far … one third of the 488 destroyed houses.
NEWSCART 73284 YB 2 GET THEIR FUNDING
“We’re in the middle of a rebuilding Malibu.
“I think it’s been 2-1/2 years but it is still very much in present … and I don’t think anyone can ever forgive what they have been through.
“I get families that come in with a lot of emotions … frustrations because they haven’t received their permits … but also frustrations that they are dealing with insurance companies and haven’t been able to get their funding.”
In other actions … after midnight … the city council approved 4 thousand dollars for the Young Actors project.
The community youth program has to put its equipment into storage … as the owner has new plans for the Malibu Playhouse building near Point Dume.
There is no future home yet for the Young Actors Project.
Mikke Pierson says he hopes the Santa Monica College building … now under construction at the Civic Center … may make room for it.
The council also approved the idea of letting customers for the Malibu Farmers Market to park at the Chili Cook Off site …
The city will waive 34 hundred dollars in fees. … so that the city can process the Farmers Market application at no cost.
Malibu’s City Council will have that special session on homelessness issues … tonight on the Zoom platform.
Meanwhile … Santa Monica’s city council has directed its staff to explore creating “non-congregate” shelters in City properties … like parking structures.
Residents of Santa Monica are demanding the city enforce “quality of life” laws … according to the Santa Monica Lookoput newspaper.
The proposal includes creating a “behavioral health triage center” … continued multidisciplinary street outreach teams … putting “ambassadors” in Reed Park … and expanding rental assistance to prevent Santa Monicans from becoming homeless.
City staff warned the Santa Monica councilmembers that the proposed steps will be costly and long-term.
“What residents want to hear is that we are doing something,” said Councilmember Phil Brock. “We’re asked, ‘How can we do more?’
Non-congregate shelters, Brock said, “need to be pushed in Santa Monica. Taking people off the streets and getting them help is imperative.”
It’s also a necessary step before the City can begin enforcing its “anti-camping and anti-sleeping ordinances” in public parking garages and parks, said Interim City Attorney George Cardona.
“You cannot criminalize essentially not having a place to sleep,” Cardona said. “You have to make sure people have some alternative.”
