However, planners and residents working to rebuild Los Angeles will not be starting from a blank slate. Existing roads, infrastructure, and land plots will all shape how the city is rebuilt. Some residents may want to rebuild immediately on the same plot of land, while others may be willing to sell their land to create a buffer zone.
On January 13, Mayor Bass issued an executive order that Speed up the permit for “like for like” rebuilds and exempts them from reviews that would slow down the rebuild process. Governor Newsom has also relaxed permitting regulations under the California Environmental Quality Act to speed up rebuilding.
How LA then chooses to rebuild is a “question of societal values,” says Moritz. “It’s not so much a question of science anymore. Shouldn’t we as a society be able to weigh in on where and how people are building or rebuilding, so it’s safer and less impactful from a public funding perspective down the road? ? Because many of these events will be repeated. “
Wildfires in California have become larger and more damaging in recent years. About 7.08 million acres of land burned in California between 2009 and 2018. Burned the area Between 1979 and 1988. The number of fires in urban areas has also increased. About 22,000 acres of land burned in the 10 years between 1979 and 1988 were within the so-called wildland/urban interface — areas where habitat is adjacent to wildfire-prone nature. It increased to 32,000 acres from 2009-2018.
One result of all this is that California officials have good maps of high-risk areas. Palisades and Eaton were classified as the most affected area by the fire High fire hazard zonesWhich means new developments in these areas will have to take steps to reduce the risk of fires spreading to homes from wild vegetation, including planting fire-resistant vegetation and cutting back any other trees and shrubs and keeping them away from homes. is
But the demand for housing in cities like Los Angeles is so high that developers often end up building in these extremely high fire risk areas. Nicholas Irwin, who studies real estate economics at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, says that after a wildfire, developers temporarily slow down construction in high-risk areas, but after a few years they pick up development. Returns to rates. .
Irwin says cities and local officials need to think about ways to discourage development in high-risk areas. One way would be to raise development taxes in fire-prone areas, but another would be to encourage developers to infill — building more houses and apartments in underutilized urban areas.
“We need denser growth, especially in places like Los Angeles. The property market there is out of control, and it’s getting worse,” he says. “We need to think about ways to rebuild that allow more units to be built to help with affordability but are also more resilient to future wildfire risks.”
Burying power lines can also go a long way in protecting homes from wildfire hazards. The fire that destroyed Paradise was shining By a power line fault, as were at least seven other of California’s most destructive wildfires. Burying power lines is not cheap, and Those costs are passed on For utility customers, many of whom do not live in wildfire risk areas.
“It’s the little things that can make a difference in the long run,” says Irwin. burying power lines, encouraging denser development, and building more defensible communities. But these long-term investments require changing how people think about living in wildfire-risk areas and acknowledging that more resilient communities come at a cost. “I don’t know if we’re going to learn anything,” Irwin says.
