MALIBU—The Malibu City Council and staff are providing an update on the rebuilding of homes for residents impacted by the Woolsey Fire of 2018.

At the December 13 City Council meeting, Environmental Sustainability Director and Building Official Yolanda Bundy, who leads Malibu’s rebuild efforts, gave a presentation about the current status of all of the 454 homes destroyed and discussed challenges homeowners are facing and potential ways to address bottlenecks in the process. Video of the presentation is available at https://youtu.be/g-PloJqlDL4?t=3206 (and the presentation begins at 53:26).

Of the homes destroyed a total of 360 rebuild projects for single-family homes have been submitted to the city for process of which 328 rebuild projects for single family homes have been approved by Planning; a total of 214 permits to begin building were issued; 152 are currently under construction; and 62 rebuilds are completed.

For multi-family rebuild projects, 6 units are currently under construction and 12 units are complete. Planning is currently reviewing 32 applications; of the total of 328 (72 percent) were approved by planning. 68 projects were submitted for plan check and are currently being reviewed. Forty-nine have been approved by Planning but have not been submitted for plan check. A total of ninety-four property owners have not yet submitted for planning approval; Malibu received 13 extension requests from homeowners to submit an in-kind or in-kind + 10 percent replacement of the home. Updated rebuild statistics are posted on the website at https://MalibuCity.org/WoolseyStats.

Bundy notified that countless homeowners are facing delays because of building materials being caught up in the global supply chain backups. Severe increases in the cost of construction materials such as lumber, steel and concrete have affected homeowners’ economic choices and planning. Bundy is offering personal help to guide homeowners through the process and working with them and building professionals and outside agencies try to resolve challenges and delays, and staff is working one-on-one with residents on their rebuild projects.

Any homeowner facing challenges and who needs help moving their project forward is asked to call the rebuild team for one-on-one help at 310-456-2489 or email ashah@malibucity.org.