Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair Kathryn Barger on Thursday, April 3, announced the formation of the Community Coalition for Altadena Recovery, the “first phase” of a pledge in the weeks after the Eaton fire to create a county commission that would guide the rebuild of the area.
The coalition aims to bring together representatives from local organizations, including the Altadena Town Council, Altadena Historical Society, Altadena Heritage, Altadena NAACP, Altadena Chamber of Commerce, Altadena Wild, Altadena Coalition of Neighborhood Associations and Altadena Rotary.
Those representatives would give input to Barger that would guide the recovery process.
“The road to recovery requires collaboration, strategy, and community input,” Barger said Thursday. “By launching this coalition, we are empowering trusted voices within Altadena to inform work that reflects the community’s needs and priorities. Lessons learned from past disasters have shown that ongoing engagement and transparency are key to ensuring lasting recovery.”
The group would meet regularly, and be a sounding board for organizations ranging from community groups to county departments to rebuilding plans.
That rebuilding process for the community at large remains very much in its nascent stages.
For the rest of the year, crews will be clearing ash and debris from properties throughout the town, where the mammoth fire destroyed more than 9,000 structures and left 18 dead. Slowly, property owners are beginning to build back, or at least aspire to it.
As of last week, unincorporated Los Angeles County has received 132 preliminary zoning applications to rebuild, according to the county.
Twenty-three have started the permit process. Of the 23, two have had their plans approved, pending clearances, according to a county spokesperson. Fifteen temporary housing applications have been received and are under review.
But as strong as the zeal has been to build back quickly, others have voiced a desire to temper the urge to build too fast with the need for a unified plan that gives the area a more cohesive vision, which still maintains the area’s beloved vibe and charm.
Also, since the early days of the destruction, many in the area have been worried about opportunistic developers swooping in to buy up charred lots. Longtime leaders and residents say that is prescription for changing the character of the area, and pushing out many, including the region’s uniquely robust Black population. That population has called Altadena home for generations, and there’s worry that generational wealth will be pushed out.
Barger, whose Fifth District includes the burn areas in Pasadena, Altadena and Sierra Madre, said she wants to make sure various groups have a voice.
The coalition is not the same thing as Barger’s pledged creation of an Altadena Recovery Commission, which in February she said would also help guide recovery from the Eaton fire in Altadena. She said that body would include experienced leaders who would inform the process of rebuilding the unincorporated town.
The commission’s mission will be to “bend the arc of history for Altadena,” by expediting the rebuild, which would include a modern infrastructure, streamlining the permitting process and developing “scalable housing solutions so all residents can return home quickly and affordably,” Barger said in February.
The coalition announced on Thursday was a precursor to that, she said.
“This is just the beginning,” Barger said. “My goal is to ensure that Altadena’s recovery is community-driven, thoughtful, and successful. The coalition’s input is a key component of our collective work to keep Altadena’s rebuilding process moving forward.”
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