U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Col. Sonny Avichal Monday, June 16, 2025, announced that 26 Altadena commercial properties had been approved by FEMA for eligibility in the Army Corps’ debris removal mission.
Before the decision, commercial properties were being considered only on a case-by-case basis. Over the last few months local business owners and Supervisor Kathryn Barger had been advocating for commercial properties to be included in the Army Corps’ workload, which included Barger traveling to Washington D.C.
In a statement Tuesday, Barger commended FEMA for its decision and was grateful that her recent conversations with agency’s leadership in Washington helped make the decision possible.
“This is welcome news for our community—every bit of support goes a long way in bolstering the community’s sense of resilience,” Barger said.
Avichal did not provide the names of the businesses when he made the announcement during the weekly Altadena Community Meeting streamed on YouTube. He said the majority of the properties are on Lake Avenue, between Altadena Drive and Woodbury Road, as well as a group of properties on Fair Oaks Avenue, near Altadena and Calaveras Street.
The Army Corps referred questions about the full list of properties to FEMA.
“They (the 26 properties) are on the Army Corps’ work list and have very likely provided an ROE or a Special Inclusion Request,” said Anish Saraiya, Altadena Recovery Director in Supervisor Kathryn Barger’s office. “L.A. County Public Works will work with the Army Corps to ensure authorization has been submitted and will notify any property owners of the work plan if they have not.”
Matthew Schodorf, who owns the Altadena Café de Leche location, with his wife Anya, said earlier this month that because businesses were originally not included in the Army Corps debris removal program he had secured a contractor to do the work.
The evening before the contractor was scheduled to arrive to start the clearance, Schodorf received a call asking if he’d like to re-opt in to the debris removal program. The Army Corps also called and the clearance is expected to begin within the next two weeks.
“I’ll believe it when it happens,” Schodorf said in a text message Tuesday.
In addition to the commercial properties, the Army Corps has taken on 43 special inclusion properties that include private nonprofits and public properties. As of Monday, the Army Corps had cleared debris from 5,337 properties, about 93% of its workload.
There are currently 33 debris removal crews working Altadena, Avichal said. The number of crews peaked at over 120 crews earlier this spring.
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