I’ve just been looking at an encouraging trend with permits over the last two weeks. In the week before Thanksgiving the City received five new Fire Replacement applications and issued five final permits. During the truncated Thanksgiving work week Malibu received two new applications and granted two final permits. The backlog of people (154) waiting for final permits did not get any larger. A little over 42% of the burned properties have now applied for rebuild permits. I am hopeful that future weeks will see the pace of final permits being issued will increase and the number of people in process will start to shrink.
Homelessness has arrived in Malibu in force in response to tougher parking laws being enforced along PCH in the Los Angeles/Pacific Palisades area east of Topanga Canyon. Driving PCH in the mornings makes you aware of how many people are now staying on PCH within the City limits. Barbara Burke has written a very good article titled “Malibu’s RV Problem” about the issue in the current edition of Malibu Magazine. It’s very worth a read.
Malibu is currently tackling the problem with The People Concerned who underwrite two full time outreach employees who strive to contact and assist homeless and connect them with the services required to help them rebuild their lives.
Los Angeles has a staffer who has overseen the issue for the last 5 years who announced his resignation yesterday. He claims that more people needing assistance are arriving faster than they can help them. Mayor Eric Garcetti of LA claims they currently have over 13,000 bedrooms of housing in the process that will be available by next summer and they are working hard to approve more.
On a national level it is apparent that California has more than its fair share of the problem with some sources claiming that California is currently home to just under 50% of the homeless and unsheltered in the USA. The Los Angeles Times claims that nearly all the California homeless lived in California before an issue (rent increases, medical problems, job loss, marital issue) tipped the scales against them.
I would appreciate any email or phone call any ideas and your experiences. Paul@malibuRE.comor 310-505-5006