Ravaged Palisades mobile home park now eligible for federal debris removal: 'It feels hopeful'
Residents of the fire-ravaged Tahitian Terrace mobile home park in Pacific Palisades who are facing deep uncertainty about whether their community will be rebuilt — a decision that is out of their hands — are "one step closer to returning home," Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath said Tuesday.
The mobile home park will be included in the federally funded debris removal program after initially being left out, Horvath said in a statement. Residents "now have certainty that the government will clear their properties."
The announcement follows weeks of limbo for the owners of the mobile home park and residents of its 158 homes, all but one of which were destroyed in the Jan. 7 Palisades fire.
Tahitian Terrace was home to an eclectic mix. There were wealthy residents, including 'Shark Tank' star and investor Barbara Corcoran. But there also were many seniors on fixed incomes who had paid off their homes decades ago, as well as a smattering of young, middle-income families.
In the hillside park just across from Will Rogers State Beach, residents own their homes but lease their plots of land, which are rent-controlled. The park has long been owned by a small, family-run company that makes little profit off the property.
The determination of who would pay for the debris removal has been a major factor in deciding whether to rebuild Tahitian Terrace, the park owners said in a March 21 letter to residents.
Read more: Mobile homes by the beach: In Pacific Palisades, a middle-class dream is destroyed
Ruthi Muñoz, a manager of the mobile home park who was reached by The Times on Tuesday, did not comment on the announcement, saying she was still learning the details.
The federal private-property debris removal, Phase 2 of the cleanup, is conducted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and offered free of charge to eligible homeowners who opt in. It follows the first phase, in which contractors from the U.S. Environmental Agency have removed potentially hazardous household items — such as pesticides, paint and lithium-ion batteries — that cannot be trucked to normal landfills.
Some types of multifamily housing that have at least one owner-occupied unit — such as a duplex or condominium — are eligible for the Army Corps' Phase 2 cleanup.
But multifamily rental properties that are owned by for-profit entities and do not include a single owner-occupied unit, such as apartment complexes and mobile home parks, generally are not eligible.
Street signs melted in the Jan. 7 fire at the Tahitian Terrace mobile home park.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is responsible for allocating funding and outlining cleanup procedures, has said the owners of those commercial properties are expected to use their insurance and hire licensed contractors to conduct debris removal.
But those property owners have been allowed to apply for the Army Corps debris removal, with their eligibility being considered on a case-by-case basis.
Robert Fenton, FEMA's Region 9 administrator, has said those property owners must provide justification for the use of federal funds on their cleanups, including that debris on the property poses a public health risk and that the commercial owner might not be able to complete the debris removal independently.
In a letter Monday to Nancy Ward, director of the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services, Fenton wrote: "After careful consideration, I agree with your assessment that Tahitian Terrace is a rare and exceptional case eligible for inclusion in the PPDR [Private Property Debris Removal] program."
Read more: 'We're all freaking out.' For mobile home residents, few answers after Palisades fire
On April 2, Los Angeles County officials requested that the mobile home park be included, according to Fenton's letter.
Although the EPA has removed potentially hazardous materials, "due to the unique characteristics of the property, immediate threats to public health and safety remain," Fenton wrote.
The Army Corps, he wrote, "estimates that 50% of the sites on the property contain friable asbestos."
The mobile home lots "are on a steep, fire-damaged hillside that overlooks Pacific Coast Highway," which, before the fire, was traversed by nearly 48,000 vehicles per day, he wrote. Comprehensive debris removal from Tahitian Terrace, he wrote, "is necessary to eliminate the immediate threat to the health and safety" of those commuters.
Fenton also laid out why the park's owners, Azul Pacifico Inc. — a family-run business that has owned and operated Tahitian Terrace, its principal asset, since 1960 — could struggle to complete the debris removal independently.
He cited their monthly income as an obstacle. The business' average pre-fire total rental income was about $240,000 per month, excluding utilities and operating expenses, he wrote, adding that "the terms of their lease agreement allow residents to withdraw from their leases under current conditions, which will limit their income."
In addition, Fenton noted, the owner's insurance pays $1,000 per plot for catastrophic debris removal with a limit of $50,000.
Fenton wrote that Los Angeles city officials, who have supported the county's request, have deemed Tahitian Terrace, with its rent-controlled plots, to be "an important source of affordable housing in Pacific Palisades."
"Based on the City's assurances, I am confident that including Tahitian Terrace in the PPDR program will accelerate the reopening of the park for its displaced tenants and ensure the community retains this affordable residential enclave in an otherwise affluent area."
In their March letter to residents, the park's owners wrote that "no decision about rebuilding can possibly be made until after the debris removal process has been concluded and our full analysis of all the variables is completed."
If Tahitian Terrace is rebuilt, they added, the process "could take many years."
Chris Russo, who closed escrow on a house in Tahitian Terrace one day before the Palisades fire burned it down, said she and other residents were baffled by the park's exclusion from the federal cleanup and spent many hours calling and writing government agencies, pleading for their lots to be cleared.
"Without FEMA's assistance, the fate of our ability to return home hinges on the underinsured landowners who are likely financially incapable of taking on the full burden of cleanup," she wrote to FEMA last month. "The situation is dire, and your decision will determine whether our community can rebuild or be permanently erased from the landscape of Los Angeles."
On Tuesday, Russo told The Times she was elated by the news, describing herself as "a squeaky wheel" who wouldn't let the issue be forgotten.
"We're very organized as a community because we all want to go back," Russo said.
"We've been fighting so much. It's exhausting. To get that little bit of a win — it's big news. ... It feels hopeful because we have been in limbo, not knowing what the future is."
Horvath, whose Westside district includes Malibu and the Palisades, has advocated for the inclusion of nonprofits, churches, mobile home parks and commercial properties in the federal debris clearance program.
In her statement Tuesday, she said that, in addition to Tahitian Terrace, the county has requested that Palisades Bowl — an adjacent mobile home park with roughly 170 homes — also be included.
As of Tuesday, a spokeswoman for her office said, the county's request had not been answered.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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