Molasses

Oops! I published this here instead of my other rebuilding page. I figured I’d keep it here anyway—seeing as people left some comments :)

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We have a saying in our family. If a journey takes longer than expected because of traffic, road works, etc., we say we are “in molasses”.

A quick email search for the word molasses brought up this email—which feels relevant:

Molasses.

Back in September, Jay wrote the following to a friend who had checked in about how things were going with the “rebuilding”.

“Back in SoCal, things are not quite as hunky-dory. Progress on rebuilding our house is very, very slow. I wish that I could tell you why, but it’s never clear. The number of things that must be done—in exactly the right order (which is kept a secret)—is very large. Surveys. Re-surveys. Soils analyses. Debris analysis and removal. Foundation testing. Fencing around everything. Blah blah blah. Suffice to say, Julia and I each oscillate between feeling hopeful and feeling despondent about our situation and the future. The trick is to keep our oscillations from becoming synchronized. That way, whichever of us is feeling hopeful, can talk the other out of spiraling too deeply into depression.”

Sadly, this email would sound about right even if written now. Molasses everywhere.

Today is May 8^th. Save for a brief respite from all of this—in the form of Jack’s graduation from Michigan (see below), things have felt like a lot recently.

We are currently at the ‘building and safety’ step in the permitting process. This is the part in which Lauren submits a giant packet of drawings and measurements and other information satisfying requirements for six different departments (Building Safety; Geology/Geotechnical; Environmental Health; Public Works; LA County Fire Department; Planning).

These individual departments or entities review the parts relevant to them and then send back notes with corrections to be addressed.

That’s where we were when I last left off. Superhero Yolanda had swept in and turned our corrections around in 24 hours.

Herein lies the paradox. We were excited to get the corrections back as it signals another step in what feels like the right direction. And at the same time, the corrections trigger a seemingly insurmountable chain of more things that now need to be done. Things that we either didn’t know we needed to do before (more on this later) or that need to be fixed.

As I’ve said previously, the opacity of all of this makes the process extremely difficult to navigate. And not just for us mere mortal non-architect/engineer/building expert folks.

For everyone.

Equivocation is everywhere. I am used to being in situations where I have some facility relating to my circumstances and if need arises, I am able to problem solve and figure things out. Or at least have a sense of the questions I need to ask, or where more exploration is needed.

In this realm of rebuilding a house after a fire—we are completely in the dark.

And what makes it all so much more unnerving is the feeling that we’re not the only ones. And by that I don’t mean other homeowners, I mean the staff at Malibu City or the members of the different entities mentioned above.

The week after we got the corrections, we met with Lauren to discuss interior design choices. We talked concrete colors, wood hues, wallpaper, paint, cabinetry, tile. We looked at cool, creative samples Lauren brought with her. Many things we would never have found, and as soon as we saw them, we knew they’d be perfect! This was definitely a more fun (the most fun so far) part of the process. But it also brought into sharper focus how far away we still feel from watching tile be installed, concrete floors poured, or cabinets hung.

Do we know that day will come? Yes.

Does the process still feel interminably slow and molassessey (sp?) with no end in sight. Yes.

Both/and.

There were corrections from each of the six distinct entities. Some of whom had a few small notes—others a lengthier list. Lauren was confident she could get through the corrections methodically—but some of the things we were being asked for seemed nutty. Even to her.

One of the requests focused on dark sky ordinances and our “outdoor lighting plan”. Things like:

· Lumen count shall not exceed 850 lumens.

· Color temperature shall not exceed 3000 Kelvin.

· Outdoor lighting shall only be used within 50 feet of a residentially habitable building or pool with the exception of security, driveway and walkway lighting.

· Lighting shall be fully shielded and directed downward.

Fully shielded” means a light fixture constructed and installed in such a manner that all light emitted, either directly from the lamp or a diffusing element, or indirectly by reflection or refraction from any part of the fixture, is projected below the horizontal plane through the fixture’s lowest light-emitting part.

What outdoor lighting? How on earth are we meant to thinking about outdoor lighting when we haven’t even started building a house yet?

The whole notion seemed so ludicrous that we told Lauren to just agree to whatever rules and regulations we need to follow. We can cross the outdoor lighting bridge when we come to it. Which, let’s face it, is not imminent. And so why the need to have it “locked” down at this stage of the game?

If this is the meaning of “expediting the process” I need to revisit my understanding of the word expedite.

One of the correction notes in the packet from Yolanda was we needed a civil engineer. We had previously been told we didn’t need one. But now we needed one because of something to do with the foundation. Again, out of my jurisdiction and above my pay grade to really understand any of this.

What I do understand is that for most things in life—you need someone to do something, you find them, you call them, you hire them, they do the work.

Turns out with people like civil engineers and this type of job:

• You need to find a few

• They need to be available when you need them to be.

• You need to get multiple bids.

• You need to be OK with the fact that they are likely not available for [insert number > 0] weeks.

All of which takes time. And it feels like nothing can happen in parallel.

We got a bid from one company. A bid Lauren thought was high. Thank goodness for her because we would have no clue if a civil engineer bid was reasonable or not.

I called our former pool contractor Jake (more about him another day) to see if he knew anyone. Jake gave us the name and number of someone he works with. This guy, Mack, gave us a quote that was half of the original one and said he could start right away. We said yes and set about sending deposits, docusigning contracts etc.

The other (another?) wrinkle in all of this is that because our house is on a gated, private road which used to have an access code we could give out if need be. But now (because of no power) there is no code and anytime someone needs to go there, we have a couple of options:

1. We have to coordinate a time and meet the person in Malibu. This option is not super convenient (but of course we will do it anytime if it helps move things along). It’s not, however, always doable because we haven’t communicated with the person previously and they don’t know they need anything more than our address if they want to swing by and check out the site.

2. We hope and pray that whomever is going will figure out the more complicated back way that doesn’t require a key (not a great option, either)

I chose Option 2 for Mack—mostly because we were away visiting a college with Charlie and I didn’t want to give him any excuse not to go to the house (given I couldn’t meet him even if I wanted to).

Luckily, Mack turned out to not be deterred by back roads and locked gates and managed to do his necessary site visit.

With the civil engineer issue mostly sorted out, we turned to other time-consuming minutiae mostly consisting of trying to get our 2025 taxes organized so we could send necessary information to Charlie’s college choice for next year. That was a huge doozey of a task and one I’ll spare you. Suffice to say, the administrative load of life was feeling very molasses-filled.

A couple of weeks ago, Lauren reached out with an update on where things stood with the corrections.

She reported:

1. The soils engineer (geologist) is working on their corrections, and confirmed they should have their updated report in the next three weeks.

2. The fire department’s corrections were mostly notes, although they require a 20’ access road. And the road to our house is not quite 20’. The plan is for Lauren to meet the fire dept folks in person to discuss this as we have to have the fire department’s approval before resubmitting to building and safety.

3. The fire department is also requiring a fuel modification plan. It is a drawing showing the different zones (distances) from your house, along with all existing and proposed plant species (botanical and common names) that must meet their requirements.

Like this:

Options to address this requirement:

a. Hire someone to create a fuel modification plan (drawing of our current had proposed landscape)

b. Hire a landscape designer to do the create a landscape plan.

c. If we choose option A, the caveat is that we will, eventually, need a full landscape plan approved by the fire department before we can get our certificate of occupancy.

4. Another hurdle had surfaced. While Lauren was communicating with the plan checker about the building and safety corrections, he told her we are required to have an MEP (mechanical, electrical, plumbing) engineer. This was news to Lauren:

• At the pre-review meeting at the city Lauren was told we didn’t need MEP engineering.

• The corrections received also did NOT say we needed it.

• The “fact” that we needed it only arose through additional emailing

Faced with this new information, Lauren had reached out to the firm that completed our energy report and initial ‘mechanical schematics’ - as it made the most since to continue on with them. They together a proposal for the additional work (another $10,000 price tag).

5. The final note was that the most critical component in all of this is the fuel modification plan and the “road design” which is something we need to coordinate with the civil engineer (Mack) in order to resubmit to the fire department.

A flurry of emails ensued.

And, as you can perhaps imagine, the parts of this update that were most distressing to us are points 3 and 4 (for me, mostly point 4).

Why? Because it’s yet another thing that we weren’t told we needed, and that only surfaced during an off-hand conversation.

I wrote a quick note to Lauren saying I would contact Yolanda and ask her about the MEP requirement.

Lauren responded that she would email the landscape designer (one she knows) and see if he can take on the fuel modification plan. She also mentioned that the MEP requirement is apparently because our house is two stories…and the crazy part is a small two-story house needs this step, but a giant one-story house wouldn’t?

“Although, what I’m learning is, that’s Malibu...”

😖

Years ago there was a biology professor at UCLA. Jay knew him well. This professor was a little eccentric and unpredictable and it wasn’t unusual for students to show up for class only to find “class cancelled” scrawled on the board.

And the response of everyone (while other faculty were held to and adhered to much higher standards):

”Oh that’s just [Professor x]”.

To that I say NO!

And so I had to write again to the Malibu Mayor and City Council members:

…“It’s VERY hard not to agree with this assessment: “That’s Malibu.”

And one can’t help but wonder why the Pacific Palisades is FULL of houses being rebuilt and I have not seen a SINGLE one in Malibu…are the people in the Palisades experiencing this same kind of obstacle-ridden process?

I explained the parts I found the most egregious:

“Why were we not asked for this [fuel modification plan] before? And do we really, before a house has even begun to be built, have to map out existing and proposed plants/trees? As far as I’ve heard, many of the existing plants/trees will be destroyed as part of the construction. So why do I need to pay for someone to document what’s there now that will likely be gone? And we don’t know what will be there because why would we spend a single cent of our ever-dwindling budget on a landscape person? Our goal is to get a permit and start building and we will cross the landscape bridge later. I understand this is an important step. But is it an important step TODAY???”

I continued (in response to the MEP requirement]:

“Why are we so angry about these things?

Because we and our architect are trying to follow the directions. But it’s hard to follow directions when they either a) keep changing or b) people don’t know the rules.

In my opinion, there is NO reason that something that is ostensibly a requirement, was not communicated in the initial meeting. Not commented on as an omission in the corrections, and only surfaces during some subsequent conversation.

WTF is happening?

From where you sit, this may not seem to matter. What’s another form? Another requirement?

I’ll tell you.

It’s yet another professional we have to find and wait for to be available.

It’s another $10K fee.

It’s us having to stay more months in our rental apartment and not moving forward and getting back to our life.

Had we resubmitted without satisfying this requirement, then what? Another round of corrections and time passing where we feel no closer to even starting to rebuild?

When people say (as I recently read in an LA Times article) “at least the process is being expedited” I don’t know whether to laugh, cry, or throw something.

Today I’ll probably go with all three.”

Our story does not end here (unfortunately, I hear you say!).

More emails ensue with kind words from Haylynn:

“I hear you. And I want you to know, I am beyond frustrated as well.

What you are describing is not an isolated situation. You are not the only homeowners reaching out with these same concerns, the same confusion, and the same sense that the rules are shifting mid process. That is unacceptable, especially for people who have already lost so much and are simply trying to rebuild their homes and their lives.

You should not be learning about major requirements like fuel modification plans or MEP engineering through side conversations after submittal. You should not be incurring significant additional costs because expectations were unclear or inconsistently communicated. And you should not feel like you are chasing a moving target every step of the way.

I also share your concern about the disconnect between what is being described as an “expedited” process and what residents are actually experiencing on the ground. Time matters. Money matters. And the emotional toll of this uncertainty is real.”

Haylynn hits the nail squarely on the head.

More discussion followed, culminating in me and Lauren paying a visit to Yolanda at City Hall (I figured I needed a quick picture break).

Yolanda had called in response to my email and wanted to help clear things up.

Our meeting was a textbook case of both/and.

Yolanda told us:

1. We DON’T need the MEP plan (and the additional $10K project)

2. We DON’T need the fire department’s approval before submitted our corrections (which means we can move on the other corrections and not have to wait for the fire folks to sign off on the road etc.)

3. We DON’T need the landscape plan of what things will look like later. We do need a map of the current plants, but a hand drawn map by yours truly will be perfectly fine.

4. The fire chief needs to meet Lauren at the house, but will likely say our road width is adequate.

Was this all good news? Yes.

Is it frustrating to have arrived at this point after having been the squeakiest of wheels? Yes.

What if we hadn’t pushed back or questioned these things?

Would we have spent money we didn’t need to spend? Probably.

Would we have wasted more precious time? Almost certainly.

And so we soldier on. Grateful that we don’t have to jump through additional hurdles. But deeply frustrated and exhausted from this seemingly broken process.

💗Haylynn followed up with me:

“Maybe I can put you in touch with others who are experiencing the same thing? I’d also like to come into the city with you and your rebuild team in person so we can navigate this together would that be something you are open to? I hate to ask anything more of you but I have found it is helpful for owner, their team Yolanda, staff and myself to all sit in one room together and get this cleared up.”

I wrote I would welcome to be connected with other folks in the same boat, and she swiftly introduced me to some homeowners who are grappling with all of these same issues.

Haylynn wrote back and closed with this:

“You’re not doing anything wrong. This process is hard, and it’s heavier than people expect. Let’s take this one step at a time and get you unstuck.”

Would that everyone had a City Council member with the heart, the compassion, the empathy of 😇Haylynn.

As my friend Mary van de Wiel likes to say:

Deep bow.

And a Phoebe photo to lighten the mood.