LA County Board

5. Establishing a Unified Permitting Authority for the Altadena One-Stop\nRecovery Permitting Center\nRecommendation as submitted by Supervisor Barger: Direct the Chief\nExecutive Officer, in coordination with County Counsel, and the Directors of\nPublic Works, Regional Planning and Public Health, and the Fire Chief, to\ndesignate and establish a Unified Permitting Authority (UPA) who shall have the\nauthority to make final determinations on residential rebuilding permit\napplications processed through the Altadena One-Stop Recovery Permitting\nCenter for properties impacted by the Eaton Fire; direct the Chief Executive\nOfficer to execute Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) with the Departments\nof Public Works, Regional Planning, Public Health, and Fire, outlining the scope\nof delegated authority to the UPA, including authority to resolve\ninterdepartmental permitting conflicts in real time authority to make binding\ninterdepartmental permitting conflicts in real time, authority to make binding\ndecisions on permit conditions, code interpretations, and regulatory\ndiscrepancies, and procedures for internal consultation, documentation, and\nappeal, if needed, with the duration of delegation of authority to be tied to the\nCounty’s emergency declaration or recovery timeline; direct the Chief\nExecutive Officer to report back to the Board in writing in 30 days with the name\nand qualifications of the appointed UPA, a summary of completed MOUs, and\noperational protocols and performance metrics for real-time decision-making,\naccountability, and coordination with Department staff, including public facing\ndashboards that provide transparency on the permitting process; and direct all\nparticipating Departments to assign senior-level liaisons to the One-Stop\nRecovery Permitting Center, to support the UPA and ensure decisions are\nimplemented without delay. (25-1960)