Developers scrambling to rebuild homes in the coastal California community of Pacific Palisades won’t be forced by the state to build low-income apartments, officials announced July 30.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass each took executive action July 30 to suspend the state’s low-income housing mandates for the communities rebuilding from January’s Palisades and Eaton fires.

Newsom loosened the state’s grip with an executive order giving local governments the power to limit Senate Bill 9, a 2021 law that requires communities to develop dense, affordable projects and increase housing units on single-family lots. The regulation allows up to four units for each single-family home parcel.

Later that day, Bass issued an emergency executive order prohibiting SB 9 development applications within the Palisades fire area.

“We will continue to assist communities in rebuilding safely in ways that are responsive to local concerns,” Newsom said in a statement. “This executive order responds directly to requests from local officials and community feedback, recognizing the need for local discretion in recovery and that not all laws are designed for rebuilding entire communities destroyed by fires overnight.”

The order affects the entire Pacific Palisades community within the city of Los Angeles, and the eastern foothills portions of Altadena, Sunset Mesa, and Malibu.

Palisades residents have spoken out strongly against the state requirements as they rebuild, prompting calls for the state to drop SB 9’s rules.

Bass claimed lawmakers did not foresee the bill’s possible impact on a recovering burn area.

“The ability for developers to use SB 9 to change recently destroyed single-family home lots into multiple residences could drastically further challenge ingress and egress in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone following the worst fire disaster the city has ever faced,” Bass said in a statement.

“It could fundamentally alter safety of the area by straining local infrastructure.”

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Traci Park sent a July 28 letter to the governor urging him to pause SB 9 over worries about developers transforming single-family Palisades lots into high-density housing.

Park claimed that even if a small portion of the 5,000 destroyed homes were replaced with multi-unit structures, it could lead to an “explosion of density.”

“This is the exact wrong place to add density,” Park said in video footage posted July 30. “This is a perfect example of legislation out of Sacramento by bureaucrats who have probably never been to the Pacific Palisades.”

The extra housing might make it harder to evacuate, she claimed. During the Palisades fire, some residents were trapped in their cars.

“I submitted my letter to the governor because public safety has to come first—especially in a community still recovering from disaster,” Park wrote on Facebook. “Without stronger safeguards, even well-intentioned housing efforts could put lives at risk in the next fire.”

Newsom’s order gives local governments in the burn areas seven days to develop their own standards and the ability to tailor standards to community needs.

The governor said the pause on SB 9 was put in place in response to concerns from local elected officials and residents about the potential for widespread affordable housing development concentrated in former single-family home neighborhoods.

Local Opposition

Actor and TV personality Spencer Pratt has gained popularity on social media in the past few weeks as he continues to speak out about the Palisades fire rebuilding.

Pratt and his wife, Heidi Montag, have two children and lived in Pacific Palisades before their home, which was featured on “The Hills: New Beginnings,” was destroyed by the January wildfire. They lost most of their personal belongings.

He has since clashed with Newsom over rebuilding efforts, becoming a torchbearer for others who are struggling to rebuild.

“We have the energy to fight! Newsom and Bass have a firestorm coming their way this time!” Pratt posted on X on July 30, responding to radio host John Kobylt, who spoke out against SB 9 in a show this week.

Kobylt said Newsom and other lawmakers in Sacramento were “relentless” in their push for low-income housing development.

“They want multifamily housing. They want low-income housing. They want single-family homes gone, and they want current Palisades residents gone,” Kobylt said on his show.

SB 9 Enforcement Varies

Newsom’s decision to drop SB 9 rules for Pacific Palisades contrasts sharply with the state’s recent legal tussle with Huntington Beach, another seaside community south of Los Angeles in Orange County.

Pacific Palisades in west Los Angeles is a liberal stronghold, while the conservative community of Huntington Beach has become a symbol for resisting California mandates.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Newsom triumphed in their lawsuit against Huntington Beach to force the city to adopt SB 9.

“Huntington Beach officials’ continued efforts to advance plainly unlawful NIMBY policies are failing their own citizens—by wasting time and taxpayer dollars that could be used to create much-needed housing,” Newsom said in October 2024, applauding a court decision upholding the state’s lawsuit against the city over SB 9. “No more excuses—every city must follow state law and do its part to build more housing.”

In its court arguments, the beach community claimed that SB 9 only applied to “general law” cities, and not charter cities like Huntington Beach.

In November 2024, a federal appeals court rejected the city’s challenge.