A gutted hilltop mansion once featured on HBO’s “Succession” is one of eight Pacific Palisades properties listed as a public nuisance by Los Angeles city officials, who say the owners have not yet removed the ash and debris from the fire.
The Los Angeles Building and Safety Commission, a five-member board that adjudicates public nuisance cases, ruled that debris from the fire at eight properties, a mix of luxury real estate, apartment complexes and businesses, constituted a public nuisance and could pose a risk to public health and safety. City officials alleged that the owners of these properties failed to meet an October 2 deadline to remove dangerous fire debris.
The board’s vote puts pressure on the owners to remove the hazardous debris or prepare for city contractors to step in, clear the property and send a bill for the work.
“Once a property is declared a public nuisance, the owner has the right to abate the nuisance until the agency solicits bids for the work,” said Gail Gaddy, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety. “There is no established process or timeline for when the department will begin bidding.”
The board voted to list the fire-ravaged mansion, where season 4 of the HBO drama “Succession” was filmed, as the Roy brothers’ luxury home. The six-bedroom, 18-bathroom home last sold for $83 million in 2021 and is owned by a trust, according to public records.
After the Palisades fire, the owners withdrew from a federal debris removal program led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, fearing that government contractors would be inflexible and haphazardly remove salvageable portions of the property, said John Mansfield, an owner representative who attended the board meeting on behalf of the board.
“We had millions of dollars of (building materials) left over and were worried that they would be destroyed in the process, further reducing the value of the property,” Mr Mansfield said.
But the property owner, who had enrolled in the California Fair Plan, which provides basic fire insurance for high-risk properties, learned that private debris removal would cost between $500,000 and $600,000. They tried to re-enroll in the Army Corps program, but registration was already closed, Mansfield said.
Mansfield said the owners are prepared to hire a contractor to remove the debris within four to six weeks after receiving insurance money.
Stephen Bardack, the owner of the house next door, said at the board hearing that the San Onofre property was one of the most expensive purchases in recent memory in the affluent Pacific Palisades neighborhood. He argued that the wealth of the owners did not entitle them to special generosity.
“That doesn’t give him or anyone else any special treatment,” Bardack said. “The site remains toxic, and several families with young children have refused to return to the neighborhood for fear of toxicity.”
All properties deemed public nuisances had either opted out of the federal debris removal program or were deemed ineligible. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has refused to remove some unoccupied apartment buildings.
One example is the 170-unit mobile home park near Will Rogers State Beach.
Daniel Mayer, an attorney with the law firm representing PPBME Park Managers LLC, which co-manages the park, asked the commission to give it more time before labeling the park a public nuisance. She said the property is fenced and there is no danger to the public.
“I want to start by saying that I just received this notice Friday afternoon,” Meyer said. “The owner happened to find out about this, so I wanted to first ask if we could continue this matter to another hearing date to give us time and opportunity to hear about the nature of the property that is a public nuisance.”
Commissioner Javier Nunez expressed skepticism about Mayer’s statement.
“How does it happen that an owner ‘accidentally’ finds a document or notice on a Friday and is here on a Wednesday? How does that happen?” Nunez asked. “Go back to the owners and say, ‘I don’t believe what Chairman Nunez is saying.'” About five former Pacific Palisades Bowl residents attended the meeting. They asked commissioners to vote to determine that the facility is a safety hazard and to remove the remains of the fire immediately. ”
Joseph Vermeulen, who has lived in the park for 29 years, said he worries that fall rains will wash toxic ash onto nearby beaches and the ocean.
“I’ve been through many storms and this is a very hilly area and all the residential properties flow directly into the park streets, which all flow into the PCH,” Vermeulen said. “There’s a steel grate and the water is flowing under the grate, under the tunnel, under the PCH, over the sand and directly out into the bay. This is a real public hazard.”
The owners of the five properties did not attend.
Some property owners disputed the commission’s charges.
Robert Assil, who owned a home in the 16800 block of West Bollinger Drive, said a private contractor finished clearing the property several weeks ago.
Jerome Eisenberg, who has owned 12 apartments in the 16500 block of West Sunset Boulevard for about 30 years, said he has had difficulty finding contractors with the financial means to do so.
Eisenberg said he applied for the Corps’ program but was informed on June 28, two days before the original fire debris removal deadline, that his property would not be eligible for federal cleanup because it is considered commercial property. Eisenberg said he asked FEMA to reconsider and requested an exception, but was denied again.
“They cleared every other lot for free,” Eisenberg said, referring to the fact that the federal program charges homeowners insurance but doesn’t pay anything out of pocket. “Even more frustrating, I didn’t receive notification until 48 hours before the deadline.”
Eisenberg said he solicited several estimates from private contractors without federal aid and received cost estimates ranging from $60,000 to $175,000. However, his insurance payout was much less than that.
“I only have $25,000 in insurance, and that’s not enough to pay for it,” he said.
Despite the difficult situation, Eisenberg, like other property owners who were not subject to the federal cleanup, will have to find a way to bring their properties back up to code. Otherwise, the city may send a contractor to collect the debris and demolish the irreparably damaged portions of the building.
As of Wednesday, the city announced it was not seeking bids from contractors to remove debris from the site.
