Tea Fire rebuilding statistics
updated: Nov 10, 2009, 9:54 AM

Source: Paul Casey

November 13th marks the one year anniversary of the devastating Tea Fire that destroyed 151 homes within the City of Santa Barbara. An additional approximately 80 homes were lost in the unincorporated County.
Leading up to the one year mark, we wanted to provide you with some rebuilding statistics for the City of Santa Barbara properties which are provided below.

While this information is not intended to be a comprehensive summary of all the efforts that have gone into the rebuilding effort from the City side, it is a snapshot of the recovery effort at the one year anniversary mark.
A couple of comments first.

Staff has discovered in working with many of the property owners and in developing these statistics, that each property has a different story, different issues, and is having different experiences in rebuilding their homes.
A small amount of property owners are rebuilding essentially the homes that were destroyed. A few are making minor redesign changes, whereas a good number are expanding their homes and/or adding second stories compared to what was burned.

With regards to insurance, we are finding that some have had good experiences with their insurance company and coverage which has allowed them to move forward with rebuilding efforts quickly - where others have not. Too many are unfortunately significantly underinsured, so rebuilding is very difficult.

We also have experienced properties with complicated estate or trust ownership issues which makes rebuilding decisions more difficult. And there are a number of property owners who have decided to move on and not rebuild on site.

Regardless of the background though, City staff has made a concerted effort to assist property owners in the rebuilding process. Some of the key administrative changes made specifically to assist this effort include:
Early consultation with specific City staff knowledgeable on the rebuilding process and free consultation with members of the Single Family Design Review Board.

Council-enacted changes to respond to the fire like allowing mobile homes on site during the rebuilding process; extending the non conforming rebuild provisions of the zoning ordinance to up to three years; and waiver of utility undergrounding;

With that in mind, the following are some key statistics on the Tea Fire rebuilding process in the City of Santa Barbara:
All 151 of the properties have had their debris removed;

91 properties have met with City staff to discuss the rebuilding process;

64 properties have received design review approval with the majority approved administratively or on consent.

47 building permits have been issued

The average total time from submittal to issuance of a building permit was approximately 57 days or just under two months - this includes time with the City, time with the architect making corrections, and time for the owner/contractor to pick up the permit to start construction.

14 homes have been completed and re-occupied.

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