Altadena residents upset about multiple homes on lots

By Chris Woodward
The Center Square

A member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is frustrated with state laws allowing multiple homes to be built on single-home sites in a community rebuilding after the Eaton Fire. One law permits up to 10 homes.

Supervisor Kathryn Barger said she wants lawmakers to hear from Altadena residents at two July 1 hearings. Sitting next to Pasadena, Altadena is an unincorporated community that was hit hard by the devastating Eaton Fire in January 2025. The fire in the Altadena/Pasadena area burned 14,021 acres and destroyed 9,418 structures, as reported by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Barger represents Altadena on the board governing Los Angeles County.

At issue are two state laws: Senate Bill 9 and Senate Bill 1123.SB 9, which passed in 2021, ends single-family zoning and requires all local governments to approve duplexes and lot splits on single-home parcels, which would enable up to four units on a single lot. Any local requirements such as community standards districts would not apply.The second law is SB 1123. It took effect in July 2025.Barger said SB 1123 allows the fast-track building of up to 10 homes on vacant lots.“The lot must be completely vacant and in an urban location, and that’s an important location to note,” Barger told The Center Square. “The lot must be in an infill site, substantially surrounded by qualified urban uses, which means at least 75% of it, perimeters, must touch commercial or public cases.”After the Eaton fire that devastated Altadena, Barger said there are many empty lots. She noted speculators are using SB 1123 to build 10 homes on lots originally zoned for one residence.“We have actually voided all the ones that have been submitted because they did not meet the criteria,” said Barger. “These lots, there is nothing around them.”Barger added that one of her commitments is to work with fire survivors and bring Altadena back stronger, while also maintaining the character of Altadena. The community is known for its neighborhoods of single-family homes and the towering deodar cedar trees on Santa Rosa Avenue, also known as Christmas Tree Lane.Barger said SB 1123 will make it difficult to maintain Altadena’s charm because the expansive building is going to “completely change the landscape.”“By the way, when you talk about entry-level, for-sale homes by subdividing those lots and building 10 homes, they’re going to make millions,” said Barger. “I’m not against the free market, but if the goal is affordable housing, that is not going to occur in Altadena.”Barger called it frustrating because it takes away her voice.SB 9 and SB 1123 are what Barger called “mandates” that something take place at the local level.“I have no ability to stop it, other than to approach my state senator that represents Altadena and ask her to carry legislation,” said Barger.Meanwhile, SB 1123 will not apply in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Pacific Palisades, which is considered a high fire hazard severity zone. It was hit hard by last year’s Palisades Fire.Altadena is not considered in that category.As a result, Barger has asked state Sen. Sasha Renee Perez, D-Alhambra, to carry legislation known as SB 1090.Also known as the Keep Altadena Land in Altadena Hands Act, the bill serves to pause SB 9 and SB 1123 in Altadena.“That gives Altadena really the breathing room to rebuild thoughtfully and intentionally and would apply the very high fire hazard severity zone to Altadena,” said Barger. “I’m asking that it receive the same level of protection from speculative development protections during recovery. That’s all I’m asking.”A town council meeting was held earlier this week in Altadena.The advisory council is not a city council per se and can’t pass laws, but its meetings provide a forum for residents to express concerns.Perez was present. So was Brooke Lohman-Janz. The Altadena resident called the multi-unit housing efforts “a gross misuse of the bills” being used for those projects.“It is also very insensitive to the situation and the character and everyone trying to rebuild,” Lohman-Janz told The Center Square. “In the case of one, it’s a three-story 11 or 10-unit complex with very little green space, and in these cases, because they are ministerial or by right, they are able to fast track, and basically they’re getting the ability to build faster than the residents who are trying to rebuild.”That, said Lohman-Janz, is ridiculous.“It’s just kind of crazy that this is happening like this,” said Lohman-Janz, who was a total loss renter and is not rebuilding a home on a burned property. Lohman-Janz is also concerned about the lack of infrastructure to accommodate these sorts of projects.“A lot of the property doesn’t have sewer access, so there’s a lot of septic,” said Lohman-Janz. “We don’t have sidewalks in most of Altadena, we don’t have streetlights in a large portion of the town, and there’s so many private and small streets.”Barger said she would like people and politicians “be more vocal in Sacramento,” and not just about SB 1123 but also SB 9.“The actions taken by the representatives in Sacramento are having a direct impact on local control. And I doubt you could talk to anyone that is a supervisor or city council member that would not have a problem with their voice being taken away,” said Barger. “I was elected to represent Altadena and one of the things that we’ve done is we’ve created community standards districts, and by not having the ability to apply those, it completely undermines local control.”Both the Assembly Committee on Housing and Community Development and the chamber’s Assembly Committee on Local Government are scheduled to hold hearings July 1 about Altadena.“I’m going to make sure that survivors testify at the hearings that’s going to be on July 1. because while I’m elected, I want them to hear from the people in the community that are going to be impacted by this,” said Barger. “This is not NIMBY [Not In My Backyard]. This is the community that has lost everything and just wants an opportunity to at least build.”