Army Corps Clears Palisades Branch Library Site

Phase 2 Debris Clearance Work Remains Underway, Approximately 60 Properties in City of LA Miss Deadline to Opt In or Out of Government-Run Program

By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief

Debris removal at Palisades Branch Library was completed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, officials announced during a press conference at the site on Thursday, April 17—100 days after the Palisades fire started on January 7.

Among those who attended the press conference were Mayor Karen Bass, Councilmember Traci Park, Palisades Branch Library Senior Librarian Mary Hopf and Administrative Clerk Roberta Frank, Pacific Palisades Library Association President Laura Schneider, Colonel Brian Sawser (who was departing his mission in the Palisades, with his role as Commander of the Palisades Emergency Field Office to be filled by Colonel Jeffrey Palazzini) and City Librarian John Szabo.

Bass explained during the press conference that a space like Palisades Branch Library is not typically prioritized during fire debris clean-up, but at her request, along with Park, “We wanted this area prioritized, we made that request and the requested was granted.” Palisades Recreation Center is an additional space that has been prioritized by Bass and Park, with some buildings “partially destroyed” and others “severely damaged.”

Park spoke after Bass, explaining that she had just returned from Lahaina, where she met with officials to learn more about their own recovery efforts following the August 2023 fire.

“While the work is slow and the process often long and painful, it’s hopeful as well,” Park said. “I really want to thank Colonel Brian Sawser and Captain Sheldon Tausch and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Their work here on the grounds in Pacific Palisades has been phenomenal—not only here at the site of our beloved library, but across the entire Pacific Palisades, where now hundreds of lots have been cleared.”

Park spoke about the experience of her and her staff on January 7 and since in the Palisades, saying that in the days following the fire, “we learned that lives had been lost,” as well as “thousands of homes and buildings.”

“This library itself is a symbol of what we’ve lost—yes—but more so of what we’re determined to restore,” Park said. “Recovery doesn’t happen overnight, and for the families who lost everything, this is not abstract. It’s navigating insurance claims, fighting to get permits, living in limbo and trying to rebuild from scratch, and that’s why we are all laser focused on removing every obstacle standing in the way. We do have a long road ahead, but step by step, we are clearing the way forward, and as long as it takes, I’ll be right here fighting for this community.”

Szabo explained that USACE was given a 30-day window to clear the library parcel, and it was done in six. He acknowledged and thanked Hopf, Frank and Schneider for their advocacy and support of the library and its programming.

Bass confirmed later in the press conference that rebuilding costs for the library are “100% reimbursable by FEMA.”

Szabo explained Los Angeles Public Library is working to bring an “architectural engineering team on board” to “begin the initial conversations about the building program for this facility.” They are also in talks with City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks to “coordinate a temporary location” to provide service in the interim.

Across the Palisades fire area as of Wednesday, April 23, 1,945 parcels had been cleared of debris, according to USACE. Properties with final sign off had reached 1,297.

There were 99 crews working in the Palisades fire area as of April 23, with a five-day average of sites cleared per day of 56 and the highest number of sites cleared in one day at 66. Tons of debris removed was at 556,026.

Parcels with no opt in or out submitted in the city of Los Angeles was 200 as of April 15—a number that was at 63 on Thursday, April 17, according to City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto in a report given during a press conference at Will Rogers State Beach.

“The federal government can’t just go onto your property without either the property owner’s permission or some kind of legal action,” Soto explained. “We are now down to only 63 properties—and we know what they are—that have not returned the form either allowing or disallowing entry onto the property.”

Those that have opted out, or disallowed entry onto their parcel, “have the obligation to clean up at their own expense,” Soto continued.

“My office is working on a plan to deal with recalcitrant properties who either have not cleaned up the debris correctly or who have not returned the form, and to get the requisite court order to allow us to go in and clean up by way of a nuisance abatement,” Soto said.

When it comes to unincorporated areas, like Sunset Mesa and Topanga, as well as the city of Malibu, at its request, Supervisor Lindsey Horvath introduced a motion that was approved at the start of April regarding next steps for properties that are not responsive to either public or private debris removal. A follow up motion with additional specifics is coming to the Board of Supervisors on May 6.

As of Tuesday, April 22, Constance Farrell, communications director for Horvath’s office, confirmed there are “zero unresponsive properties for unincorporated areas, which includes Sunset Mesa and Topanga.”

Editor’s note: This story was updated on Thursday morning, April 24, to reflect updated lot clearance data received from USACE.