A burned-down hilltop mansion once featured in HBO’s “Succession” is one of eight Pacific Palisades properties declared a public nuisance by Los Angeles city officials who alleged the owner still hasn’t removed fire ash and debris.
The Los Angeles Board of Building and Safety Commissioners, a five-member committee that adjudicates public nuisance cases, voted that the fire debris at the eight properties — a mix of luxury estates, multifamily apartments and businesses — constituted a public nuisance and could pose a risk to public health and safety. City officials alleged the owners of these properties failed to meet the Oct. 2 deadline to clear hazardous fire debris.
The board’s vote pressures owners to clean up the toxic debris — or prepare for a city contractor to step in, clear their lots and send them a bill for the work.
“Once a property is declared a public nuisance, the owner has the right to abate the nuisance until the department solicits bids for the work,” said Gail Gaddi, a spokesperson for the L.A. Department of Building and Safety. “A process or timeline has not been established for when the department will begin to solicit bids.”
The board voted to cite a burned-down mansion in the 1600 block of North San Onofre Drive, which was the filming location in season 4 of the HBO drama “Succession” as the luxury estate of the Roy siblings. The six-bedroom, 18-bathroom home, which last sold for $83 million in 2021, is owned by a trust, according to public records.
After the Palisades fire, the owner withdrew from the federal debris removal program led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, fearing that the government contractors were inflexible and would haphazardly remove salvageable sections of the estate, according to Jon Mansfield, a representative of the owner who appeared at the board meeting on their behalf.
“There’s millions of dollars of [building materials] that we were afraid would be destroyed in the process and further degrade the value of the property,” Mansfield said.
But the property’s owner, who had a California FAIR Plan policy that provides basic fire insurance for high-risk properties, learned that a private debris cleanup would cost between $500,000 and $600,000. They tried to reenroll in the Army Corps program but registration had already closed, Mansfield said.
Mansfield said the owner would be prepared to hire a contractor to gather up the rubble in four to six weeks, after he received insurance proceeds.
At the board hearing, Steven Bardack, who owns the home next door, said the San Onofre estate was one of the most expensive purchases in recent memory within the affluent Pacific Palisades neighborhood. He argued the owner’s wealth does not give them the right to extra leniency.
“That should not afford him or anybody else special treatment,” Bardack said. “The site remains toxic, and several families with small children have refused to move back into the neighborhood, fearing the toxicity.”
All of the properties deemed a public nuisance had either opted out of the federal debris removal program, or were deemed ineligible. The Federal Emergency Management Agency declined to clear some multifamily buildings where the owner did not reside.
One such example is the Pacific Palisades Bowl, a 170-unit mobile home park near Will Rogers State Beach.
Danielle Mayer, an attorney whose law firm represents PPBME Park Manager LLC, which co-manages the park, had asked the commission for more time before declaring the property a public nuisance. She said the property was fenced off and posed no risk to the public.
“I just wanted to start out by saying we just received notice of this on Friday afternoon,” Mayer said. “The owner stumbled upon this. So I wanted to start out by asking if we could continue this to another hearing date, to give us more time and an opportunity to be heard as to the substance of the property being a public nuisance.”
Mayer’s remarks were met with skepticism by Commissioner Javier Nunez.
“How does an owner ‘stumble’ upon a document or notice on a Friday and you’re here on Wednesday? How does that happen?” Nunez asked.“Go back to the owner and say ‘Commissioner Nunez is saying, I don’t believe it.’” About five former residents from the Pacific Palisades Bowl attended the meeting. They urged commissioners to vote to deem the property a safety hazard and require fire debris be removed immediately.”
Joseph Vermuelen, who had lived in the park for 29 years, said he worried autumn rains would wash toxic ash onto neighboring beaches and into the ocean.
“I’ve lived through a lot of storms, and this is a very hilly area, and all of the homes’ lots just flow directly onto the streets of the park, and then it all runs down to the PCH,” Vermuelen said. “There’s a steel grate, and the water runs underneath the grate, underneath the tunnel, below PCH, and right onto the sand and right out into the bay. This is a real public hazard.”
Owners of five properties did not attend.
Some property owners disputed the board’s accusations.
Robert Assil, who owned a home in the 16800 block of West Bollinger Drive, said private contractors had finished clearing the property several weeks ago.
Jerome Eisenberg, who has owned a 12-unit apartment building in the 16500 block of West Sunset Boulevard for about 30 years, said he had difficulty finding contractors he could afford.
Eisenberg said he applied for the Army Corps program, but he was notified June 28 — two days before the initial deadline to clear fire debris — that his property did not qualify for the federal cleanup because it was considered commercial property. Eisenberg said he asked for FEMA to reconsider and requested an exception, and was rebuffed again.
“They cleared every other lot for free,” said Eisenberg, referring to the fact that the federal program bills a homeowner’s insurance but has no out-of-pocket costs. “What’s aggravating, never received a notification until 48 hours before the deadline.”
Without federal help, Eisenberg said he sought out several quotes from private contractors, receiving cost estimates ranging from $60,000 to $175,000. But his insurance payout was far less than that.
“I only have $25,000 for insurance and that wasn’t going to pay for it,” he said.
Despite the difficult circumstances, Eisenberg, like other property owners who didn’t qualify for the federal cleanup, will have to find a way to bring their properties back up to code. Otherwise, the city can dispatch a contractor to gather up the debris and potentially demolish irreparably damaged portions of their buildings.
As of Wednesday, the city said it had not solicited bids to hire contractors to clear debris from the properties.
