Pacific Palisades Fire Rebuild Grading Plans: What LADBS Requires

The Pacific Palisades fire rebuild process is different from a standard residential project. LADBS has issued specific requirements, and homeowners who go in unprepared end up with corrections that delay their permits by weeks.

Here is what your grading plan needs to include.

Why Palisades Rebuilds Are Different

After a fire, the drainage patterns on your property may have changed. The pre-fire ground conditions that drainage systems were designed around are gone. LADBS reviews fire rebuild plans with this in mind.

For most Palisades fire rebuilds, LADBS requires:

• Grading plan showing proposed contours, drainage patterns, spot elevations, and drainage routing
• Sump pump design for stormwater when gravity drainage is not possible
• Erosion control plan for construction-phase soil retention

The grading plan and drainage components are combined into one plan. Your grading plan shows the contours and spot elevations, and it also shows where stormwater drains and how it gets there.

The Sump Pump Requirement for Stormwater

This comes up often: “My neighbor did not get stuck with a sump pump. Why do I?”

On many Palisades lots, the terrain is sloped and the proposed basement floor sits below the storm drain or street elevation. When the basement floor is lower than the outlet, gravity drainage is not possible. A sump pump collects stormwater and lifts it to street level so it can drain properly.

This is a stormwater pump, not a sewer pump. We handle the rainwater and surface runoff, not sewage or blackwater systems.

Your neighbor may not have a basement, or the existing grade on their lot may allow gravity drainage to work. Or their proposed construction is at grade level without a subterranean portion.

A Common Scenario: Street-Level Front, Sloped Rear

You may not even have a basement and still need a sump pump. This happens when your front yard is at street grade, but the rear of your lot slopes down below the street flowline. Stormwater in the rear of the lot has no gravity path to the street drain.

Water flows downhill. If the rear of your lot sits lower than the street flowline, any rain that falls there will pool or flow the wrong way unless it is collected and pumped to street level. This is a common situation in the hilly terrain of the Palisades.

What Goes Into a Complete Grading Package

Grading plan (including drainage):

• Existing and proposed contour lines
• Spot elevations at key points (corners, drainage low points, basement floor, inlet invert elevations)
• Slope ratios for proposed grading
• Drainage area delineation and flow arrows
• Invert elevations at catch basins or drainage outlets
• Pipe sizing, gradient, and routing to public right-of-way or approved outlet
• Retaining wall locations and heights if applicable

Sump pump design (when required):

• Sump location and pit sizing
• Duplex pump specs (LA City typically requires dual pumps)
• Discharge routing to street or approved outlet

Erosion control plan:

• Construction-phase best management practices
• Soil stabilization measures
• Perimeter control

Getting Started

If you have a property in the Palisades and are planning to rebuild, send us your site address and a copy of your plot plan or survey. We will review what LADBS will likely require for your specific project and put together a proposal.

For most Palisades rebuilds, the initial review takes 1-2 business days. The grading plan itself can be ready in 1-2 weeks depending on the complexity of the site.

If you are already in the LADBS review process and have received correction comments, we can help with that too. We are used to working with plans that need corrections.

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Want to see an example? Our portfolio includes grading and drainage projects in the Pacific Palisades area.

Related Portfolio Project: Pacific Palisades Fire Rebuild Projects