Residential on Mount Curve Avenue

Single-family residential fire rebuild in Altadena following the Eaton Fire. The 0.247-acre lot holds a single-story house. This was our second Altadena fire rebuild project to be approved, and it marked an important learning moment: this was the first Altadena rebuild where we used a hydrology report to demonstrate that post-development stormwater would not exceed pre-fire conditions, allowing us to avoid specifying a stormwater sump pump.

We slightly regraded the front yard using maximum 5:1 (20%) slopes to sheet flow as much stormwater as possible directly to the street. Downspouts along the front connect to pipes that exit under the patio to daylight, capturing the upper portion of the property and routing it to sheet flow toward the street. At the rear, downspouts pipe to the existing patio, and we regraded below the patio to daylight into the lower rear property. This approach allowed the existing patio to expand to about twice its original size. We kept the existing driveway apron but regraded it slightly higher to ensure positive drainage from the garage door to the street. Keeping slopes at or under 5:1 (20%) meant the project qualified as a grading plan rather than a full grading plan, which streamlined the LA County approval process.