To the editor: Los Angeles County has appointed a permit czar to break the logjam preventing permits from being issued for the Eaton fire rebuilding (“Permits issued in Altadena since the fire: zero. L.A. County wants to speed it up,” April 8). This extraordinary step was made necessary because of the requirements of the many county departments involved in permitting a residence and the conflicts between those departments and the codes.
Having effectively admitted that the permitting process is broken, and no doubt contributing to the countywide housing crisis, isn’t it past time for the same solution to be instituted for the entire county? Isn’t it time for a full-time county permitting czar to rationalize and streamline the permitting process?
James Gorton, Pasadena