Engagement Geography
This is where BCG has been brought in. Eighteen engagements in eleven parts of Los Angeles, Malibu to Altadena, and nearly all of them on a hillside, on the coast, or below grade. Slopes that have to be held, retaining walls that have failed, foundations that have to be certified before a fire lot can be rebuilt, structures that have to be opened up and corrected, waterproofing that has to be redone. Some came to us as a whole project and some as one problem, scoped and priced on its own.
The map shows the hills and the CAL FIRE very high fire hazard severity zones. Each mark is one engagement, placed in the general area only. Marks do not identify properties, and not every engagement went to construction.
Areas and Site Conditions
Each area has its own jurisdiction and its own site conditions. Between them they decide what has to be solved before the design can be finished.
| Area | Jurisdiction and site conditions |
|---|---|
| Pacific Palisades | City of Los Angeles. Post-fire rebuild processing on top of hillside grading limits and very high fire hazard severity zone construction standards. |
| Western Malibu | City of Malibu and the certified Local Coastal Program. Sewer service is limited, so onsite wastewater treatment design and slope stability often govern coastal feasibility ahead of architecture. |
| Eastern Malibu | City of Malibu coastal jurisdiction. Coastal development permitting, geologic and geotechnical review, and fire zone construction standards. |
| Venice | City of Los Angeles within the Coastal Zone. Ground in the low-lying areas runs roughly 3 to 9 feet NAVD88. Excavation can meet the water table and require dewatering, stormwater releases to the ocean only at low tide, and the tide gates are not FEMA-certified, which affects base flood elevation. Foundation design follows from that. |
| Bel Air | City of Los Angeles hillside jurisdiction. Baseline Hillside Ordinance grading limits, haul route approval, and Fire Department access review on substandard streets. |
| Holmby Hills | City of Los Angeles, Bel Air Beverly Crest area. Large parcels where grading quantity and haul routing drive the schedule as much as the house does. |
| Beverly Hills, above Sunset | City of Beverly Hills, a separate jurisdiction with its own building and safety review. Hillside development standards apply above Sunset. |
| Beverly Grove | City of Los Angeles. Flat lot, but shallow groundwater can require dewatering, and parcels here can fall within LADBS methane or methane buffer zones, where soil gas testing and a mitigation system are required under Division 71 of the Building Code. Lot coverage and setbacks govern above grade, with close neighbor adjacency throughout. |
| Hollywood Hills West | City of Los Angeles hillside jurisdiction with narrow substandard access. Grading limits, retaining structures, and no room for equipment and materials, all on the same lot. |
| Pasadena, San Rafael Hills | City of Pasadena. Hillside development standards and very high fire hazard severity zone construction on the San Gabriel front. |
| Altadena | Unincorporated Los Angeles County. County building and safety review and the County post-fire rebuild process rather than City of Los Angeles procedure. |
Most of our work is hillside and coastal Los Angeles. We have gone as far as Pasadena and Altadena for the right problem, and we would again.
If you have a property or a problem like these, the first step is a short call about what the site requires.
The conditions described here are general to each area and are not findings for any property. Requirements and hazard zone designations change, and properties in the same area differ. Any specific property has to be looked at on its own.