VX News is the editorial voice of the annual VerdeXchange Conference, featuring in-depth interviews with industry leaders and policymakers driving innovation in clean energy, water, transportation, and climate policy.
Two cities burned in LA fires settle YIMBY lawsuit
VX News here excerpts a CalMatters’ Ben Christopher feature that reports: homeowners in Malibu and Pasadena, who saw their neighborhoods burn in the Eaton and Palisades fires last year, will soon be able to build up to four units on their properties now that the two fire-scarred cities have settled a lawsuit brought by pro-development activists. In the settlement: both Malibu and Altadena agreed to repeal their local anti-duplex ordinances suspending SB 9 in post-fire very high fire hazard severity zones and accept all pending and future applications filed under the law. That five-year-old housing law makes it easier for single-family home owners to divide up their parcels and build duplexes on each lot, potentially allowing as many as four small units where local rules once allowed only one. Find the CalMatters original, here.
The Cost of Waiting: Larry Kosmont on PCH, Disaster Recovery Districts, and the Infrastructure Gap
Recovery does not begin with rebuilding structures. It begins with rebuilding the infrastructure that makes communities worth returning to – streets, sewers, water, power, and the systems that make a place livable and investable.
That is the argument Larry Kosmont, Chairman & CEO of Kosmont Companies, brings to VX2026. With the debris removal phase of the January 2025 Palisades and Eaton Fires now complete, and an estimated $76 to $131 billion in property and capital losses still looming over Pacific Palisades, Malibu, and Altadena, the question is no longer whether to rebuild…it is whether the financing infrastructure can move fast enough to make rebuilding possible.
Think Big, Act Boldly: What Los Angeles Must Do Now
VXNews Feature: By Climate Resolve and Resilient Cities Catalyst, Think Big, Act Boldly: Implementing Proven Solutions on Urban Fire synthesizes 14 post-fire studies and 465 recommendations into four high-impact strategies—each with clear philanthropic entry points, implementation timelines, and notional budgets. Not another diagnosis of what went wrong. A plan for what comes next.
Plant Prefab’s Moment: Steve Glenn on Post-Fire Rebuilds, New Commercial Ventures, and Market Signals
As wildfire rebuilding, affordability pressures, and labor constraints converge, off-site construction is moving from niche solution to market necessity. In this interview, Founder and CEO of Plant Prefab, Steve Glenn, reflects on two decades in industrialized housing, tracing how prefab has evolved from design experimentation to a delivery-driven business shaped by automation, permitting frameworks, and capital discipline.
Why Post-Fire Soil Sampling Matters — And How to Do It Smartly
In a VX News Op-Ed, Sokolow shares ten points to keep in mind for the post-fire soil sampling process, which includes reminders to check for car location, household and pool chemical storage, Asbestos, and more.
LADBS’ General Manager Osama Younan on Palisades Fire Rebuild: Speed, Safety & Self-Certification
Six months following the onset of the devastating Palisades and Eaton Wildfires in Los Angeles, TPR spoke with City of Los Angeles’ Department of Building & Safety General Manager Osama Younan about the department’s critical role in both emergency response and the long-term rebuilding efforts in the Palisades. Reflecting on interagency coordination and the importance of balancing speed with safety in restoring fire-impacted communities, Younan highlights the efforts to help residents and builders navigate the recovery process while ensuring code compliance including rapid deployment of inspection teams, creation of a dedicated rebuild permit review unit, and launch of the self-certification pilot program.
Rick Caruso: Accelerating LA’s Recovery & Restoring Trust
The Planning Report shares a candid and timely interview with Rick Caruso, who reflects on lessons from decades of community-centered development and elaborates on the work he’s undertaken to assist LA’s wildfire recovery. Drawing from his post-disaster initiative, Steadfast LA, Caruso—the founder and Executive Chairman of Caruso®, one of the largest and most admired privately held real estate companies in the US—emphasizes the urgent need for local and state action to accelerate recovery, restore trust, and deliver a solution-oriented path forward for LA.
