Altadena Fire Survivors Head to Sacramento for SB 1090 Hearings Wednesday

Fire survivors and community representatives from Altadena were traveling to Sacramento Wednesday to testify before two Assembly committees weighing a bill that would pause fast-track housing development on lots burned in last year’s Eaton Fire.

Senate Bill 1090, the Keep Altadena Land in Altadena Hands Act, is scheduled before the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee at 9:30 a.m. in State Capitol Room 437, chaired by Assemblymember Matt Haney, and the Assembly Local Government Committee at 1:30 p.m. in Room 447, chaired by Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo. The bill’s original June 24 hearing was postponed. The Senate passed it May 27.

Authored by state Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez, D-Pasadena, and co-authored by Assemblymember John Harabedian, D-Pasadena, the bill would block ministerial approval under SB 9 and SB 1123 for applications in Altadena’s 91001 and 91003 ZIP codes. Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, whose district includes Altadena, is sponsoring it.

SB 9, in effect since 2022, lets homeowners split a single-family lot and build up to four units. SB 1123, effective July 2025, allows up to 10 homes on vacant lots up to 1.5 acres that are substantially surrounded by urban uses. Both bypass local hearings and environmental review.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s July 30, 2025, executive order suspended SB 9 in very high fire hazard zones covering the Palisades, Malibu, Sunset Mesa and Altadena’s eastern foothills — but not most of Altadena, where most fire damage occurred.

“The fact that Altadena was not included in the original executive order … is an issue,” Pérez said at a June 16 Town Council meeting, according to a Pasadena Now report. Pérez has cited a Strategic Actions for a Just Economy report finding investors bought about 49% of Altadena-area properties sold between February and July 2025, per Pasadena Now; a separate Redfin analysis found investors bought roughly 44% of vacant lots in ZIP 91001 in the third quarter of 2025 — different data sets, not directly comparable.

The Eaton Fire, ignited Jan. 7, 2025, destroyed 9,419 structures and killed 19 people, per Cal Fire; some sources cite 18 deaths.

In a joint press release, Harabedian said the moratorium “will support community-led recovery efforts,” Barger called it “an important safeguard against opportunistic lot splits,” and Pérez said the density laws “were intended for urban infill, not for a community that has suffered” this level of disaster. The Town Council voted 16-0 to support the bill, per Pasadena Now. Altadena Recovery Watch and the Altadena Tenants Union issued statements backing it.

Not all reactions have been supportive. Shannon Larsuel, co-founder of the Altadena Community Land Trust, said at the June 16 meeting that “Senate Bill 9 is a key component of our ability to build housing that is truly affordable,” per Pasadena Now. Katie Clark, of the same land trust, said, “We need a scalpel and not a sledgehammer.” A negotiated amendment reached around June 22 would let nonprofit developers keep using SB 9. Anish Saraiya, Barger’s Altadena recovery director, said the county has logged more than 450 emails about developer projects. Abundant Housing LA and Abundant Housing Pasadena are listed in the bill’s committee analysis as opposed; California YIMBY has separately opposed similar local exemptions statewide.

The moratorium is described as five years, though the bill text applies to applications from Jan. 1, 2027, to Jan. 7, 2030 — roughly three years. If it clears the committee, the bill still needs full Assembly passage before reaching the governor.