First rebuilt Palisades Fire home gets occupancy permit Play

A success story: 615 days after eastern Malibu burned down, a Big Rock family has received their certificate of occupancy to move back into their fire-rebuilt house.

At the City Council meeting Monday night, Denise and George Toberman were given the official certificate to move back into their house on Big Rock. It is the first certificate of occupancy issued by the city for a home destroyed in the Palisades Fire 20 months ago.

Denise Toberman was ecstatic: "I'm just thrilled to be back in the house, and just thrilled to have a certificate of occupancy. It's just great to be back. There's no words."

She stood in front of the City Council with her certificate and a big bouquet of flowers. The street where she lives up on Big Rock is a row of house after house of construction. It looks like a brand new subdivision going in. The scene down on Pacific Coast Highway on the beach is bleak, but inland it looks very different.

Also Monday, building permit number 100 was issued by the city planning department. Let's do some math: there were 720 houses lost in Malibu due to the fire. Just over half of those — 370 — now have city approval of their overall concept to rebuild. Sixty-six of those houses are in plan check, getting their precise blueprints checked for engineering compliance. And 100 building permits have now been issued, and one house is finished.