Wednesday, April 22, 2026

County Unveils Dual-Track Infrastructure Plan for Altadena, But Broader Blueprint Won’t Be Complete Until 2029

Los Angeles County planners told the Altadena Town Council on Tuesday that a long-range Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) covering Altadena and the broader West San Gabriel Valley will not be finalized until the first half of 2029, a timeline that drew pointed concern from residents still rebuilding from the January Eaton Fire.

A separate, faster-moving Conceptual Infrastructure Recovery Plan, focused specifically on the Eaton and Palisades burn scars, is expected to be completed this summer, Los Angeles County Department of Public Works Principal Engineer Alicia Ramos told the Council, though she acknowledged that funding mechanisms — including the newly established Altadena Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District (EIFD) — remain uncertain.

The dual-track effort was presented jointly by Ramos and Los Angeles County Department of Regional Planning Senior Planner Clark Taylor. The presentation took place during the Council’s April 21 meeting at the Altadena Community Center, 730 E. Altadena Drive, and was listed on the agenda as a special presentation from “LA County Public Works and Regional Planning Departments – Infrastructure.”

Two plans, two timelines

Taylor told the Council the West San Gabriel Valley CIP has been in development since 2024 and is supported by a pro-housing grant from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). A kickoff meeting was held on April 8, and a more detailed presentation is scheduled before the Council’s Rebuilding and Infrastructure Committee on May 16.

The plan will guide how the County prioritizes, plans and funds infrastructure projects over a 10-year horizon, Taylor said, and will focus on infrastructure categories owned and operated by Los Angeles County — specifically stormwater management, sanitary sewer systems and the road and mobility network.

Taylor said the County has “very little power” as a planning department to compel private utilities to change operations or increase capital expenditures.

The CIP will be guided by four stated goals, Taylor said: providing accessible infrastructure to all communities, building sustainable and resilient infrastructure systems, prioritizing multi-benefit projects, and aligning project priorities with the Los Angeles County General Plan. Taylor cited a bike trail adjacent to a bioswale as an example of a multi-benefit project, because it would combine active transportation with stormwater management.

According to Taylor, the CIP will draw on analysis work throughout 2026, drafting in 2027 and a final version by the end of 2028, followed by an approximately six-month hearing and approval process. The finished 10-year plan would be in place in the first half of 2029.

“The timeline doesn’t match up very well with Altadena recovery,” Taylor said. “And we are regretful of that.”

Ramos said the Public Works Conceptual Infrastructure Recovery Plan is designed to move on a much shorter timeline and is focused on the two burn-scar areas created by the Eaton Fire and the Palisades Fire. She said the recovery plan is anticipated to be completed this summer and will cross-inform the longer-range CIP. Ramos said her team includes consultants such as AECOM, which is also working with the City of Los Angeles on Palisades recovery, as part of a strategy to leverage lessons across both burn scars rather than starting from scratch.

“It is a conceptual plan,” Ramos said. “It will become more detailed. It will have the ability to pivot, and it may have to, because our timing is a little different.”

Five categories narrowed to three

Taylor said the CIP was originally envisioned to address five infrastructure categories — mobility, stormwater management, sanitary sewer, drinking water and energy. That scope has since been narrowed to three areas the County directly controls: stormwater, sanitary sewer and the road and mobility network.

The planning area is bounded approximately on the east by the 605 Freeway, on the north by the Angeles National Forest and on the west by the Los Angeles River, according to Taylor’s presentation.

Taylor said the West San Gabriel Valley Area Plan, approved by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in December 2024 and adopted in March, identified the potential for 1,700 new housing units across the West San Gabriel Valley through minor zoning changes. Because that plan was completed before the Eaton Fire, Taylor said, it “does not consider kind of the ramifications of this incredible disaster,” and planners hope to incorporate Altadena’s recovery into the CIP.

Coordination with Edison, water districts

Councilmember Isis Moulden questioned how closely Public Works and Regional Planning are coordinating with electrical infrastructure providers, given ongoing community concerns about Southern California Edison’s (SCE) undergrounding work.

Ramos said Public Works maintains communication with SCE through an undergrounding task force and receives information about where and how much undergrounding is being done, but she said the County does not control Edison’s mapping.

“We don’t necessarily have control. Public works does not have control over SCE’s mapping,” Ramos said. “We try to inform each other.”

On water infrastructure, Ramos said the six water companies serving the area remain autonomous entities, and Public Works does not own them. “We obviously have some concerns, possibly even doubts here of how those are going to emerge in terms of the fate,” she said, adding that the County is in “monitor” mode.

Councilmember Connor Cipolla asked whether stormwater-capture projects would directly benefit local water suppliers. Ramos said those details would be worked out through specific projects that emerge from the conceptual plan, noting that stormwater drain routes will be coordinated with pavement repairs to avoid duplicating disruption and cost.

Cipolla also asked whether the Conceptual Infrastructure Recovery Plan covers the full Palisades area or only unincorporated portions of Los Angeles County. Ramos said the Palisades side of the plan is focused on unincorporated County land, with Sunset Mesa as the major residential area affected, though she said some County-owned facilities sit on land outside unincorporated boundaries.

Funding remains an open question

Councilmember Morgan Z. Whirledge asked the planners about projected implementation timelines and funding mechanisms, including the Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District (EIFD).

Ramos said the Public Works recovery plan will anticipate funding mechanisms “in a large, let’s just say very high level,” identifying internal County revenue sources, grant funding, and potential state and federal money. She said the Altadena EIFD has been established but it will take time for those funds to build, and the County is discussing interim bonding, which she said falls under the Los Angeles County Chief Executive Office.

“I think that’s a really tough question to answer right now,” Ramos said of implementation timing. “That’s part of what the study is about.”

Taylor said the EIFD report lists infrastructure needs without assigning priority, and he suggested the CIP could help sequence those projects based on community input.

“How do you pick what goes first when it all needs to happen now?” Taylor said. “One tool we hope to bring to the table is perhaps through community engagement, through the public voice to let us know.”

Resident pushes for faster action

During public comment on the presentation, Tom Riley, an Altadena homeowner since 2015 and a member of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Advisory Committee, urged the County to act on “low-hanging fruit” — including sidewalks and bicycle lanes near bus routes and schools — without waiting a decade.

“2029 to have a plan, I would challenge the county,” Riley said. He cited a 2023 fatality on Fair Oaks Avenue and testimony from a Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) expert about the difficulty of navigating the area’s streets. Riley also applauded the CIP’s multi-benefit project concept and urged County officials to reclaim public right-of-way that he said had been given up to private obstructions such as walls and hedges.

Councilmember Dorothy Wong asked what equity framework will guide prioritization, citing Woodbury Road as the area’s most dangerous street for traffic collisions and pedestrian strikes.

Taylor said equity in the plan is defined as allocating resources based on each community’s needs rather than distributing them equally, and he said equity will be “a driving force” for project prioritization, though he acknowledged it is “just hard to say kind of exactly what that will look like.”

Community survey open

Both planners directed residents to a digital survey accessible via a QR code displayed during the presentation, which they said will remain open for the life of the project. Ramos said residents should submit concerns in whatever form is natural to them, and the planning teams will route questions to the appropriate department.

Ramos also acknowledged community fatigue as a factor shaping the County’s outreach strategy, saying both Eaton and Palisades residents have been approached by numerous organizations offering help since the fires. “Part of what we don’t want to do is add to that cumbersome communication,” she said.

The CIP effort is being developed in partnership with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, the Los Angeles County Department of Economic Opportunity, the Los Angeles County Chief Executive Office and the Los Angeles County Chief Sustainability Office, according to Taylor.

A follow-up presentation is scheduled at the Altadena Town Council Rebuilding and Infrastructure Committee on May 16.