Rebuilding Sonoma County: Progress and solidarity for Glen Ellen neighbors

Hammers were banging, bulldozers roaring and houses taking shape up and down O’Donnell Lane in Glen Ellen, where the largest number of Sonoma Valley homes was lost in the wildfires.

Construction was underway this month on 22 homes in Glen Ellen, where 237 homes burned, and on 20 homes in Kenwood, where 139 houses were lost. That's an increase of seven and eight homes, respectively, in the three weeks between Aug. 15 and Sept. 5 - a sizable gain for the valley, which has lagged behind the rest of the county in rebuilding.

A milestone has been reached where O’Donnell Lane begins, near the Glen Ellen Community Church: A just-completed building is getting its final touch, a fresh coat of white paint. It’s the new garage of resident Rick Dunham, whose home was saved from the flames last October.

“(Construction) is picking up,” said Bryan Lowney of New Creation Construction as he pulled on his gloves, preparing to work on a home nearby on O’Donnell. “Four houses on this block are coming out of permit at the same time.”

The progress has been painstaking.

“Even a month ago, it didn’t seem like much was happening,” said Arthur Dawson, whose Glen Ellen home was destroyed in the Nuns fire. “But a lot is going on now.”

Further along on O’Donnell, workers were swarming over the second story of a framed house that had windows and siding in place. In a nearby lot, workers were pouring a foundation on a new home.

“I’ve got people coming up to me every day,” Lowney said.

Many contractors report being completely booked. The heavy demand has driven up prices for building projects.

Lowney gauged the range at $300 per square foot up to $650 per square foot “for a custom home on a hill.”

The costs stand in stark relief with the financial hole that many fire survivors find themselves in.

Emily Rogan of United Policyholders noted that two-thirds of the 787 fire survivors who responded to an April survey by her group said they were underinsured by some $300,000.

Underinsurance and soaring construction costs are two of the biggest challenges for Sonoma Valley homeowners trying to rebuild. Routine design and building inspections also eat up precious time, Lowney said.

“You have to go through inspection once you are formed up and steeling. A structural engineer must sign off on forms, the city must sign off, and while you are pouring concrete, someone is standing there taking samples,” Lowney said.

But such procedures are standard and meant to safeguard the scores of homes being reconstructed each day across the county, said Patrick Mullin, ombudsman with Permit Sonoma, the county planning agency.

“When the engineer wants to make sure the work complies with their design, the engineer goes there with the building inspector. That’s not the county’s call.”

“The engineer is saying, ‘I want this mix with this kind of strength,’” he said.

County officials have received praise for streamlining the permit process for fire survivors. “When you call for a building inspection, the inspector goes out the next day,” Mullin noted.

Dawson said the rebuilding experience is one of highs and lows. “It’s a weird mix. You go back and forth between frustration and joy at unexpected gifts,” he said.

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Help with over-excavation on lots

One such gift came to Dawson recently. Over-excavation has been a big concern for homeowners. In clearing soil covered in ash after the fires, government contractors in some cases removed too much soil.

A remediation program was launched earlier this year by state authorities to deal with the over-excavated lots. Dawson was able to enroll to get his property fixed.

“In late spring, I saw a story in the paper, ‘This is the last day to call if you think you have been over-excavated,’” he recounted.

He made the call, and on Sept. 18, at his home on Warm Springs Road one block over from O’Donnell Lane, contractors managed by the state Office of Emergency Services were hard at work distributing fill on the property - for free. Similar efforts are ongoing throughout the valley.

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Temporary home in trailers

Another unexpected gift came from the Dawsons’ neighbors.

“Margie and Ritch Foster - their name says it all,” Dawson said. When his home burned, the Fosters called within days, offering him and his wife, Jill, a trailer the Fosters purchased and set up on their property.

The Fosters also set up two others, one for the Dawsons’ 17-year-old son and one for another neighbor.

“The only rent we pay is the monthly payment on the trailers,” Dawson said.

Trailers are common at burn sites in the valley. Permits for trailers and RVs soared after the wildfires.

“Initially, people were in hotels, and once they got their wits about them, they ordered a trailer and moved onto their land,” said Jennifer Gray Thompson, executive director of the Rebuild Northbay Foundation.

Two permits for trailers or RVs were issued by the county in November 2017 for the burn area in Supervisor Susan Gorin’s district, which includes the valley.

Eight were issued in December 2017, jumping to 15 in January 2018, 13 in February, 16 in March, 17 in April, 10 in May and six in June. The numbers dropped to three in August and two as of Sept. 11.

In comparison, in the same time period a year earlier, only six temporary trailer permits were issued for the entire district between November 2016 and September 2017. No RV permits were issued.

“The Glen Ellen people did an amazing job during and after the fire of taking care of their community,” Thompson said. “They re-housed most of the people in their community by themselves.”