False posts claim California governor rezoning Pacific Palisades

As fires raged in America's second-largest city, posts claimed California Governor Gavin Newsom is working to rezone the devastated Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles to allow more large apartment complexes to be built in place of single-family homes. This is false; the city government, not the state controls zoning regulations.

"#BREAKING: GAVIN NEWSOM WORKING WITH DEVELOPERS TO CHANGE ZONING IN BURN AREAS TO ALLOW MASS APARTMENTS. Newsom is allegedly working with developers to convert zoning in Pacific Palisades from R1 (single family) to R3 (apartments)," says a January 10, 2025 X post.

The claims circulated elsewhere on Facebook and X.

Wildfires around Los Angeles county have claimed more than 27 lives and billions of dollars in property damage. The largest fires, which destroyed homes in the Palisades and the nearby city of Pasadena, were fueled by an extreme drought and fierce Santa Ana winds -- the strongest since 2011. The disaster also spurred a wave of disinformation. 

Residents of the area were already facing a shortage of affordable housing, a state-wide crisis made worse by the homes lost to the fires, but claims that Newsom is pushing zoning changes for the Pacific Palisades-- which is part of the city of Los Angeles -- are false.

"The claim is false, period. The governor is not working with developers to convert zoning in Pacific Palisades from single-family to apartments," said Tara Gallegos, Deputy Director of Communications for Newsom on Janaury 21, 2025. 

Her statement reiterated comments Newsom posted on X in a reply to the allegations on January 11, 2025 (archived here).

On January 7, Newsom signed an Executive Order (archived here) to expedite recovery from wildfires by suspending California Environmental Quality Act and Coastal Act permitting for rebuilding and extending price-gouging protections on essential goods and services through the year, in Los Angeles County.

The order suspends permitting requirements for rebuilding structures substantially damaged or destroyed, provided they do not exceed 110 percent of their original size and footprint. And nowhere does it mention rezoning.

Local control

In general, city governments, not the state, handle zoning changes. While state laws establish broader housing policies, local officials oversee land use and collaborate with the planning commission and stakeholders to draft zoning ordinances.

Tim Iglesias, an expert in housing and property law and Faculty Emeritus at the University of San Francisco (archived here), said that in California the state government generally delegates control over zoning decisions -- such as the types of buildings that can be constructed, their locations, and their sizes -- to local governments.

He noted that the state retains the authority to revise or limit this delegation by imposing statewide requirements and standards.

According to Nicholas Marantz, associate professor of Urban Planning and Public Policy at the University of California, Irvine (archived here): "It would be absolutely unprecedented for the governor to preempt zoning in the way it was described in that post."

The California Emergency Services Act authorizes the governor to "make, amend, and rescind orders and regulations" (archived here), but Marantz said he does not see a "plausible argument that the kind of rezoning described in the post is necessary to carry out the provisions of the Emergency Services Act."

AFP contacted the Los Angeles City Planning Department but a response was not forthcoming.

AFP has debunked other false claims related to the Los Angeles wildfires here, here, here and here.