Pasadena’s Planning Commission is set to wade into one of the city’s thornier post-fire questions on Wednesday, June 24 at 6:30 p.m., when it considers whether to recommend that the City Council repeal two interim ordinances that have shut down SB 9 lot splits and ministerial two-unit approvals inside the Eaton Fire burn boundary. Any vote the commission takes would be advisory only, with the City Council holding the final say on whether the limits stay or go.
The hearing appears on the commission’s June 24 agenda, and planning staff are asking commissioners to recommend that the council treat the repeal as exempt from environmental review under the governor’s emergency order, according to Pasadena Now. The move would formally rescind Interim Urgency Ordinance Nos. 7455 and 7457, the short-term SB 9 limits Pasadena put in place after the January firestorm.
What the ordinances did
The City Council first adopted Ordinance No. 7455 as an urgency measure that temporarily blocked SB 9 projects in very high fire hazard areas inside the Eaton Fire perimeter. The council later extended that pause with Ordinance No. 7457 in fall 2025, keeping SB 9 proposals on hold in those zones. The ordinance language says the intent was to prevent concentrated SB 9 construction that could pack extra people and cars onto already tight evacuation routes. City records also note that about 185 structures in Pasadena were destroyed in the Eaton Fire. According to the City of Pasadena, the extension was meant to preserve public safety while rebuilding moves forward.
What the state order allows
Governor Gavin Newsom’s Executive Order N-32-25, issued July 30, 2025, temporarily suspended parts of SB 9 in very high fire hazard zones within the Palisades and Eaton fire footprints and gave cities like Pasadena extra leeway to restrict ministerial approvals in those corridors. The order also explicitly allowed local governments to adopt implementing ordinances and, for those local measures, temporarily eased certain CEQA requirements. See the text posted by the Governor's Office for the full details.
Legal fight and conditional settlement
Pro-housing organization YIMBY Law filed a lawsuit in December 2025 challenging the governor’s order, arguing that the temporary suspension undercuts state housing law, according to YIMBY Law. To head off a long legal brawl, the city and the petitioners reached a conditional settlement that would kick in if Pasadena repeals the two interim ordinances by Sept. 30, according to Pasadena Now. If the council follows through and lifts the measures, staff say SB 9 applications would again be processed in very high fire hazard areas within the Eaton Fire boundary.
Why it matters for rebuilding
Ending the ban would reopen the door for property owners in the burn area to seek ministerial SB 9 lot splits and two-unit projects, a change that could reshape rebuilding plans and neighborhood finances lot by lot. City officials have maintained that in the narrow, hilly streets inside the burn scar, additional parcel-level density could make evacuations and emergency access more complicated, and those concerns are cited in the ordinances as the core justification for keeping the rules in place on a temporary basis.
Next steps
The Planning Commission meets at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 24 in City Hall Council Chambers, Room S249. The staff report and attachments are posted on the commission’s page. Once commissioners vote on a recommendation, the issue will return to the City Council for a final decision. Residents who want to review the documents or speak at the meeting can find materials through the City of Pasadena site.
