7 months after tree falls on Sacramento man’s home, he still has no green light to rebuild

By Orko Manna

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    SACRAMENTO, California (KCRA) — A midtown Sacramento homeowner said he is unable to rebuild after a tree slammed into his house because of what he calls a messy permitting issue with the city.

Just after midnight on Jan. 8, Juan La O said a winter storm caused a city tree to fall on top of his roof. Seven months later, his home near Capitol Avenue and 27th Street is still damaged. The roof remains broken with a blue tarp over it. La O took KCRA 3 inside the home, where water damage and debris are visible throughout the structure.

La O said the city did not approve his rebuilding plan, so he hung up a big banner in front of his home to send a message. The sign reads, “City tree smashed my house on 1/8/23. Still no permits!!!” La O said what he is most concerned about is the home getting damaged even more.

“I’m in a situation right now where I’m completely desperate. I mean, if this goes into winter without any work being done it, the damage is going to increase exponentially,” La O said. “It was a city tree that smashed my house. They caused the problem. They’re the ones keeping me from rebuilding it and putting it back to the state it was.”

The initial rebuilding application La O submitted in May was denied because he said the city told him the finished basement was not supposed to be part of the home.

“The excuse they gave us was that there was unpermitted parts of the house, which caught me by surprise,” La O said.

In a statement to KCRA 3, the city said La O has “been asked to submit revised plans addressing a correction notice including unpermitted work previously done with the structure.”

La O’s home is part of the Capitol Mansions Historic District. The city sent KCRA 3 the following statement regarding rebuilding permits for historic properties:

“While there is a process for historic properties to preserve their features and design, the process is not made to be more difficult for a homeowner. If the scope is to repair original features in-kind, then no, the City’s process is not difficult. However, if the applicant proposes to make repairs that are incompatible with the original building, the process can be quite challenging from the applicant’s perspective because Historic Preservation may require repairs in-kind. The City works with homeowners and/or their applicants to understand the process and ensure a structure is kept to its historical features as much as possible.” But La O said the basement was already part of the house when he bought it around six years ago. La O pointed to records that he said proves his point.

“I was going farther and farther back, and that’s where I uncovered that the unpermitted area that they’re claiming existed in tax records as far back as 1963,” La O said. “I have proof that it existed back even before I was born.”

La O said he has a meeting scheduled for Thursday with the city of Sacramento’s building division to try and clear up the confusion.

In the meantime, La O said he applied for a permit to at least do demolition work inside the home. But he said the banner outside will stay put for now.

“I’m not taking the sign down until the city gives me approval to rebuild the house the exact same way it was before the city tree hit it,” La O said. “All I’m trying to do is build it the exact same way it was.”

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