Because the promised “big one” was taking too long.

The road to recovery after the Palisades Fire has been anything but smooth for a group of historical business owners on the eastern edge of Malibu.

For years, the Reel Inn was a staple along Pacific Coast Highway at Topanga Canyon Boulevard. The famous seafood shack fed surfers and tourists for nearly 40 years.

Its sign is now in a pile of rubble, and because of a yearslong dispute over land use, the Reel Inn may never reopen.

Other businesses are facing the same roadblocks when it comes to rebuilding — The Topanga Ranch Motel, Wiley’s Bait and Tackle, Cholada Thai and Rosenthal Wine Bar.

[…]

Today, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) is using the land, which is owned by California State Parks. They recently informed the destroyed businesses that their leases are cancelled and they can’t rebuild.

“Due to the catastrophic property loss associated with the Palisades Fire, DPR has regretfully determined that it will not continue to lease this site,” the letter the Reel Inn received read.

“We wanted to rebuild, remodel, expand from day one for thirty years. We thought that somebody from state parks, at some point, would go, ‘Look, we’re remodeling the whole place down there anyway. These guys have got good press. Why don’t we lean in with them and do something cool? And let’s do it rather sooner than later because it will make it look like we’re getting things going down here.’ And the phone, not only didn’t ring, but we got that letter two weeks ago,” said Andy Leonard, the owner of the Reel Inn.

h/t Joe