Proposed state fire regulations draw concern
Tuolumne County officials are asking the California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection for more time to review proposed changes to regulations related to fire safety that they’re concerned would have serious consequences for future development in the county by essentially creating “no build” zones.
The most recent draft of the proposal was released this week one day prior to a deadline for written comments at noon on Wednesday, with the board set to hold a public hearing by teleconference at 1 p.m. on Monday to potentially adopt the revisions.
State officials say the changes as proposed do not “implicitly or explicitly” create no-build areas and largely are the same as rules that have been in place since 1991. The updates are required by laws related to wildfire liability that were passed by former Gov. Jerry Brown in 2018.
However, county officials argue that certain requirements for off-site road improvements in order to build structures on private property where they are currently permitted by right
would effectively make such development cost prohibitive.
“I’m not talking about improvements for a subdivision or commercial shopping center, I’m talking about off-site road improvements for singlefamily homes or additions to single-family homes,” said Quincy Yaley, director of the county Community Development Department. “While it doesn’t implicitly or explicitly create no-build zones, the cost for those improvements on a homeowner will create de facto no-build areas.”
The county Board of Supervisors approved sending a letter to the state agency on Tuesday urging it to slow the process down to give more time for collaboration with local governments that would be affected.
Yaley said the county takes fire safety “very seriously” and would not want to put any homeowner in a jeopardizing situation, but there is also a need to balance that with private property rights and not subject homeowners to an onerous process for something they are allowed to do with a simple building permit under current zoning laws.
“We want to collaborate with them in the future to address the critical fire situation throughout California, but also preserve the rights of a landowner that was bestowed upon them when they purchased that piece of property,” she said.
In addition to requiring off-site improvements of roads leading to a property where new residential units would be developed, the proposal also includes updated requirements that limit new dead-end roads at no more than a half-mile in length and turn-outs every 400 feet on newly developed roads.
Edith Hannigan, the land-use planning program manager for the state Board of Forestry and Fire Protection, said the regulations are aimed at protecting the safety of firefighters on land in the State Responsibility Area and existing residents trying to escape from a wildfire.
Hannigan also said revised rules would not apply to improvements on private property in which residential units are not being added, such as a garage addition or a permit to rewire a bathroom in an existing home, and would also loosen current requirements in some cases.
“I’m not suggesting this would not impact people, but what a lot of people miss is that these are only applicable to folks engaging in a planning or development process to alter the nature of that land so that more people are visiting it,” she said. “For people not involved in these types of projects, this would only benefit them.”
The new rules also carve out exceptions for accessory dwelling units and junior accessory dwelling units, known as ADUS and JADUS, which the state has been promoting through streamlined standards to help with the housing crisis.
Hannigan said the proposed revisions have been developed over the past eight months with input from the public and local agencies throughout the process. She felt some of the recent concerns being raised by a number of rural communities could be caused by the way the complex, 62-page “regulatory scheme” is being interpreted to them.
“Many people are relying on summaries or descriptions of the proposal rather than reading through all of it, which is natural and understandable, but it’s important to consider the source of that information and whether that person would benefit one way or another,” she said.
County Supervisor Ryan Campbell, the board chairman, will participate in the public hearing on Monday and reiterate the county’s desire to hold off until all potential impacts can be better understood. Other members of the public are also invited to attend and provide comments (see box for information on how to do that).
Campbell said he believes the proposed rules, if adopted, couldn’t come at a worse time as the county is working toward ways of addressing the critical shortage of affordable housing in the area. The board approved an ordinance on Tuesday to streamline its processes for ADUS and JADUS and next plans to look at rules related to tiny homes and other types of housing.
“I understand the need for fire safety in rural communities, but this is a blunt instrument,” he said. “I’m not at the point where I think it’s impossible to keep rural communities safe from wildfire without banning development.”