ATTORNEY GENERAL ROB BONTA'S GUIDELINES FOR CITY GOVERNMENTS DEVELOPMENT IN WILDFIRE AREAS
IN OCTOBER OF 2022, California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued guidance with best practices and mitigation measures for local governments considering approval of development projects in fire-prone areas.
As local governments consider new development projects, it is imperative that they carefully analyze and mitigate wildfire impacts as part of the environmental review process required by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The Attorney General’s guidance is intended to help local governments design development projects in a way that minimizes impacts to wildfire ignition, emergency access, and evacuation, and protect California's residents and the environment.“Local governments have a responsibility to address wildfire risks associated with new development projects early in the planning process when changes to these projects can still be made,” said Attorney General Bonta.
"This guidance is intended to provide local governments with concrete considerations and specific mitigation measures for new developments in wildfire prone areas so that five, 10, or 20 years down the line, we aren’t faced with a catastrophe that could have been avoided.”
Since 2010, wildfires have killed nearly 150 people in California, and since 2005, wildfires have destroyed over 97,000 structures, requiring mass evacuations and exacerbating California’s housing crisis.
Residential developments in the wildland-urban interface and other wildfire prone areas significantly increase the risks of wildfires and the related risk to public safety. Introducing more people via additional development increases the likelihood of fire ignition, which may then develop into a wildfire.
Building housing in the wildland-urban interface also puts more people in harm’s way, and hinders evacuation routes and emergency access.
The guidance sets out best practices and mitigation measures for topics including:Project Density, Project Location/Placement (i.e., in the landscape relative to fire history, topography, and wind patterns also influences wildfire risk.), Water Supply and Infrastructure: Evacuation and Emergency Access, governments should consider constructing additional roads to facilitate evacuations and Fire Hardening beyond what is required in applicable building codes.
It's not about the number of homes being built. It's about WHERE they are placed.
If the state requires 318 affordable units in Agoura Hills and 318 affordable units can be safely placed away from the wild-urban interface and the VHFHSZ, yet thousands more units are being built along the area's major evacuation route at the base of the fragile Santa Monica Mountains that have recently been decimated locally and are at extremely high risk of wildfire every year, it is cause for concern.