EVACUATION ISSUES IN AGOURA HILLS
STATE MANDATED HOUSING
Every city and jurisdiction in California is required by the state to build a pre-established number of affordable housing units by 2029.
The City of Agoura Hills has been mandated by the state to build 318 such units. The city plans to build considerably more housing units.
The amount of housing is not a concern. The state of California needs housing.
PRISMM is concerned about WHERE the housing is placed in terms of fire and evacuation safety.
The City has selected the 20 sites seen at right upon which to build the housing.
The sites south of the 101 Freeway (15 of the 20 sites) are in the fragile VHFHSZ (Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone), WUI (wildland/urban interface), the most dangerous place to build new construction, at the base of the Santa Monica Mountains. The area is a tinderbox and suffered enormous losses in the 2018 Woolsey Fire. The highest density projects will line the area's primary evacuation route, Kanan Road.
Click below for our most updated information on the status of
the projects at the following sites:
Site H - 28000 Dorothy Dr Townhomes
We will add information as it becomes known to us so check back.
Have we learned nothing from the Woolsey Fire??
The City of Agoura Hills plans to place 15 of 20 housing sites south of the 101 Freeway in the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone in the Wildland-Urban Interface at the base of the vulnerable Santa Monica Mountains where 97,000 acres burned and 3 people lost their lives in the Woolsey Fire, not eight years ago. Many of the 1600+ structures destroyed have not yet even been rebuilt. The City is placing its highest density projects at or near the mouth of the primary evacuation route out of this section the Santa Monica Mountains, Kanan Road.
The city's own evacuation reports from the Woolsey Fire showed evacuating residents from the Santa Monica Mountains took as long as 80 minutes to evacuate 3 miles from Cornell to the to 101 Freeway