Legislation would tighten rules for California homes facing high wildfire risk

SACRAMENTO — Years of increasingly deadly California wildfires spurred a state Senate committee to advance a measure to toughen local governments’ requirements for approving housing developments in high-risk areas.

Senate Bill 182 by State Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, passed the Senate Housing Committee on a vote of 8-3 Monday, advancing to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Ventura County wildfire coverage:

• Crews have cleared 250,000 tons of debris from Woolsey, Hill fires
• Thousands in Ventura County told to clear brush for fire safety
• Free vegetation chipping offered for fire safety

“While this is not exactly the sexiest stuff in the world, it is critically important if we are going to be prepared for the next set of wildfires that run through our state, causing property damage and most importantly the loss of life,“ said Jackson, who represents western Ventura County. 

The measure would require developers to increase fire protections, plan for evacuations, or prepare for residents who may need to ride out fires in safe areas.

For local governments, the measure would require:

• Strategic local planning for fixing existing at-risk structures.
• Modification of local planning requirements to reduce fire risk through design.
• Verification of ongoing compliance with defensible space, vegetation management, and local fire plan/wildfire hazard mitigation plans, including documenting compliance for each impacted property at least every three years.
• A reduction on development pressure in high fire-risk areas without compromising on regional housing goals.

“California’s persistent threat of wildfires poses tremendous risk to lives, homes, and businesses throughout our state,”Jackson said. “We must do more to make our homes more fire-resistant and improve land use decisions in regions that are high fire risk, and we can do that without compromising on California’s need for more housing. Too many lives have been lost and too many communities have been left behind by these deadly wildfires to continue with business as usual in California.”

New homes aren’t the problem, given California’s already tough building requirements in fire-prone areas, objected Nick Cammarota, who oversees government and regulatory affairs for the California Building Industry Association. The new houses are more fire-resistant, he said, while recent fires show that older homes are much more likely to burn.

“There’s no perfect place to build in California,“ he said. “We don’t want to have seismic risks, we don’t want to have sea level rise, or wetlands, or ag land preservation, or floods, or toxics, or you name it. ... The entire state is covered with having imperfect places to build.“

Cammarota’s organization opposes the regulations, which he said would make housing production more costly, resulting in fewer homes being built just as California struggles with a persistent affordable housing and homelessness problem.

Lawmakers said they will continue to negotiate over the right balance between protecting vulnerable homes while still meeting housing construction goals.

“The spirit of this bill is not to kill housing, the spirit of this bill is so that wildfires don’t kill people,“ Jackson said.

More than 3 million Californians, about 7%, live in high-risk wildfire areas and proponents said things will only get worse with climate change.

The state’s chief firefighter, Ken Pimlott, said as he retired last year that the government should consider blocking construction in high-risk areas. But new Gov. Gavin Newsom recently said he opposes barring home construction, citing Californians’ “wild and pioneering spirit.“

Jackson’s bill wouldn’t bar construction, but it would set more requirements particularly for developers.

Even tiny developments would have to have wildfire hazard assessment and mitigation plans and an enforcement program to make sure vegetation is kept away from houses, along with a fee to pay for it. They would also have to meet standards for fire suppression, firefighter response times, and for providing water for firefighting.

Developments with nine houses or more would have to meet those standards, but also have roads designed to get residents and firefighting equipment in and out. Aside from evacuation plans, developers would have to identify sites where residents could safely stay while the fire roared past them.

Local governments would have until the end of 2025 to meet some requirements, and the state fire marshal would have until 2023 to develop new wildfire risk reduction standards and update fire danger maps.