South Pasadena fire chief outlines state hazard maps, defensible-space rules and timeline for adoption

Fire Chief Greg Lloyd told the Natural Resources and Environmental Commission on Sept. 23 that the city has reviewed state wildfire hazard mapping and plans to adopt a local map by ordinance at a second reading Oct. 1 to comply with state law. “These are called hazard maps, and they’re not risk maps,” Lloyd said, explaining the maps show physical conditions that create a fire hazard over 30 to 50 years rather than insurer risk assessments.

Lloyd said South Pasadena falls entirely within a local responsibility area and described how the state map process treated the city as “non-wildland” because it has no 200 contiguous acres of fuels. That placed parts of the city on an ember-cast map rather than through the state’s full fuel–slope–weather formula, producing results Lloyd and staff found incomplete for the Monterey Hills. He said the city used its existing municipal code designation for the Monterey Hills (west of Meridian and south of Monterey) and overlaid the state map as allowed by statute to adjust the map upward where appropriate.

The nut of the change is legal and procedural: local adoption must occur by ordinance and triggers building- and defensible-space requirements in varying degrees for areas the state labels “very high,” “high” and “moderate.” Lloyd said new construction in designated zones will need to meet Chapter 7A of the California Building Code beginning Jan. 1, 2026, and that the state law commonly discussed at the meeting — AB 3074 — contemplates a 0-to-5-foot “zone 0” nearest structures with special limits on combustible materials. Lloyd said state guidance for the 0 zone remained under discussion and that existing properties would have a longer compliance window (through 2029 under the timeline he gave).

Commissioners asked about the maps’ effect on nonresidential open space and on city-owned parkland. Lloyd said the defensible-space rules are intended to protect structures and therefore apply differently in areas without nearby buildings; for city parcels the department is seeking a $500,000 Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) grant to perform large-scale vegetation and fuel-reduction work on city properties such as Elephant Hill and other public lands.

Lloyd described outreach efforts: two community meetings (Monterey Hills Elementary and Arroyo Vista Elementary), direct flyers and social-media notices. He said annual defensible-space inspections are already being carried out in Monterey Hills under the city’s existing high-hazard designation and that staff will produce standards or administrative regulations to explain how residents should meet defensible-space and tree-spacing expectations. Lloyd added that the state mapping statute allows cities to adjust maps only to increase severity, not to downgrade state designations.

Discussion at the commission meeting emphasized the practical and financial impacts on homeowners — especially in a jurisdiction with roughly half renters — and the need for an urban forestry management plan to guide how removals, replacements and canopy goals are balanced with defensible-space rules. Lloyd said the city would work with residents and the commission on vegetation-management standards, noting, “I’m a firefighter. I’m not an urban forestry planner and a manager.”

Ending: Lloyd said the council had already completed a first reading of the ordinance on Sept. 17 and was scheduled for second reading and a possible adoption on Oct. 1, after which the city will update its General Plan safety element and continue public education about defensible-space measures and building-code implications.