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Board introduces standing disaster-recovery ordinance to streamline wildfire response
Summary
Supervisors introduced an ordinance to add Chapter 57 to the Butte County Code — a standing, codified set of provisions for wildfire-related emergency recovery including debris removal, temporary housing, and abatement — to speed response after large fires; the ordinance will be triggered when local and state emergency declarations are in place
Butte County supervisors voted June 10 to introduce an ordinance that would add Chapter 57 to the county code, creating a standing set of rules for wildfire emergency recovery that county staff say will speed post-fire response and reduce the need for multiple urgency ordinances.
Paula Danilak, Director of Development Services, told the board the proposed chapter compiles lessons learned from previous large incidents including the Camp Fire and North Complex fires. “What is before you today addresses the various stages of those events,” she said, describing provisions for debris cleanup, abatement, temporary housing, land-use changes needed during recovery and timelines for the ordinance to be in force. Danilak said the standing ordinance would reduce staff time spent drafting urgency ordinances during an emergency and provide faster, clearer rules for survivors.
County counsel and staff clarified how the ordinance would be activated. County counsel explained that three conditions must be met for the chapter to take effect: (1) the Board declares or ratifies a local emergency caused by fire; (2) the Board ratifies a local health emergency caused by fire; and (3) the governor has declared a state of emergency in Butte County due to fire. Staff said the ordinance could still be supplemented with urgency ordinances if a future incident included unique circumstances not covered by the standing chapter.
Board action: The Board introduced the ordinance and waived further reading at the meeting; supervisors said the measure would be available to trigger in future fire events and was intended to shorten the county’s emergency-response timeline.
Why it matters: Past wildfire responses required multiple, time-consuming urgency ordinances and amendments as state guidance changed. The new codified chapter is intended to give staff a ready framework to respond faster while preserving the board’s authority to ratify declarations and add urgency ordinances for unique circumstances.
Next steps: Staff will correct typographical issues identified during the meeting, post redline edits for the board and public, and return the ordinance for subsequent readings and final adoption per normal ordinance process if no further changes are required.
