Dana Point adopts urgency ordinance to locally adopt 2025 California building codes, including new WUI provisions

The Dana Point City Council on Sept. 16 adopted an urgency ordinance that incorporates the 2025 editions of the California building standards (Title 24) into the Dana Point Municipal Code and implements a local package of amendments. The council approved the measure by roll call after a staff presentation and questions.

Staff said the action consolidates several new state requirements, including the addition of the California Wildland‑Urban Interface (WUI) Code, expanded EV charging station installation requirements for new construction, stricter documentation for construction and demolition diversion, and clarifications to the residential code. The adoption also includes limited local amendments intended to align the city’s administrative practices with current counter procedures: permitting discretion on plan‑review renewals, allowing a variable renewal fee up to 50 percent (instead of a flat 50 percent), adjusting the number of plan check rechecks to match current practice, and clarifying when a soils report may be accepted based on neighboring reports.

Jennifer (City Attorney) told the council the urgency finding was driven by a state deadline: an assembly bill created a narrow window for local amendments before the state freezes more restrictive local code changes for multiple code cycles. “We thought it would be important to get it in before the end of this month,” she said, explaining that the city must also register its local amendments with the California Building Standards Commission.

Representatives from the Orange County Fire Authority joined staff to explain the WUI changes and how the consolidation reorganizes existing wildfire‑related requirements into the new WUI code. Staff described the local amendments as largely administrative and intended to reduce unnecessary friction for applicants while preserving safety‑critical requirements such as soils reports in high‑risk circumstances.

Council members praised staff for streamlining local processes and emphasized the need to empower counter staff to make common‑sense determinations on minor waivers. One council member urged staff to notify third‑party plan reviewers about the clarified practices so applicants and design professionals understand when a soils report may be waived or when a neighboring soils report will suffice.

Because the ordinance was adopted as an urgency measure, it took effect immediately and will be followed by the required state filing and registration steps.