Laguna Niguel council introduces ordinance adopting updated state wildfire hazard maps

Laguna Niguel — The City Council on May 20 introduced an ordinance to update the city’s fire hazard severity zone designations to match maps released this year by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), and voted 4-0 to waive full reading and send the ordinance to a future meeting for adoption.

Deputy Community Development Director John Morgan told the council the item “is the introduction of an ordinance, amending the city's municipal code to update designated fire hazard severity zones as required by state law.” The maps, issued by CAL FIRE in early 2025, now classify areas as Very High, High or Moderate fire hazard, and state law requires cities and counties to adopt those designations.

Why it matters: The designations change what rules apply to new construction, real-estate disclosures and vegetation management near structures. Under the Very High designation, Morgan said, properties are subject to “management of combustible vegetation within a hundred feet of habitable…