Planning commission approves Cottages at Bel Air tentative map after extended wildfire‑evacuation debate

The Redding Planning Commission on May 13 recommended approval of the Cottages at Bel Air tentative map and plan‑development application, approving staff’s recommendation after extended public comments and a prolonged discussion about wildfire evacuation and road safety along Quartz Hill Road.

City planner Drew Morgan introduced the proposal, which would create three connected neighborhoods totaling roughly 6.3 units per acre on property at 50550 Quartz Hill Road. The plan includes pedestrian trail connections, a central community area, a masonry sound wall and frontage improvements that would widen the project’s road frontage to three travel lanes with an eight‑foot bicycle lane and landscaping with a meandering sidewalk.

Why it mattered: evacuation, fire risk and public comment

Public commenters raised fire‑safety concerns linked to the Carr Fire, saying evacuation routes in the Quartz Hill corridor previously experienced severe bottlenecks. "When the Carr Fire hit, we had a bottleneck right there where the project is proposed," said Greg Rathbun (public commenter), who lives on Quartz Hill and described lengthy evacuation delays during that event.

Deputy Chief Jay Summerlin, Redding Fire Department interim fire marshal, and Lieutenant Jeff Schmidt of the Redding Police Department described changes in how evacuations are managed since the Carr Fire. Summerlin said city and county teams now use a GIS‑based alerting system (Genesys Protect) that allows officials to push targeted warning and evacuation zones to residents’ phones: "When we put a zone into either warning or evacuation...if you're in the area or drive in the area, it will automatically alert you," he said. Summerlin added the fire department’s role is to identify areas for evacuation and that police manage the actual evacuation operations.

Lieutenant Schmidt emphasized operational changes and forecasting tools that allow staged evacuation orders and traffic metering: "The major change is the way a fire incident is managed today," he said, and noted that forecasting can be used to sequence evacuations so that not all neighborhoods attempt to leave at once.

Staff findings and mitigation

Planner Drew Morgan said a biological assessment and a mitigated negative declaration were prepared for the Cottages project. The biological report identified suitable habitat for a special‑status plant (Red Bluff dwarf rush) and recommended focused surveys in the bloom period; mitigation measures for bats and nesting birds were also included. Staff reported the plan would preserve substantial open space, remove roughly 350 trees and retain about 759 trees in open areas, and proposed to plant an estimated 300 replacement trees as part of site development and landscaping.

During the public discussion commissioners and staff detailed conditions that would require the developer to complete frontage improvements on Quartz Hill Road, keep the road open and passable during construction, provide a wildfire fuel‑management plan and implement on‑site measures to reduce wildfire risk in the open‑space areas. Staff said condition 37 requires a vegetation/fuel‑reduction plan and condition 38 requires completion of fire reduction work prior to final map recordation.

Decision and next steps

A commissioner moved to recommend approval of the tentative map and plan development application as staff recommended. The commission seconded and voted in favor; no commissioners recorded opposition on the public record. The recommendation now goes to the City Council for final action on items where council approval is required.

Votes at a glance: Cottages at Bel Air

Motion: Recommend approval of tentative map application 20230803 and plan development application PD20250483 (Cottages at Bel Air) as described in the staff report, with mitigation and standard conditions of approval (mitigated negative declaration adopted).

Mover: Commissioner (name on record) Second: Commissioner (name on record) Outcome: Motion passed; Planning Commission recommended approval (unanimous on record).