Colfax council introduces ordinance to adopt state fire severity maps, schedules May 14 adoption vote

Colfax City Council introduced an ordinance to adopt the State of Californiafire severity hazard zone maps and scheduled a second reading and adoption for May 14.

Kathy Pease, the cityplanning consultant, told the council the state fire marshal released updated maps in February and jurisdictions are required to adopt those maps by May 2025. "These maps were required from Senate bills back in 2021," Pease said, adding the updated maps classify the entire city as either high or very high fire severity.

The ordinance would amend Chapter 8.32 of the Colfax Municipal Code to reference the state map and add definitions for "high" and "very high" severity zones. Pease said the local defensible-space requirements in the city's health and safety code already comply with state defensible-space rules and that the map adoption is largely a procedural requirement tied to state deadlines and to qualify the city for a home-hardening and defensible-space grant. "There is no change with these maps to how we approach a defensible space," she said.

Following the presentation, council members asked about map readability and parcel-level detail. Pease said an online version can identify individual properties and that a separate, more detailed survey tied to the city's grant work will provide property-level information. The council moved to introduce the ordinance by title, waive the first reading, and schedule a second reading and adoption at the next regular meeting on May 14; members voted in favor.

The action begins the local ordinance process required by state law; Pease said the more detailed property survey funded through the city's grant will follow the state map adoption. The city did not provide an ordinance number or a recorded roll-call vote in the meeting transcript; those details were listed as "not specified."