Planning Board recommends 2024 Wildland-Urban Interface code update and approves expanded WUI map

The City of Boulder Planning Board voted April 15 to recommend that City Council adopt Ordinance 86-95, which would adopt the 2024 edition of the International Wildland‑Urban Interface Code with local amendments, and to update the city’s Wildland‑Urban Interface (WUI) map.

The changes are part of the city’s Wildfire Hardening Project, a council priority for 2024–25. Planning and Development Services staff told the board the draft ordinance focuses on building‑code requirements for new construction in the WUI, and that most proposed local amendments center on vegetation management and defensible‑space rules.

Lisa Hood, principal planner for Planning and Development Services, said the Planning Board’s action tonight is a recommendation to City Council and described the code update as “the building code specific change” for the larger wildfire hardening project. Chief David Lowery of Boulder Fire Rescue, who led the technical portion of the presentation, summarized the proposal as an evolution of existing city practice rather than a wholly new approach: “It’s an important subject,” he said during the presentation.

Staff described several local amendments they are seeking to add to the adopted 2024 code. Key points presented to the board include: - A new, local definition of a 0–5 foot “noncombustible zone” around buildings for new construction in the designated WUI; staff said the zone must contain “no combustible material and or vegetation.” - Requirements affecting decks, gutters and vents, and fencing: new…