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Planning commission adds fire-safety landscaping condition to assisted-living approval
Summary
The Planning Commission approved a resolution for an assisted-living project and agreed to add landscape maintenance and fire-safety conditions after commissioners raised concerns about hillside vegetation and wildfire risk.
The San Bernardino Planning Commission voted unanimously to adopt a resolution approving an assisted-living project, adding conditions addressing landscape maintenance and fire-safety design.
Commissioners said the nearby hillside burns annually and asked staff and the applicant to add specific landscaping conditions, including reduced plant density, desert-style hardscape in planter areas and yearly maintenance to reduce brush and maintain a defensible space around the building. Planning staff and the applicant agreed to add the conditions and to work with the fire department’s overlay district requirements.
Senior Planner Shantel Choice presented staff recommendations and noted the project already triggers standards in the city’s fire-safety overlay and the development code, but said staff will incorporate the commission’s requested conditions into the final resolution. Vice Chair Quill and other commissioners emphasized the difficulty of evacuating assisted-living residents in a wildfire and urged stricter vegetation controls near the facility.
During discussion, Commissioner Garcia asked about fire access and hydrants; staff replied that final fire-department review of construction plans will identify hydrant locations, access road turns and required turnarounds for apparatus. The applicant confirmed willingness to allow inspections prior to final occupancy and to work with planning staff on landscape plantings and maintenance notes.
After closing the public hearing, a commissioner moved to adopt staff’s recommendation with the additional landscaping and maintenance conditions; another commissioner seconded the motion and the roll call vote was unanimous.
The commission’s action keeps the project subject to the fire-safety overlay district and adds explicit landscape-maintenance requirements and a requirement to coordinate final plans with the fire department. Staff will incorporate the agreed conditions into the final resolution and the project will proceed to final plan review and inspection prior to occupancy.
