Woodland adopts urgency ordinance updating local residential fire and building rules before state freeze

The Woodland City Council on Sept. 16 adopted an urgency ordinance making narrowly targeted changes to the city's residential fire and building code, citing a new state law that will restrict local residential amendments beginning Sept. 30.

Fire Marshal Matt Flint told the council the action responds to Assembly Bill 130, which the city manager said will prevent most local residential fire and building code changes for the next 10 years unless adopted before the freeze. "After that, cities can't make local residential fire or building code updates for the next 10 years. So that's the reason why we're here for the urgency ordinance tonight," Flint said.

The ordinance adds several measures described by staff as practical protections: requirements for direct exits for bedridden residents, sprinkler and access standards for tiny homes and certain manufacturing‑adjacent uses, clarified fire‑lane rules, guidance for battery‑energy‑storage safety, mandatory Knox‑box access for gated communities, and requirements for residential sprinkler alarms. Flint said the package was developed quickly with the city attorney and outside counsel and noted the changes are similar to provisions already adopted in other Sacramento‑area jurisdictions.

Council members asked whether staff had completed an economic assessment of compliance costs. Flint said no formal economic analysis had been completed because the need to act arrived late in the summer, and staff did not have time to prepare a full cost analysis; he said staff would prepare one going forward and that council could remove local modifications later if they proved burdensome. "If you want to make the...find that something is more expensive than you want and you want to remove one of the local modifications, you can do that," the city attorney said.

After discussion, council approved the urgency ordinance by unanimous vote, 5–0. Staff said many changes are small technical clarifications and that they will return with additional economic information as requested.

The urgency ordinance takes effect immediately; staff said some provisions would be folded into the city's regular 2025 code update process for broader review and public comment.