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Advisory board recommends adopting Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Code, asks staff to draft ordinance and mapping amendments
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Summary
The Lake County advisory board voted to recommend adoption of the Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Code pending legal review and staff input, and directed staff to work with fire officials on whether unmapped city areas and the historic district should be remapped or exempted.
The Lake County advisory board voted to recommend that the city and county move forward with adopting the Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Code, pending legal review and staff input. The motion, offered from the board floor, passed on an oral voice vote.
The move came after a lengthy discussion about how the state code’s mapping process would affect parts of the city, particularly six peripheral areas currently shown as medium hazard and the city’s large historic district. Staff told the board they could either adopt the code with the current state mapping and pursue map amendments later, or map now at a lower intensity and add targeted exemptions for the historic district.
"I'll make a motion to support adopting Colorado wild wildfire resilience code pending legal review and staff input," a committee member said, and the motion was seconded and approved. Staff clarified the schedule for adoption and enforcement: jurisdictions should adopt the code in time for state administrative deadlines (packet/ordinance drafting begins immediately) and understand that enforcement would not be required until July 1, giving a brief runway between adoption and enforcement.
Fire and planning experts on the call described the practical effects of low- and medium-hazard classifications. Barbara, the board’s fire expert, said that even a "low" designation carries minimal hardening requirements: "There is some requirements. They're just minimal... class A roof, non combustible gutters, and ember resistant vents," she said, noting that structural hardening requirements exist but can be modest in low-intensity areas.
Board members raised concerns about near-term development that could be affected by a medium-hazard mapping (including a phase-3 rail yard parcel and sections of the east side and Brooklyn Circle). City planning urged caution about changing mapping on a short timeline and favored allowing chief fire staff time to ground-truth the map and recommend any amendments before the city or county finalizes ordinance language.
Several members said that a practical path was to adopt the state code on the timetable required, and include amendment language and a pathway for submitting remapping requests to the state; staff agreed to draft that language and work with city and county attorneys. One board member framed the choice as balancing community protection and administrative burden: mapping more land as medium hazard can raise construction costs but could improve insurability long term; exempting the historic district could avoid onerous requirements in tightly built, narrow lots.
The board’s recommendation will be passed to the city council and the board of county commissioners with the staff direction to prepare resolution/ordinance drafts, and to work with Chief Daly (fire) and city planners on proposed mapping amendments and a timeline for review.
The advisory board adjourned after approving the recommendation. Next procedural steps include attorney-drafted ordinance language and a return to the advisory board with draft materials for review.
