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Board adopts update to General Plan safety element to qualify for Cal Fire list
Summary
Alpine County updated its General Plan safety element and adopted a CEQA statutory exemption to meet requirements for inclusion on CAL FIRE’s Fire Risk Reduction Community list. Board members said approval improves the county’s priority for competitive CAL FIRE funding.
The Alpine County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously April 7 to adopt an update to the county’s General Plan safety element and the accompanying CEQA statutory exemption so the county can apply for priority placement on CAL FIRE’s Fire Risk Reduction Community list.
Sam Booth (speaker 12), community development director and CEO, presented the update and said the revisions were made to satisfy new state requirements that make the county eligible to compete for CAL FIRE funding. Clint Celio (speaker 7), the county’s wildfire projects coordinator, said CAL FIRE had conducted multiple reviews and that the present update focuses on the items needed for the fire risk reduction community list application.
Board members asked about wording related to suppression responsibilities and insurance/ISO rating considerations. Booth and Celio said the current update addresses the immediate requirements and that further changes could be brought later to reflect shifts in jurisdictional language or additional concerns raised by the board.
A member asked whether specific findings needed to be made; county counsel confirmed the resolution includes the required four findings. Speaker 10 moved to adopt the update and the CEQA exemption; the motion was seconded and carried unanimously.
Supporters said the county’s inclusion on the fire risk reduction list improves priority for CAL FIRE funding when projects compete for limited dollars, and several residents told supervisors they had already seen insurance reductions after the county’s earlier application work.
The board directed staff to continue working on additional clarifications (including language on jurisdictional responsibility and insurance implications) and to return with any proposed edits.
