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County fire outlines inspections and enforcement pathway for Los Altos Hills wildfire zones
Summary
Santa Clara County Fire briefed the Los Altos Hills EPRC on a program of three-year cycle inspections beginning April 1 across fire-hazard zones; county will identify violations and forward unresolved very-high-zone cases to county weed abatement or the local fire district for enforcement. The district reported roughly 1,600 properties will be inspected in Los Altos Hills.
Santa Clara County Fire told the Los Altos Hills Environmental Protection and Resource Committee on Feb. 3 that it will begin inspections of properties in designated fire-hazard severity zones on a three-year cycle, with field work starting April 1.
Chief Davis, the county presenter, said the county will seek to inspect all properties identified in the mapping system, noting: "So whether they're very high, high, or moderate, we're going to inspect everybody." He told the committee that the county's role is to identify defensible-space violations; when residents do not come into compliance the county forwards addresses to the local enforcement channel.
Denise Nguyen of the fire district explained the enforcement sequence: engine companies and deputy fire marshals perform initial inspections and outreach; if those steps fail the case goes to the fire district for hearings and may ultimately be turned over to the county weed-abatement program for abatement and assessment of charges. Nguyen said county weed abatement retains an address on its enforcement list for up to three consecutive years and reinspects annually while the property remains on that list.
For Los Altos Hills specifically, the county presenter provided property counts used to plan workload: roughly 420 parcels in "very high," 161 in "high," and just over 1,000 in "moderate," a total the presenter described as "almost 1,600 inspections" for the town. The county indicated it will send residents a self-inspection form and a second letter from the district for noncompliant addresses, and that county processes must be completed before a matter reaches the weed-abatement program.
Committee members raised repeated questions about the difference between HIZ educational assessments and formal county inspections. The presenters emphasized that HIZ (the educational Home Ignition Zone assessment) is non-punitive and intended to help homeowners qualify for funding or rebates; by contrast, formal county inspections can trigger enforcement mechanisms.
On Zone 0 (the area closest to structures), presenters said the state had initially proposed strict standards but later moderated them; for the current season the town will treat Zone 0 recommendations as educational rather than enforceable beyond the usual 30-foot and 100-foot defensible-space guidance. The presenters said the draft inspection letters will include a recommended 5-foot ember-resistant zone around structures as guidance until the state issues final, enforceable direction.
No council or committee vote was taken on the inspection approach at the meeting; presenters said staff will finalize letters and maps and begin the inspection cycle as described.
