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Nevada City allocates $50,000 for home-hardening grants and adopts updated wildfire mitigation plan
Summary
Council approved an interim home-hardening retrofit program and allocated $50,000 from Measure C for community grants; the council also adopted an updated Wildfire Prevention and Mitigation Action Plan and directed a joint session to explore hardening measures for historic downtown buildings.
Nevada City on June 25 approved an interim home-hardening retrofit program aimed at reducing structure ignitions from ember-driven wildfires and set aside $50,000 from Measure C to fund community grants and program delivery.
Evan, a city presenter working with the Fire Safety Advisory Committee, told the council the program focuses on low-cost, high-impact retrofits such as door sweeps, vent screening and sealing siding gaps. ‘‘The items within this plan mainly include simple retrofits to prevent embers from intruding into structures,’’ Evan said, describing the measures the city will pair with outreach and rebates to help residents complete work.
Council approved the allocation and program by unanimous roll call (Cece Yes; Fleming Yes; Fernandez Yes; Vice Mayor Klein Yes; Mayor Peterson Yes). Staff said the $50,000 comes from existing Measure C funds already in the budget and will be used to develop grant and contractor-delivery options in partnership with the Fire Safety Advisory Committee.
Council also unanimously adopted an updated Wildfire Prevention and Mitigation Action Plan that aligns the community wildfire protection plan (CWPP) with the city’s strategic priorities. The updated plan ties actions to timelines, responsibilities and grant-readiness steps the city says are necessary to pursue state fire-risk reduction lists and priority grant funding.
Separately, council directed staff to convene a special joint session of the Fire Safety Advisory Committee and Planning Commission to examine how to ‘‘harden’’ historic downtown buildings — balancing preservation of historic character with code and material changes to reduce fire risk. The mayor and other council members framed the meeting as the start of a broader conversation about resilience for the historic downtown.
What’s next: staff will develop program delivery details and guidelines (including possible rebates, contractor contracting or plan-review incentives), work with the advisory committee on spending priorities, and schedule the joint session on historic-preservation hardening this summer.
