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Springdale adopts state wildland-urban-interface code, limits local boundary to state's extreme-risk areas
Summary
To secure state wildfire response assistance and comply with state law, Springdale adopted the state WUI code June 10 and chose to apply the state's URAP 'extreme' risk areas as the town boundary, directing staff to allow property-specific refinements later.
Springdale — The Town Council unanimously adopted ordinance 2026-13 June 10 to bring Springdale into compliance with the state Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) code and designated the town's WUI boundary to align with the state URAP viewer's "extreme" fire-risk areas.
Town staff and the fire district presented three options: adopt the WUI code with the packet map (townwide mapping that cuts across some parcels), adopt the code using the state's extreme-risk URAP map, or delay adoption (not recommended because the town is already past the state deadline). Staff and Hurricane Valley Fire recommended aligning the town boundary with the state's extreme-risk areas to reduce the number of properties subject to immediate new requirements while still enabling state cooperative protection.
Chief Decker of Hurricane Valley Fire said the district will continue to provide local wildfire mitigation, fuels reduction, and initial attack; adopting the WUI code and the cooperative framework ensures the town is eligible for state or federal firefighting resources if a catastrophic wildfire occurs.
"This gives a tool to the citizens up here to be able to mitigate some of their issues," Chief Decker said, emphasizing the need both to enforce the code and to help property owners meet defensible-space requirements rather than taking a punitive approach.
Council members framed the decision as pragmatic: adopting the state-prescribed code (non negotiable) while limiting the town boundary to areas the state identifies as extreme risk reduces administrative burden and gives staff latitude to refine parcel-level boundaries later. The council's motion authorized ordinance adoption and specified the URAP extreme-risk areas as the town WUI boundary; the motion passed on a recorded roll call during the meeting.
Under the WUI code, existing buildings do not need retroactive construction changes for materials, but properties found noncompliant with defensible-space rules will be required to take mitigation steps when identified; code enforcement would follow the town's standard enforcement process. The council and fire district said property owners can petition refinements and staff will accept targeted corrections where the automated mapping misclassifies parcels.
