Committee presses to require CAL FIRE standards as new hazard maps expand high-risk areas

LAPAC members spent a substantial portion of the meeting urging staff to make Cal Fireguidance mandatory in local development reviews as the agency updates its fire-hazard maps.

"It's like everything except the lake and the cities are, red," the Chair said while displaying the county GIS hazard viewer, summarizing how the upcoming Cal Fire map will reclassify large swaths of Lake County as high or very-high hazard. Members said the change will affect insurance, permitting and where housing can reasonably be sited.

To avoid surprises at the end of the general-plan update, the committee recommended replacing permissive language such as "shall be considered" with implementation requirements. Chair proposed the language: "Compliance with fire safety guidelines provided by CAL FIRE shall be implemented in development projects in areas subject to high and very-high fire hazard severity zones." Committee members also asked staff to add footnotes or links to the Cal Fire criteria and to verify the official terminology that will appear on the new maps.

The committee discussed coordination with the Lake County Fire Protection District and other local fire agencies for evaluating development proposals. Members also supported funding and programmatic measures for fuels reduction, bridge load upgrades and local fire-safe councils that help residents reduce risks.

Next steps: staff will reference the current Cal Fire criteria (and PRC citations) in the draft plan and return a revised policy text in the May public draft so that municipal advisory councils can review it.