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Residents in Mission Viejo's "Bull's Eye" press council on insurance after high-hazard map designation
Summary
Residents from the neighborhood they called the "Bull's Eye" or "volcano" urged the council to seek mitigation or convert land to public use and pressed for recourse after reported insurance renewals spiked; council and staff replied that insurers use separate underwriting maps and suggested contacting the state insurance commissioner.
At a public hearing on the city's adoption of CAL FIRE's 2025 fire maps, multiple residents from a central area of Mission Viejo said they received late notice and expressed alarm over insurance impacts and property designations.
Paula Murray, who said she lives in "the Bull's Eye area," urged the council to consider making the parcel a public-use area with access for fire equipment and hydrants to mitigate risk and create a bike-trail amenity. "I would hope that maybe the council would consider making that area a public use area similar to what's along Oso Creek where we could have a bike trail that went through the center that would allow for, fire equipment to have access," she said.
Other residents described feeling blindsided by the map and by sharp premium increases. One commenter said a neighbor's renewal rose 233 percent. Ralph Bobson asked what recourse residents have against insurers who use hazard data to increase rates: "What gives them the right to increase our insurance or cancel us in these areas and devalue our homes?" Several speakers questioned why the area was newly designated as a high-hazard zone when they say the terrain has not changed.
Council members acknowledged residents' frustration and said insurance underwriting is generally based on private insurer maps and algorithms. Mayor Pro Tem Bucknam relayed what insurance experts told the city at a recent town hall: insurers typically rely on their own data and models, and residents can write to or petition the state insurance commissioner. The council and staff also described a local mitigation path: staff announced a $2 million Cal Fire grant to treat city-owned very-high and high-hazard areas and said fuel-reduction work is slated to begin this summer pending bid awards and environmental compliance.
Council members repeatedly noted the limits of local authority over state classifications and insurer underwriting while promising to pursue mitigation, volunteer efforts, and continued resident outreach.
