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Benicia fire chief presents ordinance to add CAL FIRE hazard severity zones; no 'high' or 'very high' parcels inside city limits
Summary
Fire Chief Josh Chadwick told the council state maps add some moderate-risk areas within Benicia; state rules require local adoption within 120 days (June 24) and submission to the State Board of Forestry and county assessor after adoption.
Fire Chief Josh Chadwick presented the council with a first-reading ordinance to add CAL FIRE's updated fire hazard severity zone maps to the Benicia Municipal Code and explained the state's new procedural requirements.
Chadwick said CAL FIRE released updated zone maps on February 24 and that local jurisdictions must (1) hold a 30-day public comment period (the city created an interactive map on engagebenicia.com), (2) adopt the map by ordinance within 120 days of receipt (the deadline Chadwick gave was "June 24 of this month"), and (3) submit the ordinance to the State Board of Forestry and the Solano County Assessor within 30 days of adoption. He told council that unlike the last map update (2007), the new maps include some areas inside Benicia designated as 'moderate' risk, but no city parcels were mapped as 'high' or 'very high'.
Chadwick emphasized that only jurisdictions with 'high' or 'very high' designations are required to implement stricter building codes, defensible-space requirements and property-sale disclosures, so none of those additional requirements will apply to properties inside Benicia city limits based on the current map. He noted the city’s 2023 Benicia Vegetative Fuels Management Plan — secured after a 2022 FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant-supported risk assessment — is locally tailored and may differ in emphasis from the statewide map.
Councilmembers asked practical questions about what private property owners can lawfully do in adjacent open-space areas, about the city's maintenance programs (disking, goats/sheep breaks), and about how property ownership (city vs. private/commercial owners like Amports or Valero) affects vegetation-management options. Chadwick said private owners are expected to maintain defensible space on their parcels; city crews use prescribed breaks on city-owned land and a waiver process can allow residents to do more work on adjacent land with release-of-liability paperwork.
Council voted to waive the first reading and introduce the ordinance; staff said the ordinance and link to the interactive map will be posted on the fire department and city websites and then submitted to state and county offices per the statutory timeline.
