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Fire and police chiefs say Moraga Canyon plan strengthens evacuation and fire-hardening standards
Summary
Piedmont's fire and police chiefs told the council the specific plan requires modern wildfire-resistant construction, defensible landscaping and coordinated evacuation measures; chiefs urged resident preparedness and cross-jurisdiction drills.
Fire Chief Dave Brannigan and Police Chief Frederick Shavings told the City Council that the Moraga Canyon Specific Plan includes provisions that raise construction and vegetation-management standards above typical requirements and that those provisions are intended to reduce wildfire risk.
Brannigan emphasized building hardening (noncombustible exteriors, ember-resistant vents, Class A roofing and mandatory sprinklers for new construction), defensible landscaping meeting CAL FIRE/WUI guidance, and a required fire protection plan at time of development application. "This plan will not diminish our community's safety," he said, describing new structures as "far lower risk than the undeveloped or unimproved existing properties in that area today."
Chief Shavings described an evacuation approach that uses reversible lanes and unified command with regional partners (Oakland, CAL FIRE, CHP and Alameda County) and emphasized early, calm departures. Both chiefs said evacuation modeling from the housing-element EIR informed the plan and that project-level studies and exercises remain necessary when a developer submits a proposal.
Council members repeatedly pressed for project-level traffic and sight-distance studies at the time of an actual development proposal and asked staff to keep emergency-access constraints central to future negotiations with developers.
