Paradise reports 86% defensible‑space compliance; staff to provide citation‑to‑compliance metrics

Tony Lindsay, the town's Community Development Director, presented a fire-prevention update that tracked current compliance with the town's vegetation‑management program. "Currently, compliance, we're at 86%. That is 3% higher than we were at this time last year," he told the council and summarized parcel counts: roughly 10,143 compliant parcels, 649 parcels currently being issued citations and 455 properties with notices of violation.

Lindsay explained limits to town jurisdiction — county and state parcels require coordination with other agencies — and said citation issuance follows an annual mass mailer and a notice‑of‑violation process that gives property owners time to comply. When asked how quickly citations progress to abatement, he said the town typically issues a second citation within "on average, 20 to 30 days."

Council members pressed for more transparency on the program's effectiveness. One asked for future reporting that shows, by number or percentage, how many citations lead to compliance within specific time windows; another asked for repeat‑offender counts (Lindsay: 'The last time I looked... it was 133 repeat offenders'). Staff agreed to provide more detailed metrics in a future report.

Why it matters: Vegetation management affects insurance availability, evacuation safety and overall wildfire risk. Council members asked for more granular, periodic reporting so the public can see the program's enforcement outcomes over time.

Next steps: Staff will prepare a future report that breaks down citation volumes, average time to compliance and repeat‑offender metrics for council and public review.