San Diego adding wildfire prevention policies to development blueprint
San Diego adding wildfire prevention policies to development blueprint
26 March 2018
Published by http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/
USA – San Diego is adding anti-wildfire policies to its development blueprint.
The policies cover everything from brush management guidelines to the use of fire-resistant building materials
The City Council is scheduled to approve them this spring.
San Diego is adding policies aimed at preventing massive wildfires to the city’s blueprint for future development, which is referred to as a general plan.
The policies, which will constitute a new wildfire planning section of the plan, cover everything from brush management guidelines to the use of fire-resistant building materials in dangerous areas.
Many of the rules apply only to homes located on the edges of canyons or along San Diego’s dangerous urban wildland interface – where suburban neighborhoods bump up against undeveloped wilderness.
The Planning Commission last week unanimously approved the new policies. They were OK’d in January by the state Board of Forestry and Fire Protection. The City Council is scheduled to approve them this spring.
City officials say many of the new policies have already been in place, but a new state law requires all cities in California to add them to their general plans.
The policies require city officials to consider how to minimize wildlife risk when neighborhood growth plans, known as community plans, get updated.
They also identify preferred building and site-design methods, guidelines for development on hillsides and ridges and the need for developments to include “defensible” space and adequate fire breaks.
The policies also require ongoing brush management of property owners to minimize fire risk.
Eddie Villavicencio, a San Diego fire marshal, told the Planning Commission there are 49,000 properties in the city that are required to submit to brush management inspections. He said 45,505 of those properties are private residences located on the rims of canyons.
City fire officials said they take a comprehensive approach to fire protection, which is addressed many times in the city’s municipal code in the emergency preparedness guide Ready, Set, Go.
The city also helped write and has adopted the San Diego County Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan, a countywide plan that identifies risks and ways to minimize damage during disasters.
The website of the city’s Fire-Rescue Department, sandiego.gov/fire, provides residents many tips for preventing wildfires and includes a how-to video on brush management.
