NOT YET APPROVED Attachment A
1 027051925
Ordinance No. ____
Ordinance of the Council of the City of Palo Alto Amending Section 15.04.410 (Definition of Wildland-Urban Interface Fire Area) of the Palo Alto Municipal Code to adopt and incorporate the 2025 Fire Hazard Severity Zone Map Issued by the State Fire Marshal
The Council of the City of Palo Alto does ORDAIN as follows:
SECTION 1. Findings and Declarations. The City Council finds and declares as follows:
A. To better prepare for wildfires, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) is required to periodically review its recommended classifications of fire hazard severity zones throughout California. The state legislature has found that the prevention of wildfires is a matter of statewide concern, not a municipal affair.
B. The State released updated 2025 Fire Hazard Severity Zone (FHSZ) maps, and requires all local jurisdictions , including Palo Alto, with moderate, high, and very high fire hazard severity zone recommendations to designate those zones by ordinance within 120 days from receiving recommendations from the State Fire Marshal.
C. State law also requires that the City post the maps indicating CAL FIRE’s FHSZ recommendations publicly for comment within 30 days of receipt, which the City conducted from March 26 - April 30, 2025.
D. After consideration of public comments, the City will rely on the latest recommendations of CAL FIRE in its published FHSZ maps, notwithstanding local discretion to impose more restrictive fire and public safety requirements.
E. As a result of adopting the updated FHSZ map for Palo Alto , the City’s Municipal Code definition of the wildland- urban interface in Section 15.04.410 needs to address zones designated as moderate and high fire hazard severity , in addition to those zones designated as very high fire hazard severity.
SECTION 2. Section 15.04.410 Section 4902.1 Definition of wildland-urban interface fire area is hereby amended to read as follows (additions in underline format and deletions in strikethrough format):
5.04.410 Section 4902.1 Definition of wildland-urban interface fire area.
The definition of "wildland-urban interface fire area" in Section 4902.1 is amended to read as follows:
WILDLAND-URBAN INTERFACE FIRE AREA (WUI) A geographical area identified by the State of California as a "Fire Hazard Severity Zone" in accordance with Public Resources Code Sections 4201 through 4204 and Government Code Sections 51175 through 51189, or other areas designated by the enforcing agency to be at a significant risk from wildfires. Within the city limits of the City of Palo Alto, "Wildland -Urban Interface Fire Area" shall also include all areas west of Interstate 280, and all other areas recommended as a “Moderate,” “High,” and "Very High” Fire Hazard Severity Zone " by the Director of the California Department of Forestry. The map, approved by the Council of the City of Palo Alto, is hereby incorporated by reference, and entitled, “Fire Hazard Severity Zones in Local Responsibility Area - City of Palo Alto”, dated February 24, 2025 (Exhibit A).
NOT YET APPROVED Attachment A
2 027051925
SECTION 3. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall be effective on the thirty-first date after the date of its adoption.
SECTION 4. CEQA. The City Council finds and determines that this Ordinance is not a project within the meaning of section 15378 of the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) Guidelines because adoption of the state FHSZ map and updating a statutory definition involves no action with potential for resulting in physical change in the environment, either directly or ultimately. In the event that this Ordinance is found to be a project under CEQA, it is subject to the CEQA exemption contained in CEQA Guidelines section 15061(b)(3) because it can be seen with certainty to have no possibility of a significant effect on the environment in that this Ordinance simply clarifies existing local regulations.
INTRODUCED AND PASSED:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTENTIONS:
ATTEST:
__________________________ _____________________________ City Clerk Mayor
APPROVED AS TO FORM: APPROVED:
__________________________ _____________________________ City Attorney or designee City Manager
_____________________________
Fire Chief, Palo Alto Fire Department
City and County boundaries as of 10/22/24 (CA Board of Equalization) CAL FIRE State Responsibility Areas (SRA25_1)
CAL FIRE Fire Hazard Severity Zones (FHSZSRA23_3, FHSZLRA_25_1) Data Sources:
Daniel Berlant, State Fire Marshal, CA Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Joe Tyler, Director/Fire Chief, CA Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Wade Crowfoot, Secretary for Natural Resources, CA Natural Resources Agency Gavin Newsom, Governor, State of CaliforniaThe State of California and the Department of Forestry and Fire Pro
tection make no representations or warranties regarding the accuracy of data or maps. Neither the State nor the Department shall be liable under any circumstances for any direct, special, incidental, or consequential damages with respect to any claim by any user or third party on account of, or arising from, the use of data or maps. and other relevant factors including areas where winds
hav
e been identified by the Office of the State Fire Marshal as a major cause of wildfire spread.
statewide criteria and based on the severity of fire hazard that is expect
ed to prevail in those areas. Moderate, high, and very high fire hazard severity zones shall be based on fuel loading, slope, fire weather, Government Code section 51178 requires the State Fire
Marshal t
o identify areas in the state as moderate, high,
and very high fire hazard severity zones based on consistent Waterbody
Federal Responsibility
Area (FRA)Unzoned LRA
Incorporated City
Projection: NAD 83 California Teale Albers
Scale: 1:97,000 at 1
1" x 17"
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7Km
0 1 2 3 4Mi
Very High High Moderate
Fire Hazard Severity Zones in State Responsibility Area (SRA), Eff
ective April 1, 2024
Very High High Moderate
Fire Hazard Severity Zones (FHSZ) in Local Responsibility Area (LRA), as Identified by the S
tate Fire Marshal
Palo Alto
UNINCORPORATED
SAN MATEO CO.
UNINCORPORATED
SANTA CLARA CO.
elCamino
Real
101
82 35
ATHERTON
CUPERTINO
EAST PALO
ALTO
FREMONT
LOS ALTOSLOS
ALTOS HILLS
MENLO PARK
MOUNTAIN VIEW
NEWARK
PORTOLA
VALLEY
REDWOOD CITY
SAN CARLOS
SAN JOSE
SAN JOSE
SANTA
CLARA
SARATOGA
SUNNYVALE
WOODSIDE
A L A M E D A C O .
S A N T A C L A R A C O .
SAN
M
ATEO
CO
.
SAN
TA
CLAR
A
C
O
.
February 24, 2025
As Identified by the
St
ate Fire Marshal
Local Responsibility Area
Fire Hazard Sev
erity Zones
CITY OF PALO ALTO – SANTA CLARA COUNTY
Exhibit A