Introduced by:
ORDINANCE NO.
AN INTERIM URGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF PASADENA EXTENDING ORDINANCE NO. 7455 PROHIBITING URBAN LOT SPLITS AND CONSTRUCTION OF MULTIPLE DWELLINGS PURSUANT TO SENATE BILL 9 IN VERY HIGH FIRE
HAZARD SEVERITY ZONES WITHIN THE BOUNDARY OF THE EATON FIRE WHEREAS, windstorms of extraordinary magnitude and widespread fires began on January 7, 2025, which included dangerous gusts of wind of over 80 miles per hour and wind-driven and destructive wildfires including the Eaton Fire and the Palisades Fire; and
WHEREAS, these conditions caused extensive damage to residential and nonresidential structures, businesses and critical infrastructure in the City of Pasadena ("City") and the Eaton Fire specifically destroyed 185 structures in the City, a majority of which were zoned single-family residential, displacing Pasadena residents; and WHEREAS, the combined fires in the County of Los Angeles ("County") collectively burned over 47,900 acres, destroyed or damaged more than 16,250 structures, including homes, small businesses, and places of worship, with initial estimates placing this disaster among the most destructive in California history; and WHEREAS, on January 8, 2025, the Director of Disaster Emergency Services of the City proclaimed the existence of a local emergency; and WHEREAS, on January 13, 2025, the City Council ratified that January 8,2025 Declaration of Local Emergency - Windstorms and Fires, which shall be deemed to continue to exist until its termination is proclaimed by the City Council; and WHEREAS, on July 30, 2025, the Governor issued Executive Order N-32-25, which acknowledged that Senate Bill ("SB") 9 was not tailored for circumstances like the present situation where more than 13,000 homes were destroyed including more than 5,000 single-family homes in the Palisades Fire that fall into a designated very high fire hazard severity zone; and
WHEREAS, Executive Order N-32-25 recognizes that widespread SB 9 development concentrated in neighborhoods rebuilding from destructive fires in very VX2DQED10D34RU
high fire hazard severity zones has the potential to crowd evacuation routes, and finds the unprecedent scale of the disaster calls for affording local governments increased discretion to ensure that SB 9 development in the rebuilding areas appropriately account for fire safety concerns, and suspends Government Code sections 65852.21 and 66411.7 in very high fire hazard severity zones within the boundaries of the Palisades and Eaton Fires to the extent they limit discretion in approval of applications for development of two units on a single-family parcel or lot split; and WHEREAS, City residents are in the process of preparing for rebuild and rebuilding, and the City Council finds there is a need to address the current and immediate threat of overcrowding evacuation routes in very high fire hazard severity zones that are within the boundary of the destructive Eaton Fire to preserve public safety during emergencies; and
WHEREAS, approximately 185 parcels in the City of Pasadena are in the Eaton Fire Burn area and very high fire hazard severity zones and approximately 70 of those parcels were damaged or destroyed in the Eaton Fire, and the in absence of limitations on SB 9 lot splits and subdivisions, the density in this area may quadruple without corresponding changes in public facilities to ensure quick evacuation and fire response; and
WHEREAS, higher-density development may increase structure-to-structure ignitions due to closer arrangement of buildings; and
WHEREAS, the climate, topography and vegetation in Pasadena is conducive to annual wildfire events; and
WHEREAS, this area does not have a grid-type street design, and includes non- through streets including dead-ends and cul-de-sacs, meaning that residents may be limited to a single route for egress and the fire department may have a single route for ingress, which may slow evacuation and fire response; and WHEREAS, the City has designated Michillinda Avenue as the evacuation route for this area which is within "Zone 3," and other north-south roads are less desirable for evacuation because of their narrow width and the potential to be impassable depending on emergency conditions; and
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WHEREAS, this area has irregular parcel shapes some with significant grade or slope on the parcel, and topographical features like proximity to steep slopes, can present a threat to homes or developments in fire events because fire flow rate-of- spread increases as slope increase; and
WHEREAS, this area is at risk from landslides and debris flows because the hillside north of the area has been subjected to wildland fire less than a year ago, the City's mountain and foothill areas are vulnerable to slope instability has been identified as area of historic landslides, the area is located near the Sierra Madre Fault; and WHEREAS, this ordinance is necessary to mitigate and avoid the impacts of increased density that would slow and impede quick ingress and egress to the subject area, and failing to control increased density poses an immediate threat to public health, safety and welfare and adverse impacts, particularly in fire, landslide and debris flow events; and
WHEREAS, under Government Code Section 8634, during a local emergency, the City Council may promulgate orders and regulations necessary to provide for the protection of life and property; and
WHEREAS, under Government Code Section 65858, the City Council may adopt by a four-fifths vote an interim zoning ordinance to protect the public safety, health, and welfare; and
WHEREAS, the City provided notice pursuant to Government Code Section 65090 and held a public hearing on October 20, 2025, regarding this proposed ordinance; and
WHEREAS, the City Council makes the finding as stated in the recitals herein that there is a local emergency that requires the City Council to promulgate this ordinance to protect life and property, and there is a current and immediate threat to the public health, safety and welfare and that the approvals of certain entitlements required to comply with the Zoning Code would result in a threat to the public health, safety or welfare by failing to appropriately account for fire safety concerns in the very high fire hazard severity zones in the boundaries of the Eaton Fire; VX2DQED10D34RU
NOW THEREFORE, the People of the City of Pasadena ordain as follows:
SECTION 1. This ordinance, due to its length and corresponding cost of publication, will be published by title and summary as permitted in Section 508 of the Pasadena City Charter. The approved summary of this ordinance is as follows:
"Summary
This ordinance extends Ordinance No. 7455 prohibiting urban lot splits and construction of multiple dwellings pursuant to Senate Bill 9 in very high fire hazard severity zones within the boundary of the Eaton Fire in the City of Pasadena for an additional period of 22 months and 15 days.
Ordinance No. _ shall take effect upon publication."
SECTION 2. This ordinance extends Ordinance No. 7455 prohibiting urban lot splits and construction of multiple dwellings pursuant to Senate Bill 9 in very high fire hazard severity zones within the boundary of the Eaton Fire in the City of Pasadena for an additional period of 22 months and 15 days.
SECTION 3. The amendments adopted under this ordinance are adopted pursuant to the Governor's Executive Order N-32-25 (July 30, 2025) and shall remain in effect until such order ceases to be effective, unless the effect of such order is adopted into law permanently.
SECTION 4. If any subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance. The City Council hereby declares that it would have adopted this section, and each and every subsection, sentence, clause and phrase thereof not declared invalid or unconstitutional, without regard to whether any portion of the ordinance would be subsequently declared invalid or unconstitutional.
SECTION 5. The City Clerk shall certify the adoption of this ordinance and shall cause this ordinance to be published by title and summary.
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SECTION 6. This ordinance shall take effect upon publication and shall remain in effect for 22 months and 15 days, unless terminated earlier in accordance with Section
3. Signed and approved thisday of,2025.
Victor Gordo
Mayor of the City of Pasadena
I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing ordinance was adopted by the City Council of the City of Pasadena at its meeting held this _ day of _ 2025, by the following vote:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTAIN:
Date Published:
Mark Jomsky
City Clerk
Approved as to form:
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Caroline Monroy
Assistant City Attornei
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