HAZARDOUS VEGETATION
AND FUELS MANAGEMENT
City Council Meeting
December 5, 2023
Paul Lowenthal
Division Chief Fire Marshal, Fire Department
1 CURRENT
• Property owners in and around the City’s
W
ildland Urban Interface Fire Area (WUIFA)
are t
aking measures to mitigate the risk of
wildfires to our community.
• In some areas of the WUI, the lack of
def
ensible space, dead trees, growth of
invasive vegetation and certain types of mulch
are creat
ing conditions worse than were
present
in 2017.
2 3
4 PROPOSED
• Use the Community Wildfire Prevention Plan
(C
WPP) to continue to lay out the framework
t
o mitigate the threat of wildfires.
• Action items identified in the CWPP include
i
mproving defensible space, reducing
veget
ation fuel load and improving evacuation
rout
es.
• Use CDBG-MI T-PPS funding to rollout the
ordi
nance needs. 5
PROPOSED ORDINANCE
• Require all parcels in the WUIFA comply with defensible space s
tandards.
• Require the removal of dead trees as a r esult of a wildfire from specific areas (1 year out).
• Require the removal of certain invasive species of vegetation (
Scott Broom, French Broom, as determined) from specific areas (1 year out).
• Requires action o n undeveloped parcels in the WUIFA
• Require the removal of stringy/fibrous mulch or other p
roducts that aid in the spread of wildfires from within 30 feet of a structure (1 year out).
6 RECOMMENDATION
• It is recommended by the Fire Department that
Council introduce an Ordinance adding
Chapter 9-30 to the Santa Rosa City Code
pertaining to Hazardous Vegetation and Fuels
Management Ordinance to reduc
e wildfire risk
within our community and minimize the threats
to life, property and the environment.
7 QUESTIONS?
8