From: Meelk54
To: City Council Public Comments
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Fire Hazard Map changes
Date: Sunday, May 17, 2026 3:53:32 PM
Hello
I live in the Bennett Valley area that abuts Holland Heights and Bennett Valley Road. While I realize that this area certainly does qualify as a hazardous fire area, I do question how other areas such as some parts of Fountaingrove, Skyhawk and Oakmont and west of Summerfield Road now are being reclassified as being in a lower fire hazard area. I understand that some of these areas were rebuilt after the fires of the past 10 yrs destroyed many of the homes and much of the vegetation, but I don't think they are any less hazardous now than our areas are here. I realize that Holland Heights and Crane Canyon, etal, have not burned much so far and do pose significant problems for a variety of topographical and geographic reasons but the other areas being reclassified are still significantly prone to re-burning as we have seen during the past fire seasons. Perhaps CalFIRE feels their statistics and analysis are better now but the bottom line is that all of these areas are in precarious states given the amount of population living throughout the city. So I am not convinced that anything should be "downgraded" at this point. The previously burned areas still need to have the mitigation and construction standards applied to help prevent any future issues. Once a regulation is downgraded, it is not easy to get it back on track.
As it is, the City has done little to nothing about getting properties along Bennett Valley Road between Farmers Lane and Yulupa Avenue to comply with any type of mitigation or fire safe standards. I suggest that members of the Council take a drive along that road and look at all the encroaching vegetation and overhanging trees.
This is a PRIMARY evacuation route for people who live above the road in the Holland Heights area as well as from the city neighborhoods that abut it. It would be like going through a war zone if there were a fire coming from the hillside. As it is, tree limbs are regularly hit by larger commercial vehicles causing traffic hazards during regular conditions. And, there are utility lines that run along this area where branches are hanging on to the lines--- which would create more problems with downed lines for any evacuation travel. So while homeowners/residents in the neighborhoods are told to comply with the mitigation standards, no one seems to think about the very real issue of who is going to enforce the standards along this roadway.
I am concerned that our Fire Department representatives are relying on the assertion by the State Insurance Commissioner that the significance of the classifications by CalFIRE and municipal fire departments "don't affect insurance decisions" but that insurance companies "rely on their own risk models..." While insurance companies certainly do rely on their own algorithms, those calculations do look at the classifications of the fire agencies as part of that computation. It is at the least naive to think that they don't. What is the point of cities like Santa Rosa using ISO ratings when they assess their readiness for operations and for fire protection capabilities? The ISO rating system is a part of the insurance industry's assessment of jurisdictions' abilities to deal with fires, etc. Seriously, it flies in the face of logic to think that these new classifications will not adversely affect many when they are obtaining fire and home insurance coverage.
The City has expanded its footprint into many wildland urban interface (WUI) areas. With that the population has of course, increased and now our roadways from these various areas must handle many more people. Especially as we are permitting more inbuilding (i.e., ADU, etc.) and higher density housing complexes, many of these WUI areas will impact emergency evacuations, etc. It is important to incorporate that as part of this overall plan. It is hard for me to understand any logical reason to remove any properties that have been historically in the WUI unless they now have no dwelling units or population in them. I think the Fire Department needs to rethink these proposed removals.
Lastly it seems to me that the public is being given inaccurate information about local ordinances regarding weed and hazard abatement. In the article that was printed in the Press Democrat on May 13th, 2026, it stated that "property owners in the affected areas will be subject to local ordinances requiring weeds be cut short during the fire season and that debris and other flammable objects around structures be removed..." As I read this, I felt it implied that these requirements are only applicable in the newly identified high hazard areas. As far as I know, that ordinance applies to ALL properties in the city limits not just those in these designated areas. I feel that the Fire Dept should request that the Press Democrat correct this mis-statement. I realize that the Dept cannot totally control what is printed but they should take the time to ensure that the correct information is provided when it is not accurately reported.
I appreciate the opportunity to give my feedback at this time and I hope at least some of it is helpful during this process.
Please contact me if you have any questions regarding my comments.
Kind regards,
Eileen Kortas
(707)696-9158