Butte County Grand Jury • 2009-2010 • Agency Response

Tim Snellings, Director | Pete Calarco, Assistant Director*

Published: August 05, 2009 8 pages
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Note: Missing finding numbers detected: F3, F4, F5

Findings and Recommendations 3 findings

F1 Page 1
The Draft General Plan 2030 does not adequately address all fire and safety issues in the foothill areas of Butte County. RESPONSE: 1 of 8 The respondent disagrees with this finding. The Butte County General Plan 2030 (BCGP 2030) process has been underway for 36 months. However, it is important to note that there are still 13 months of this process remaining prior to scheduled adoption by the Board of Supervisors in September 2010. Comprehensive updates to General Plans are generally multi-year efforts to ensure a full measure of fact finding and public participation during the process. While much has been accomplished during this period, important reviews of the Draft General Plan 2030 document, the Draft Zoning Ordinance, and the Environmental Impact Report remain to be accomplished and are scheduled over the next year. The Grand Jury's
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
Page 1
BCGP 2030 needs to address emergency evacuation routes and fire preparedness for the foothill areas of Butte County. RESPONSE: 5 of 8 The recommendation has not yet been implemented, but will continue to be addressed through the Butte County General Plan (BCGP) 2030 process and the upcoming Public Workshop Series #7, which includes finalization of BCGP 2030.
F2 Page 1
At present, there is only one major evacuation route south from the Upper Ridge and no viable routes north. There is a need for an additional evacuation route from Magalia and Paradise. The upgrade of Forest Road 171, classified as a recreational access road, is not fully funded, and even after completion, will not be sufficient as an evacuation route. RESPONSE: The respondent partially disagrees with the finding. The respondent agrees that there is only one major evacuation route south from the Upper Ridge and no viable routes north. However, it is premature to assume that Forest Road 171 will not be sufficient as an evacuation route in the future. The County is actively seeking funding to expand Forest Road 171 and make it a viable evacuation road. For its part, the BCGP 2030 process has included a great deal of public discussion about fire evacuation routes. We heard directly from citizens impacted by the Humboldt and Concow fires of 2008. We have also coordinated our efforts of BCGP 2030 with Butte County Fire and Public Works departments, so there is full engagement of this 4 of 8 issue in our process. This information is being incorporated into the Goals, Policies and Action Plan of BCGP 2030.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
Page 1
Review the limitation of Forest Road 171 such as traffic speeds, volumes of cars, and fire prone areas and consider other feasible evacuation routes. Additional roads for evacuation of the Upper Ridge, such as Doe Mill road, should be investigated. RESPONSE: The recommendation has been implemented. The Butte County Public Works Department worked with the Butte County Association of Governments (BCAG) on reviewing the proposed Forest Highway 171 route and improvements. In addition, BCAG completed a study in 1994 entitled, Feasibility Study of State Route 191 Extension in Butte County, which evaluated alternate emergency routes from the upper ridge, including Doe Mill-Garland route. The study determined that the Doe Mill-Garland Road route, if developed to standards, would provide improved emergency access to the Upper Ridge. Nonetheless, fire issues will be considered during the upcoming Public Workshop Series #7, finalization of BCGP 2030 and the Environmental Impact Report being prepared for BCGP 2030. This Planning aspect will be coordinated with the Departments of Public Works and Butte County Fire.
F6 Page 1
The development of new housing in fire-prone areas of the foothills is ongoing. RESPONSE: The respondent partially disagrees with the finding. Building permits for new housing have been issued in all areas of the County on existing parcels. Building permits are considered to be ministerial actions, that is, if a proposed residence meets all of the requirements under Butte County Code, the permit is required to be issued. Building permits are reviewed by Butte County Fire prior to issuance and prior to final for site preparation requirements and fire safe standards for access and clearance around structures. Subdivision applications (the creation of new parcels) on the other hand are discretionary (i.e. they may either be approved or denied by Butte County). These applications are reviewed by a number of agencies including Butte County Fire for consistency with local and state requirements. If they do not provide the required access, the Department of Development Services makes a
Related Recommendations (1)
R6
Page 1
Put a moratorium on all multi-home development in fire prone areas until all fire safety, traffic, and emergency water supply issues are resolved. RESPONSE: 6 of 8 The recommendation will not implemented because it is not reasonable. There are systems in place to address these issues. Recent changes to Building Codes require fire resistive materials and Butte County Fire requires fire sprinklers in most home construction. Additionally, all building permit applications are reviewed by Butte County Fire prior to issuance and prior to final for Fire safe requirements. These include proper construction and fire clearance around the structure and driveway standards. Subdivisions are reviewed under the fire safe regulations for maximum cul- de-sac length and are subject to environmental review. Development within the fire-prone areas of the foothills within Butte County is on-going under the existing General Plan. The BCGP 2030 process does not influence land development activity until it is adopted by the Board of Supervisors, which is tentatively scheduled for September of 2010. Development Services staff believes it is important to note that the Grand Jury's recommendation for a moratorium on all multi-home development in fire-prone areas would be applicable to the existing Butte County General Plan and Zoning Ordinance. While Development Services staff believes that modification to the BCGP 2030 process is not necessary due to the information set-forth under the response to

Additional Recommendations 1

These recommendations are not explicitly linked to specific findings.

No Responses Found 1

Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.

Butte County Board of Supervisors Elected County Office

* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.