The Santa Cruz City Council response to the Wildfire Threat to the City of Santa Cruz - Promote Policies to Prevent and

Despite recognizing that the most important factor to reduce fire risk in the WUI area of Santa Cruz City is the removal of entrenched encampments, the city has only done this in reaction to extreme emergency situations, instead of on a proactive basis. __ AGREE X PARTIALLY DISAGREE __ DISAGREE Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree): In 2021, the City proactively vacated open space areas due to fire risk associated with dry conditions. During the wet season, other areas have been prioritized.

The Temporary Outdoor Living Ordinance was a significant step toward proactive management and mitigating the risks associated with entrenched encampments. __ AGREE X PARTIALLY DISAGREE __ DISAGREE Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree): The Temporary Outdoor Living Ordinance has been rescinded and a new Camping Services and Standards Ordinance has been adopted that will provide additional tools to assist City staff in managing wildfire risk.

The coordination between the City and the County on homeless issues is insufficient and not transparent to the public. __ AGREE X PARTIALLY DISAGREE __ DISAGREE Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree): The 2x2 Committee consisting of the City’s Mayor and Vice Mayor, as well as the County Supervisors from Districts 3 & 5, meet every other week on homelessness issues. The Mayor and Vice Mayor provide a verbal report on those discussions at Council meetings on a monthly basis. Staff from the City and County coordinate regularly – typically at least weekly; however, communications channels can still be improved. County/City coordination through the Homeless Action Partnership has not been as transparent as it could be; however, the County has proposed a new charter to regional participants and it should increase transparency.

Based on the amount of debate and public concern about fire safety of eucalyptus, the Fire Department has done insufficient outreach on this topic. __ AGREE X PARTIALLY DISAGREE __ DISAGREE Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree): The concerns regarding wildland risk are valid; however the concerns regarding a single species of vegetation (Eucalyptus) are somewhat myopic. Simply put, if all eucalyptus trees were removed from the City of Santa Cruz there would still be a risk of a wildland fire. The outreach efforts of the Fire Department have been to prepare, and prevent, wildland fires impacts within the community. Eucalyptus trees are a single component of the wildland risk.

The holding in Martin v. City of Boise limited the city’s ability to enforce existing ordinances. TOLO was a carefully crafted attempt to manage fire risks from entrenched encampments. X AGREE __ PARTIALLY DISAGREE __ DISAGREE Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree):