The Santa Barbara City Council passed a proposal to form a Coastal Wildfire Suppression Assessment District to provide portions of districts two and five with greater protection against wildfires.
The Santa Barbara Fire Department has identified parts of districts two and five as having some unique characteristics, manmade and natural, that leave these areas more vulnerable to wildfires. As a result of this resolution, single-family homes will pay an annual fee of $122.95 and $39.53 for multi-family homes.
“I’ve heard the comment so many times that it’s relatively such a small expense for the return of safety on that,” said councilmember Kristen Sneddon on behalf of district four.
Labeled as the Coastal and Coastal Interior zones, this district will undergo measures that will help ensure greater wildfire protection by better managing the area’s vegetation. This includes the alteration and removal of any roadside plants that pose a fire hazard or may slow evacuations.
All properties will also be inspected and may be subject to vegetation trimming or removal to create “defensible space,” which is described by the California Fire Code as a 100-foot buffer zone to slow or prevent the spread of flames to structures.
The total cost of the services going into this district, including staffing, vegetation clearance/management and overall project costs, is estimated at $277,262 according to the assessment’s Engineer’s Report from the SCI Consulting Group.
As part of this resolution, 2,285 ballots were sent to survey property owners in the proposed district. Before the vote, city staff tabulated the 994 returned ballots that had been sent to the area: 52.95% were in favor and 47.05% were opposed.
The first Wildfire Suppression Assessment District was established in 2006, in what the Santa Barbara Fire Department identified as the Foothill and Extreme Foothill zones which is most of district four. Since then, that area has been provided with enhanced fire prevention services every year since it was established.
The hazard zones for the coastal district have been flagged for their unique topography and wind conditions, narrow and winding road systems, vegetation as well as long fire response time that have put them at greater risk against structure ignition from wind-driven embers.
“We are seeing more opportunities for fires to grow within the coastal zone, especially with heat patterns changing, climate change,” said councilmember Eric Friedman. “So this is a way to protect not only your neighborhood and your own homes, but the city at large.”
