Adoption of an Ordinance Adopting the Updated Fire Hazard Severity Zone Map for the City of Ukiah Local Responsibility Area
Summary
SCH Number
2025061107
Public Agency
City of Ukiah
Document Title
Adoption of an Ordinance Adopting the Updated Fire Hazard Severity Zone Map for the City of Ukiah Local Responsibility Area
Document Type
NOE - Notice of Exemption
Received
Posted
6/24/2025
Document Description
State law requires the Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM) to classify lands within State Responsibility Areas into Fire Hazard Severity Zones and transmit maps of those zones to cities with jurisdictions over the zones (Local Responsibility Areas). The OSFM is to identify areas in the state as Moderate, High, and Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones consistent with statewide criteria and based on the severity of fire hazard that is expected to prevail in those areas. The Fire Hazard Severity Zone maps are then created by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) under the direction of the OSFM.
California Government Code Section 51179(a) requires local agencies to designate, by ordinance, Moderate, High, and Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones in their jurisdictions within 120 days of receiving recommendations from the OSFM pursuant to Section 51178. Local agencies cannot adopt a version of the map lowering the threat. The City of Ukiah received the Local Responsibility Area (LRA) Fire Hazard Severity Zone (FHSZ) Map on February 24, 2025, and has until June 24, 2025, to transmit an adopted ordinance to CAL FIRE designating the FHSZ map for the City of Ukiah LRA.
Given OSFM's expansion of the Very High FHSZ in the City of Ukiah LRA, Staff and the Fire Severity Ad Hoc engaged with CAL FIRE through letter and by email correspondence to understand OSFM/CAL FIRE's data and analyses. In Staff's opinion, CAL FIRE's answers were presented from the point of view of the CAL FIRE data modeler and did not directly address the 'why' within many of Staff and the Ad Hoc's questions. At no time did CAL FIRE suggest a potential revision to the City of Ukiah LRA mapping, so the map as presented to the public on February 24, 2025, remains unchanged.
In accordance with Government Code 51179(a), an Ordinance was prepared for the adoption of the Fire Hazard Severity Zone Map for the City of Ukiah Local Responsibility Area. During Staff's presentation of the item at the June 4, 2025, public hearing, Staff made the recommendation that Council amend the Ordinance to remove the interpretation methodology within Section 4. With this amendment, the former Section 5 of the Ordinance, California Environmental Quality Act, and the former Section 6, Effective Date, would become Sections 4 and 5, respectively.
Contact Information
Name
Katherine Schaefers
Agency Name
City of Ukiah
Job Title
Planning Manager
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency / Project Applicant
Phone
Location
Cities
Ukiah
Counties
Mendocino
Regions
Citywide
Zip
95482
Notice of Exemption
Exempt Status
Other
Type, Section or Code
California Code of Regulations Title 14, Division 6, Chapter 3, Article 5, Section 15061(b)(3)
Reasons for Exemption
The proposed ordinance is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines §15061(b)(3), the “Commonsense Exemption”, as it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility the activity may have a significant effect on the environment. The adoption of the fire hazard severity zone map is required by law and does not involve a commitment to any specific project that may result in a potentially significant physical impact on the environment.
County Clerk
Mendocino
Attachments
Notice of Exemption
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