BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE
Senator Patricia Wiggins, Chair
BILL NO: AB 666 HEARING: 7/8/09
AUTHOR: Jones FISCAL: Yes
VERSION: 6/1/09 CONSULTANT:
Weinberger
SUBDIVISIONS AND FIRE HAZARDS
Background and Existing Law
The Subdivision Map Act regulates how local officials
approve the conversion of larger parcels into marketable
lots. Major subdivisions (more than four lots) require a
discretionary tentative map and a ministerial final map.
Approving a final map is a ministerial decision. Minor
subdivisions (four or fewer lots; sometimes called lot
splits) usually require just a single, discretionary parcel
map. In some communities, minor subdivisions require a
tentative parcel map and then a final parcel map, similar
to major subdivisions.
All major local land use decisions, including subdivisions,
must be consistent with the city or county's general plan.
The Map Act requires city councils and county boards of
supervisors to deny a proposed tentative map or a proposed
parcel map that is not consistent with the local general
plan. Local officials must also deny a subdivision if its
design or improvement is not consistent with their local
general plan. If local officials find that a subdivision
is likely to cause environmental damage or cause serious
public health problems, they must deny the subdivision.
The Map Act requires cities and counties to include, as a
condition in their approval of a tentative map for a
subdivision with more than 500 dwelling units, that a
sufficient water supply must be available. Proof of
sufficient water must be based on a written verification
from the applicable public water system (SB 221, Kuehl,
2001). The Legislature also prohibited some local
officials from approving a subdivision map without making
findings, based on substantial evidence, regarding the
adequacy of flood protection for the proposed subdivision
(SB 5, Machado, 2007).
The State Board of Forestry and Fire protection designates
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the State Responsibility Area (SRA) where the California
Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) is
responsible for wildland fire protection. State law
excludes land within a city from an SRA. The Board revises
its SRA designations every five years. The CAL FIRE's
Director must identify areas in the state as very high fire
hazard severity zones, based on fuel loading, slope, fire
weather, and other relevant factors (AB 337, Bates, 1992).
After the recent wildfires, legislators and others worry
that local officials may approve subdivisions in fire-prone
areas.
Proposed Law
Assembly Bill 666 requires a county board of supervisors to
make three findings before it approves a tentative map, or
a parcel map for which a tentative map was not required,
for a subdivision in a state responsibility area or a very
high fire hazard severity zone:
A finding supported by substantial evidence that
the design and location of each lot in the
subdivision, and the subdivision as a whole, is
consistent with any applicable regulations adopted by
the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection
pursuant to specified statutes.
A finding supported by substantial evidence that
structural fire protection and suppression services
will be available for the subdivision through any of
the following entities:
o A county, city, special district, or
political subdivision of the state, or another
entity organized solely to provide fire
protection services that is monitored and funded
by a county or other public agency.
o The Department of Forestry and Fire
Protection by contract.
A finding that ingress and egress for the
subdivision meets the regulations regarding road
standards for fire equipment access adopted by the
State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection pursuant
to a specified statute.
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AB 666 requires the State Board of Forestry and Fire
Protection to initiate a rulemaking process before January
1, 2011 to consider adopting regulations requiring a
minimum of two separate access roads for a subdivision
located in a state responsibility area or a very high fire
hazard severity zone. If adopted, the rule must be
applicable so as to require at least two separate access
roads, based on, among other things:
The geographical and topographical situation of a
subdivision,
The feasibility of requiring two separate access
roads,
The ability of future phases to provide access,
and,
The predominant known wind patterns.
Comments
1. Safety first . Increasing numbers of Californians are
moving into new communities built in areas that were once
wildlands, where fire is a natural part of the ecosystem.
CAL FIRE estimates that there was a 20% increase in the
number of homes in the wildland-urban interface during the
1990s. Development in fire-prone areas increases the costs
of both fire prevention and suppression, risking lives and
property. Recent catastrophic fires underscore the risks
posed by development. By requiring new subdivisions in
fire-prone areas to meet crucial fire safety standards, AB
666 will keep public expenditures under control, protect
property, and - most importantly - save lives.
2. Local control . While well-intentioned, the conditions
that AB 666 imposes on subdivision approvals unnecessarily
restrict county supervisors' discretion over local land use
decisions. Although the rulemaking process required by the
bill provides for the consideration of local conditions as
a part of regulations requiring a subdivision to have two
separate access roads, any rule requiring a minimum of two
roads under specified circumstances will reduce
supervisors' autonomy in determining land use patterns in
the communities that they represent. The Committee may
wish to consider whether AB 666 properly balances the
desire for stricter state standards with the benefits that
come from leaving land use standards under local control.
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3. Just counties ? While SRAs, by definition, do not
include land within cities, very high fire hazard severity
zones can cover parts of cities. The California Department
of Forestry and Fire Protection has identified very high
fire hazard severity zones in 204 cities. AB 666, however,
applies only to counties. The Committee may wish to
consider whether the fire-safety conditions that AB 666
impose on new subdivisions should apply regardless of
whether a very high fire hazard severity zone is located in
a county or a city.
4. How to begin . AB 666 requires the State Board of
Forestry and Fire Protection to initiate a rulemaking
process by January 1, 2011, but does not define "initiate"
and does not require the completion of the rulemaking
process. This provision responds to the state's fiscal
challenges by giving the Board flexibility to spread the
costs of the rulemaking process over multiple years, or to
completely forego some of those costs. Even in the absence
of a statutory requirement to adopt regulations, the Board
expects that the significant effort required to initiate
the rulemaking process will compel the eventual completion
of that process. To provide greater certainty that the
Board will eventually adopt regulations, the Committee may
wish to consider amending AB 666 to define "initiate" as
publishing a notice of proposed adoption of regulations
under the Administrative Procedures Act.
5. Say what you mean . In response to concerns that a
county service area (CSA) created by San Diego County to
fund fire protection services might not qualify as a
special district or political subdivision of the state, AB
666 authorizes supervisors to make a finding that fire
services will be available for a subdivision through an
"entity organized solely to provide fire protection
services that is monitored and funded by a county or other
public entity." This broad language could include entities
other than San Diego County's CSA, such as volunteer fire
companies. To more narrowly address San Diego officials'
concerns, the Committee may wish to consider amending AB
666 to say that a CSA qualifies as a special district.
6. Prior legislation . AB 666 is similar to AB 2447
(Jones, 2008), which the Senate Local Government Committee
passed on a 3-2 vote. Governor Schwarzenegger, however,
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vetoed last year's bill saying that CALFIRE should not be
in "the inappropriate role of arbiter between local
governments and local fire services" about fire standards.
He asked legislators to try again.
Assembly Actions
Assembly Local Government Committee: 5-2
Assembly Appropriations: 9-5
Assembly Floor: 57-19
Support and Opposition (7/2/09)
Support : California Professional Firefighters, California
Department of Forestry Firefighters, Planning and
Conservation League, Sierra Club California.
Opposition : Unknown.