HomeMy WebLinkAbout2747 Wildfire Lands / AMC 18.62ORDINANCE NO. 2747
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE PHYSICAL CONSTRAINTS
OVERLAY MAP - WILDFIRE LANDS AND MODIFYING SECTION
18.62.090 OF THE ASHLAND LAND USE ORDINANCE -- PHYSICAL
AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONSTRAINTS - DEVELOPMENT
STANDARDS FOR WILDFIRE LANDS.
THE PEOPLE OF THE CITY OF ASHLAND DO ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Physical Constraints Overlay Map - Wildfire Lands, is amended and
adopted as indicated on the attached map, Exhibit "A".
SECTION 2. Section 18.62.090 of the Ashland Land Use Ordinance regarding Development
Standards for Wildfire Lands is airtended to read as follows:
"18.62.090 Development Standards for Wildfire Lands.
A. Requirements for Subdivisions, Performance Standards Developments, or
Partitions.
1. A Fire Prevention and Control Plan shall be required with the submission
of any application for an outline plan approval of a Performance Standards
Development, preliminary plat of a subdivision, or application to partition land
which contained areas designated Wildfire Hazard areas.
2. The Staff Advisor shall forward the Fire Prevention and Control Plan to
the Fire Chief within 3 days of the receipt of a completed application. The
Fire Chief shall review the Fire Prevention and Control Plan, and submit a
written report to the Staff Advisor no less than 7 days before the scheduled
hearing. The Fire Chief's report shall be a part of the record of the Planning
Action.
3. The Fire Prevention and Control Plan shall include the following items:
a. An analysis of the fire hazards on the site from wildfire, as
influenced by existing vegetation and topography.
b. A map showing the areas that are to be cleared of dead, dying, or
severely diseased vegetation.
c. A map of the areas that are to be thinned to reduce the interlocking
canopy of trees.
d. A tree management plan showing the location of all trees that are to
be preserved and removed on each lot. In the case of heavily lorested
parcels, only trees scheduled for removal shall be shown.
e. The areas of Primary and Secondary Fuel Breaks that are required
to be installed around each structure, as required by 18.62.090 B.
f. Roads and driveways sufficient for emergency vehicle access and
fire suppression activities, including the slope of all roads and
driveways within the Wildfire Lands area.
4. Criterion for Approval. The hearing authority shall approve the Fire
Prevention and Control Plan when, in addition to the findings required by this
chapter, the additional finding is made that the wildfire hazards present on the
property have been reduced to a reasonable degree, balanced with the need to
preserve and/or plant a sufficient number of trees and plants for erosion
prevention, wildlife habitat, and aesthetics.
5. The hearing authority may require, through the imposition of conditions
attached to the approval, the tollowing requirements as deemed appropriate for
the development of the property:
a. Delineation of areas of heavy vegetation to be thinned and a formal
plan for such thinning.
b. Clearing of sufficient vegetation to reduce fuel load.
c. Reinoval of all dead and dying trees.
d. Relocation of structures and roads to reduce the risks of wildfire
and improve the chances of successful fire suppression.
6. The Fire Prevention and Control Plan shall be implemented during the
public improvements required of a subdivision or Performance Standards
Development, and shall be considered part of the subdivider's obligations t'or
land development. The Plan shall be implemented prior to the issuance of any
building permit for structures to be located on lots created by partitions and for
subdivisions or Performance Standards developments not requiring public
improvements. The Fire Chief, or designee, shall inspect and approve the
implementation of the Fire Prevention and Control Plan, and the Plan shall not
be considered fully implemented until the Fire Chief has given written notice
to the Staff Advisor that the Plan was completed as approved by the hearing
authority.
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7. In subdivisions or Performance Standards Developments, provisions for the
maintenance of the Fire Prevention and Control Plan shall be included in the
covenants, conditions and restrictions for the development, and the City of
Ashland shall be named as a beneficiary of such covenants, restrictions, and
conditions.
8. On lots created by partitions, the property owner shall be responsible for
maintaining the property in accord with the requirements of the Fire
Prevention and Control Plan approved by the hearing authority.
B. Requirements for construction of all structures.
1. All new construction and any construction expanding the size of an existing
structure, shall have a "fuel break" as defined below.
2. A "fuel break" is defined as an area which is free of dead or dying
vegetation, and has native, fast-burning species sufficiently thinned so that
there is no interlocking canopy of this type of vegetation. Where necessary
for erosion control or aesthetic purposes, the fuel break may be planted in
slow-burning species. Establishment of a fuel break does not involve stripping
the ground of all native vegetation. "Fuel Breaks" may include structures, and
shall not limit distance between structures and residences beyond that required
by other sections of this title.
3. Primary Fuel Break - A primary fuel break will be installed, maintained
and shall extend a minimum of 30 feet, or to the property line, whichever is
less, in all directions around structures, excluding fences, on the property. The
goal within this area is to remove ground cover that will produce flame lengths
in excess of one foot. Such a fuel break shall be increased by ten lket for each
10% increase in slope over 10%. Adjacent property owners are encouraged to
cooperate on the development of primary fuel breaks.
4. Secondary Fuel Break - A secondary fuel break will be installed,
maintained and shall extend a minimum of 100 feet beyond the primary fitel
break where surrounding landscape is owned and under the control of the
property owner during construction. The goal of the secondary fuel break is
to reduce fuels so that the overall intensity of any wildfire is reduced through
fuels control.
5. All structures shall be constructed or re-roofed with Class B or better non-
wood roofing materials, as determined by the Oregon Structural Specialty
Code. All re-roofing of existing structures in the Wildfire Lands area for
which at least 50% of the roofing area requires re-roofing shall be done under
approval of a zoning perinit. No structure shall be constructed or re-rooted
with wooden shingles, shakes, wood-product material or other combustible
roofing material, as defined in the City's building code.
C. Fuel breaks in areas which are also Erosive or Slope Failure Lands shall be
included in the erosion control measures outlined in S~tion 18.62.080.
D. Implementation.
1. For land which have been subdivided and required to comply with A. (6)
above, all requirements of the Plan shall be complied with prior to the
commencement of construction with combustible materials.
2. For all other structures, the vegetation control requirements of section (B)
above shall be complied with before the commencement of construction with
combustible materials on the lot. (Ord. 2657, 1991)
3. As of November 1, 1994, existing residences in subdivisions developed
outside of the Wildfire Lands Zone, but later included due to amendments to
the zone boundaries shall be exempt from the requirements of this zone, with
the exception of section 18.62.090 B.5. above. All new residences shall
comply with all standards for new construction in section 18.62.090 B.
4. Subdivisions developed outside of the wildfire lands zone prior to
November 1, 1994, but later included as part of the zone boundary
amendment, shall not be required to prepare or implement Fire Prevention
and Control Plans outlined in section 18.62.090 A."
The foregoing ordinance was first read by title only in accordance with Article X, Section
2(C) of the City Charter on the /r~day of ~ , 1994, and duly
PASSED and ADOPTED this /.,,~--2/iday of ~ , 1994.
Nan E. Franklin, City Recorder
SIGNED and APPROVED this /~//~ day of,~~a~, 1994.
Catherine M. Golden, Mayor
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