HomeMy WebLinkAbout2657 Wildfire Lands DevelopmentORDINANCE 2657
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE ASHLAND MUNICIPAL CODE SECTION 18.62.190
OF THE LAND USE ORDINANCE -- PHYSICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL
CONSTRAINTS CHAPTER, WITH RESPECT TO DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS FOR
WILDFIRE LANDS.
THE PEOPLE OF THE CITY OF ASHLAND DO ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 18.62, "Physical and Environmental Constraints" of
the Ashland Municipal Code shall be amended, and section 18.62.090,
"Development Standards for Wildfire Lands" shall be replaced in its
entirety and shall 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 forested 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 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 following 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) removal 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 for 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.
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. Fuel
breaks do not involve stripping the ground of all native vegetation.
3. Primary Fuel Break - A primary fuel break will be installed,
maintained and shall extend a minimum of 30 feet 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 five feet
for each 10% increase in slope over 10%.
4. Secondary Fuel Break - A secondary fuel break will be
installed, maintained and shall extend a minimum of 100 feet beyond
the primary fuel 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 shall be done under approval of a zoning
permit. No structure shall be constructed or re-roofed 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 Section
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."
The foregoing ordinance was first read by title only in accordance
with Article X, Section 2(C) of the City Charter on the /~-Z~-~day of
~ , 1991, and duly PASSED and ADOPTED thistle/day of
Nan E. F~ranklin
City Recorder
SIGNED and APPROVED this
, 1991.
Catherine M. Golden
Mayor