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08-15-2019 Searchable Packet
CITY OF CUPERTINO DISASTER COUNCIL AGENDA 10300 Torre Avenue, City Hall EOC Thursday, August 15, 2019 2:00 PM Special Meeting NOTICE AND CALL FOR A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CUPERTINO DISASTER COUNCIL NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a special meeting of the Cupertino Disaster Council is hereby called for Thursday, August 15, 2019, commencing at 2:00 P.M. in the EOC at City Hall, Cupertino, California 95014. Said special meeting shall be for the purpose of conducting business on the subject matters listed below under the heading, “Special Meeting." SPECIAL MEETING PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1.Subject: Minutes from May 16, 2019 Recommended Action: Approve Minutes from May 16, 2019 A - Draft Minutes ORAL COMMUNICATIONS This portion of the meeting is reserved for persons wishing to address the members on any matter not on the agenda. Speakers are limited to three (3) minutes. In most cases, State law will prohibit the members from making any decisions with respect to a matter not listed on the agenda NEW BUSINESS 2.Subject: Proposed amendments to Chapter 2.40 (Disaster Council) of the Cupertino Municipal Code Recommended Action: Discuss proposed amendments to Chapter 2.40 (Disaster Council) of the Cupertino Municipal Code Staff Report A – Draft Municipal Code Amendments for Chapter 2.40 Page 1 Disaster Council Agenda August 15, 2019 3.Subject: Presentation to Adopt the City of Cupertino Annex to the Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) as the City of Cupertino Community Wildfire Protection Plan. Recommended Action: Recieve presentation and adopt Resolution No. 19-____which adopts the City of Cupertino Annex to the Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan as the City of Cupertino’s Community Wildfire Protection Plan. Staff Report A - Resolution Adopting the City of Cupertino Community Wildfire Protection Plan B - City of Cupertino Community Wildfire Protection Plan - Annex 7 C - Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan 4.Subject: Discussion regarding Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) STAFF AND COMMITTEE REPORTS 5.Subject: Report by the Santa Clara County Fire Department a.Emergency Management b.Community Education Recommended Action: Receive report by the Santa Clara County Fire Department liaison 6.Subject: City of Cupertino Office of Emergency Services (OES) Recommended Action: Receive report by the City of Cupertino OES liaison 7.Subject: Report by Citizen Corps Recommended Action: Receive report by the Citizen Corps liaison A - Citizen Corps Report ADJOURNMENT In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), anyone who is planning to attend the next meeting who is visually or hearing impaired or has any disability that needs special assistance should call the City Clerk's Office at 408-777-3223, 48 hours in advance of the meeting to arrange for assistance. Upon request, in advance, by a person with a disability, meeting agendas and writings distributed for the meeting that are public records will be made available in the appropriate alternative format. Also upon request, in advance, an assistive listening device can be made available for use during the meeting. Any writings or documents provided to a majority of the members after publication of the agenda will be made available for public inspection. Please contact the City Clerk’s Office in City Hall located at 10300 Torre Avenue during normal business hours. Page 2 Disaster Council Agenda August 15, 2019 IMPORTANT NOTICE: Please be advised that pursuant to Cupertino Municipal Code 2.08.100 written communications sent to the Cupertino City Council, Commissioners or City staff concerning a matter on the agenda are included as supplemental material to the agendized item. These written communications are accessible to the public through the City’s website and kept in packet archives. You are hereby admonished not to include any personal or private information in written communications to the City that you do not wish to make public; doing so shall constitute a waiver of any privacy rights you may have on the information provided to the City . Members of the public are entitled to address the members concerning any item that is described in the notice or agenda for this meeting, before or during consideration of that item. If you wish to address the members on any other item not on the agenda, you may do so during the public comment . Page 3 CITY OF CUPERTINO Agenda Item 19-5893 Agenda Date: 8/15/2019 Agenda #: 1. Subject: Minutes from May 16, 2019 Approve Minutes from May 16, 2019 CITY OF CUPERTINO Printed on 2/3/2022Page 1 of 1 powered by Legistar™ CUPERTINO DISASTER COUNCIL Meeting of May 16, 2019 City Hall 10300 Torre Ave Cupertino, CA 95014 2:00 p.m.-3:30 p.m. MINUTES CALL TO ORDER Mayor Steven Scharf called meeting to order at 2:00 p.m. ROLL CALL Chair: Mayor Steven Scharf Vice Chair: Interim City Manager Timm Borden Members: Ops, Roger Lee, Mgmt. Bill Mitchel, Fin. Kristina Alfaro, Logs. Ken Tanase, Ops. Roger Lee, Plann. Ben Fu City Staff: Katy Nomura, Clare Francavilla Santa Clara County Fire OEM: David Flamm Santa Clara County Fire Community Education: None Sheriff Office: Cptn. Rich Urena Business Partners: Pam Reed of The Forum, Jaime Hurtado of WVCC Citizen Corps Volunteers: Bob Cascone, Ken Foot, Judy Halchin, Richard Stevens, Steve Hill, ORAL COMMUNICATIONS During this portion of the meeting community members may address the Council on any relevant matter. Speakers may be limited to three (3) minutes. In most cases, state law will prohibit the commission from making decisions with respect to matters not previously identified on the agenda. Bob Cascone- gave an update about the PG&E electrical power shutdown process, advising that County OEM and Cupertino OES are involved in the upcoming process development. Review of Minutes- Minutes adopted REPORTS/UPDATES A. County Fire OEM- a. David Flamm, commented on the progress of Cupertino’s EOP, Crisis Communication Annex is being worked on, staffing two positions should be filled soon and if approved a new Hazard Mitigation position will be added with grant funding, b. CERT- signed training document completed with Cupertino, refresher and Academy for 2019 addition expanded training may be offered in 2020 Cupertino Disaster Council Page 2 C:\Users\legistar\AppData\Local\Temp\BCL Technologies\easyPDF 8\@BCL@F00CF5AD\@BCL@F00CF5AD.doc c. Training-OEM hosted training calendar is posted in the weekly OEM update B. County Fire Public Education- None C. Cupertino OES- Clare F., Emergency Operations Plan update and proposed date to City Council is June 18th, City staff DSW and EOC section training is in progress, June 22 is the Emergency Preparedness Fair D. Cupertino Citizen Corps- Ken E., a.Reports presented for CARES, CERT and MRC E. Public Works Update- Roger L., Reported on the huge oak tree that fell due to “sudden limb drop”; no injuries F. CERT San Jose- Skip S., updated us about San Jose CERT program restarting, Academy starts June 8 NEW BUSINESS a. Discussion of New City Manager- Ken E., Deborah Feng will be starting as new City Manager/Director of Emergency Services June 7, b. Presentation of City of Cupertino Emergency Plan- Ken F., presented an overview of the Emergency Operations Plan to recommend approval by City Council- Approved c. Discuss reassigning authority of Citizen Corps Calendar approval by City Manager, Director of Emergency Services-Ken E., discussed that this would allow approval of activation activities on as needed basis, which would have no down side and is in compliance with State guidelines. OLD BUSINESS a. Update on Disaster Council Ordinance- Katy N., announced actions for Disaster Council to comply with current ordinance, announced membership b. Citizen Corps Training Calendar approval- Approved ANNOUNCEMENTS a. Next meeting: Thursday, November 21, 2019, 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM, City Hall ADJOURNMENT a. Adjourned at 3:05 PM Minutes prepared by: Cupertino Disaster Council Page 3 C:\Users\legistar\AppData\Local\Temp\BCL Technologies\easyPDF 8\@BCL@F00CF5AD\@BCL@F00CF5AD.doc Ken Ericksen Cupertino OES In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), anyone who is planning to attend the next meeting who is visually or hearing impaired or has any disability that needs special assistance should call the City Clerk's Office at 408-777-3223, 48 hours in advance of the meeting to arrange for assistance. Upon request, in advance, by a person with a disability, meeting agendas and writings distributed for the meeting that are public records will be made available in the appropriate alternative format. Also upon request, in advance, an assistive listening device can be made available for use during the meeting. Members of the public are entitled to address the members concerning any item that is described in the notice or agenda for this meeting, before or during consideration of that item. If you wish to address the members on any other item not on the agenda, you may do so during the public comment portion of the meeting. Please limit your comments to three (3) minutes or less. CITY OF CUPERTINO Agenda Item 19-5954 Agenda Date: 8/15/2019 Agenda #: 2. Subject:Proposed amendments to Chapter 2.40 (Disaster Council)of the Cupertino Municipal Code Discuss proposed amendments to Chapter 2.40 (Disaster Council) of the Cupertino Municipal Code CITY OF CUPERTINO Printed on 2/3/2022Page 1 of 1 powered by Legistar™ ` DISASTER COUNCIL STAFF REPORT Meeting: August 15, 2019 Subject Discuss proposed amendments to Chapter 2.40 (Disaster Council) of the Cupertino Municipal Code Recommended Action Discuss proposed amendments to Chapter 2.40 (Disaster Council) of the Cupertino Municipal Code Background The Disaster Council provides for the preparation of plans for the protection of persons and property within the City in the event of an emergency, the direction of the emergency organization, and the coordination of the emergency functions of this City with all other public agencies, corporations, organizations and affected private persons. The purpose of the Disaster Council is to: Oversee the City’s Citizen Corps programs, including but not limited to: Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), Medical Reserve Corps (MRC), and Cupertino Amateur Radio Emergency Services (CARES). Assist with threat assessments, identify local resources, and facilitate multi- agency/inter-agency coordination within its membership and other local governments and special districts. Discussion Updates to the Disaster Council Chapter 2.40 of the Municipal Code are being developed to ensure the most effective and efficient use of this Council. The recommended changes are summarized as follows: Change Reason Changed name from Disaster Council to Emergency Organization The scope of the ordinance covers the Emergency Organization of which the Disaster Council is a component. Removed first paragraph (asterisked) of ordinance Research of other Disaster Councils show there is no such similar verbiage. Updated definition of “emergency”Changed definition of “emergency” based on research of the California Office of Emergence Services’ model ordinance as well as other ordinances within Santa Clara County. Changed designated chair from Mayor to City Manager; changed designated vice chair from City Manager to Mayor As the Mayor’s term is only one year and to keep consistency in the Disaster Council, it is recommended to have the City Manager as Chair and the Mayor as Vice Chair. Modified remaining designated members as follows: -Emergency Services Coordinator -Department Heads -Citizen Corps Coordinator -Such representatives of civic, business, labor, veterans, professional, or other organizations having an official emergency responsibility, as may be appointed by the chair with the advice and consent of the governing body. This modification more clearly defines those members that have an essential function during a disaster. Various edits Minimal other corrections or additions have been made to the verbiage without impact on the content of this ordinance. Sustainability Impact None anticipated. Fiscal Impact None anticipated. _____________________________________ Prepared by: Clare Francavilla, Emergency Services Coordinator Approved for Submission by: Katy Nomura, Assistant to the City Manager Attachments: A – Draft Municipal Code Amendments for Chapter 2.40 Cupertino, CA Municipal Code TITLE 2: ADMINISTRATION AND PERSONNEL CHAPTER 2.40: DISASTER COUNCIL* Draft Municipal Code Amendments for Chapter 2.40 CHAPTER 2.40:EMERGENCY ORGANIZATION Section 2.40.010 Purposes. 2.40.020 Definition. 2.40.025 Disaster Council. 2.40.030 Reserved. 2.40.040 Powers and duties. 2.40.050 Director of Emergency Services–Designated. 2.40.060 Director of Emergency Services–Powers and duties. 2.40.070 Emergency organization–Membership. 2.40.080 Emergency organization–Structure, duties and functions. 2.40.090 Mutual aid. 2.40.100 Expenditures. 2.40.110 Violation–Penalty. * 2.40.010 Purposes. The declared purposes of this chapter are to provide for the preparation and carrying out of plans for the protection of persons and property within this City in the event of an emergency, the direction of the emergency organization, and the coordination of the emergency functions of this City with all other public agencies, corporations, organizations and affected private persons. (Ord. 475, § 1, 1971) 2.40.020 Definition. As used in this chapter, “emergency” shall mean the actual or threatened existence of conditions of disaster or of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property within this City caused by such or other conditions as air pollution, fire, flood, storm, epidemic, riot or earthquake, or other conditions, including conditions resulting from war or imminent threat of war, but other than conditions resulting from a labor controversy, which conditions are or are likely to be beyond the control of the services, personnel, equipment, and facilities of this City, requiring the combined forces of other political subdivisions to combat. (Ord. 15-2129, § 1, 2015; Ord. 1912, (part), 2003; Ord. 1697, (part), 1995; Ord. 475, § 2, 1971) 2.40.025 Disaster Council. Pursuant to California Government Code section 8610, the Cupertino Disaster Council, shall have the following members: A. The City Manager, or his/her designee, shall be chair. B. The Mayor, or his/her designee, shall be vice chair. C. The Emergency Services Coordinator, or his/her designee C. The City Department Heads or their designee D. The Citizen Corps Coordinator, or his/her designee E. Such representatives of civic, business, labor, veterans, professional, or other organizations having an official emergency responsibility, as may be appointed by the chair with the advice and consent of the governing body. 2.40.030 Reserved. 2.40.040 Disaster Council Powers and Duties. The Disaster Council has oversight responsibility for the California State Disaster Service Worker Program (DSW) and the California State Disaster Service Worker Volunteer Program (DSWVP). The City Office of Emergency Services manages the DSWVP through its Citizen Corps organization as established by the California Emergency Council pursuant to the provisions of California Government Code Section 8585.5.(Ord. 15-2129, § 3, 2015; Ord. 1912, (part), 2003; Ord. 1697 (part), 1995; Ord. 475, § 4, 1971) The Disaster Council has the duty and power to review and recommend for adoption emergency plans and mutual aid agreements based on the Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS) as defined in the California Code of Regulations, Title 19, Division 2, Sections 2400 -2450. The Disaster Council may provide guidance to develop disaster exercises support community participation, assist with threat assessments, identify local resources,and facilitate multi-agency/inter-agency coordination within its membership and other local governments and special districts. The Disaster Council provides oversight for engaging community members in homeland security, emergency planning and response and promoting community preparedness and family safety in three principal ways; through public education and outreach; through training opportunities; and, through volunteer programs that draw on special skills and interests. 2.40.050 Director of Emergency Services–Designated. The City Manager or his/her designee is designated the Director of Emergency Services for the purposes of disaster management under the Standardized Emergency Management System.(Ord. 15-2129, § 5, 2015; Ord. 1912, (part), 2003; Ord. 1697, (part), 1995; Ord. 475, § 5, 1971) 2.40.060 Director of Emergency Services–Powers and Duties. The Director is empowered to: A.Proclaim the existence or threatened existence of a “local emergency”; B. Whenever a local emergency is proclaimed by the Director, he/she shall request the City Council to take action to ratify the proclamation within seven days thereafter or the proclamation shall have no further force or effect; C. Request the Governor, through the Santa Clara Operational Area, to proclaim a "state of emergency" when, in the opinion of the Director, the locally available resources are inadequate to cope with the emergency; D. Develop emergency plans with the assistance of emergency organization for consideration by the Disaster Council and manage the emergency programs of this City; E. Control and direct the effort of the emergency organization for this City for the accomplishment of the purposes of this chapter; F. Direct cooperation between and coordination of services and staff of the emergency organization of this City; and resolve questions of authority and responsibility that may arise between them; G. Represent this City in all dealings with public or private agencies on matters pertaining to emergencies as defined herein; H. In the event of the proclamation of a "local emergency" as herein provided, the proclamation of a "state of emergency" by the Governor or the Director of the State Office of Emergency Services, or the existence of a "state of war emergency," the Director is empowered to: 1. Make and issue rules and regulations on matters reasonably related to the protection of life, property and the environmentas affected by such emergency; provided, however, such rules and regulations must be confirmed at the earliest practicable time by the City Council; 2. Obtain vital supplies, equipment, and such other properties found lacking and needed for the protection of life and property and to bind the City for the fair value thereof and, if required immediately, to commandeer the same for public use; 3. Require emergency services of any City officer or employee and, in the event of the proclamation of a "state of emergency" in the Santa Clara County Operational Area or the existence of a "state of war emergency," to command the aid of as many citizens of this community as he/she deems necessary in the execution of his/her duties; such persons shall be entitled to all privileges, benefits, and immunities as are provided by State law for registered Disaster Services Workers; 4. Requisition necessary personnel or material of any City department or agency; and 5. Execute all his/her ordinary power as City Manager, all of the special powers conferred upon him/her by this chapter or by resolution or emergency plan pursuant hereto adopted by the City Council, all powers conferred upon him/her by any statute, by an agreement approved by the City Council, and by any other lawful authority.(Ord. 15-2129, § 6, 2015; Ord. 1697, (part), 1995; Ord. 475, § 6, 1971) 2.40.070 Emergency Organization–Membership. All officers and employees of this City, together with Citizen Corps, programs and volunteers and other volunteer forces enrolled to aid them during an emergency, and stakeholders, all groups, organizations, and persons who may by agreement or operation of law, including persons impressed into service under the provisions of Section 2.40.060(G)(3) of this chapter, be charged with duties incident to the protection of life, property and the environment in this City during such emergency, shall constitute the emergency organization of the City.(Ord. 15-2129, § 7, 2015; Ord. 1912, (part), 2003; Ord. 475, § 7, 1971) 2.40.080 Emergency Organization–Structure, Duties and Functions. The City Emergency Organization functions under the Standardized Emergency Management System. Representatives of the Emergency Organization have specific duties and responsibilities to train, plan for and participate in the City’s emergency management response, as assigned by the Director of Emergency Services.These responsibilities are outlined in the Cupertino Emergency Operations Plan. The structure, duties, and functions of the emergency organization and the order of emergency succession to the position of Director of Emergency Services, shall be adopted by resolution of the City Council. (Ord. 1912, (part), 2003; Ord. 475, § 8, 1971) 2.40.090 Mutual Aid. It is the purpose of the City Council in enacting the ordinance codified herein to facilitate the rendering of mutual aid to and for the people of this City.Emergency plans adopted and approved by the City Council shall provide for the interchange of mutual aid and for coordination with the emergency plans of the Santa Clara County Operational Area. (Ord. 1697, (part), 1995; Ord. 475, § 9, 1971) 2.40.100 Expenditures. Any expenditures made in connection with emergency activities, including mutual aid activities, shall be deemed conclusively to be for the direct protection and benefit of the inhabitants and property of the City. (Ord. 475, § 10, 1971) 2.40.110 Violation–Penalty. It shall be a misdemeanor, punishable as provided in Chapter 1.12 of this code, for any person during an emergency to: A. Willfully obstruct, hinder, or delay any member of the emergency organization in the enforcement of any lawful rule or regulation issued pursuant to this chapter, or in the performance of any duty imposed upon him by virtue of this chapter; B. Do any act forbidden by any lawful rule or regulation issued pursuant to this chapter, if such act is of such a nature as to give or be likely to give assistance to the enemy or to imperil the lives or property of inhabitants of this City, or to prevent, hinder, or delay the defense or protection thereof; C. Wear, carry, or display without authority any means of identification specified by the emergency agency of the state. (Ord. 475, § 11, 1971) Disclaimer: This Code of Ordinances and/or any other documents that appear on this site may not reflect the most current legislation adopted by the Municipality. American Legal Publishing Corporation provides these documents for informational purposes only. These documents should not be relied upon as the definitive authority for local legislation. Additionally, the formatting and pagination of the posted documents varies from the formatting and pagination of the official copy. The official printed copy of a Code of Ordinances should be consulted prior to any action being taken. For further information regarding the official version of any of this Code of Ordinances or other documents posted on this site, please contact the Municipality directly or contact American Legal Publishing toll-free at 800-445-5588. © 2019 American Legal Publishing Corporation techsupport@amlegal.com 1.800.445.5588. From <http://library.amlegal.com/nxt/gateway.dll/California/cupertino/title2administrationandpersonnel/chapter240disastercouncil *?f=templates$fn=document-frame.htm$3.0$q=$x=> CITY OF CUPERTINO Agenda Item 19-5955 Agenda Date: 8/15/2019 Agenda #: 3. Subject:Presentation to Adopt the City of Cupertino Annex to the Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP)as the City of Cupertino Community Wildfire Protection Plan. Recieve presentation and adopt Resolution No. 19-____which adopts the City of Cupertino Annex to the Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan as the City of Cupertino’s Community Wildfire Protection Plan. CITY OF CUPERTINO Printed on 2/3/2022Page 1 of 1 powered by Legistar™ ` CITY COUNCIL STAFF REPORT Meeting: August 20, 2019 Subject Adopt the City of Cupertino Annex to the Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan as the City of Cupertino Community Wildfire Protection Plan. Recommended Action Adopt Resolution No. 19-____which adopts the City of Cupertino Annex to the Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan as the City of Cupertino’s Community Wildfire Protection Plan. Background In recent years, wildfires have become an increasing concern for communities across the United States. California, in particular, has seen significant fires that have resulted in the loss of life and millions of dollars in property damage. Not only do wildfires represent a safety risk, the cost to suppress wildfires in the United States typically exceeds one billion dollars every year. Cupertino is listed as a Community at Risk from wildfires on the Federal and/or California Fire Alliance list of Communities at Risk in Santa Clara County. Wildfires occur in the vicinity of Cupertino and present a danger to people and properties within the City. In an effort to address wildfire concerns, the Santa Clara County Fire Department (County Fire) developed a Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP)1. The Santa Clara County CWPP includes annexes for the different jurisdictions in its service area that address specific issues and mitigation measures in those communities. These annexes may serve as CWPPs for these different jurisdictions. 1 Santa Clara County. (2016). Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan. http://www.sccfd.org/images/documents/fire_prevention/CWPP/CWPP_Strategic_Countywide_ Document_08_29_16.pdf Discussion County Fire prepared a Cupertino Annex to the Santa Clara County CWPP to serve as the City of Cupertino CWPP. County Fire is requesting City Council consideration and adoption of the City of Cupertino CWPP. CWPPs serve to identify wildfire risks in communities that are most likely to see wildfires and options for mitigating those hazards. Mitigation measures can reduce the risk of injury and damage. The CWPP is an initial step in educating the public and treating areas of concern. County Fire will be responsible for most of the mitigation measures. For example, some of the mitigation measures that County Fire will take on include engaging our community members in public education and outreach projects, as well as potentially installing Fire Detection Robots to alert departments of a fire start in remote areas. Some mitigation measures included in the proposed City of Cupertino CWPP require City action such as creating sustainable programs for creating defensible space and road width trails for better access. The City of Cupertino will also be responsible for considering policy, codes, and ordinance changes, as well as looking at City parks and streets where fuel mitigation may reduce the intensity of fires. County Fire will advise the City on any policy, code, or ordinance changes that should be considered. County Fire conducted significant public outreach and sought involvement from the jurisdictions in the County Fire service area as well as other wildfire professionals and non-profit organizations during the development of the CWPP. Outreach efforts included a series of community workshops to create awareness of the CWPP, identify hazards, and solicit input on proposed mitigation measures. Two rounds of community workshops were held in Cupertino in February and May of 2016. Other cities in the Santa Clara County operational area are in the process of adopting the CWPP or have already adopted the CWPP. Since CWPPs only apply to jurisdictions with Wildland Urban Interface (WUI), not all cities will participate. Jurisdiction Status Campbell N/A -No WUI areas Gilroy In progress Los Altos N/A - No WUI areas Los Altos Hills In progress Los Gatos Adopted Monte Sereno Adopted Morgan Hill In progress Palo Alto Adopted San Jose In progress Santa Clara County In progress Saratoga Adopted The City of Cupertino CWPP was brought to the Public Safety Commission on Thursday June 13th, 2019. The Commission voted unanimously to recommend that Council adopt the CWPP. The City of Cupertino CWPP will be presented to the Disaster Council on August 15th, 2019. Sustainability Impact None anticipated. Fiscal Impact There is no fiscal impact from adopting the City of Cupertino CWPP. If initiatives within the plan require funding from the City, those requests will be brought before the Council at that time. _____________________________________ Prepared by: Clare Francavilla, Emergency Services Coordinator Reviewed by: Katy Nomura, Assistant to the City Manager Dianne Thompson, Assistant City Manager Approved for Submission by: Deb Feng, City Manager Attachments: A – Resolution Adopting the City of Cupertino Community Wildfire Protection Plan B – City of Cupertino Community Wildfire Protection Plan – Annex 7 RESOLUTION NO. 19-____ A RESOLUTION OF THE CUPERTINO CITY COUNCIL ADOPTING THE CITY OF CUPERTINO ANNEX TO THE SANTA CLARA COUNTY COMMUNITY WILDFIRE PROTECTION PLAN AS THE CITY OF CUPERTINO’S COMMUNITY WILDFIRE PROTECTION PLAN WHEREAS, wildfires are an ever increasing concern for many communities in California and across the United States; and WHEREAS, in recent years, there have been a number of significant wildfires in the local region near Cupertino, as well as in California and other areas of the United States, that have resulted in the loss of homes and lives; and WHEREAS, the cost to suppress wildfires across the United States typically exceeds one billion dollars annually; and WHEREAS, Santa Clara County Fire Department prepared a Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) for the areas served by County Fire, including Cupertino; and WHEREAS, the CWPP’s primary goals are to protect human life and reduce property loss due to wildfire by identifying wildfire risk and mitigation measures in the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) areas, the zones most at risk for wildfire, of the Santa Clara County Fire Department service area; and WHEREAS, the CWPP is a strategic plan with goals for creating a safer wildland urban interface community; and WHEREAS, the CWPP was developed in collaboration with the jurisdictions served by Santa Clara County Fire, wildfire professionals and non-profits in Santa Clara County, and the County Sheriff’s Office; and WHEREAS, County Fire also conducted a series of community workshops and solicited community input on the development of the plan, including identification of hazards and potential mitigation measures; and WHEREAS, the Santa Clara County CWPP includes annexes that address specific issues and projects to address these risks by jurisdictions in the Santa Clara County Fire Department service area; and Resolution No. __________________ Page 2 WHEREAS, the City of Cupertino annex to the Santa Clara County CWPP serves as the City of Cupertino’s CWPP. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of Cupertino does hereby adopt the City of Cupertino Annex to the Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan as the City of Cupertino’s Community Wildfire Protection Plan. PASSED AND ADOPTED at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Cupertino this 20th day of August, 2019, by the following vote: Members of the City Council AYES: NOES: ABSENT: ABSTAIN: SIGNED: ________ Steven Scharf, Mayor City of Cupertino ________________________ Date ATTEST: ________________________ Grace Schmidt, City Clerk ________________________ Date Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan Annex 7 – City of Cupertino SWCA Environmental Consultants 1 August 2016 ANNEX 7. CITY OF CUPERTINO Cupertino is a city on the western edge of the Santa Clara Valley and extending into the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. According to the 2010 Census the population was 58,302. Cupertino is made up of numerous subdivisions, most of them developed since the 1960s. The planning area focuses primarily on the unincorporated portions of the City and is delineated in Figure 7.1. ORGANIZATION AND JURISDICTION The City of Cupertino is governed by a publicly elected city council and has authority for General Plan land use planning, code adoption and permit processing. The City of Cupertino does not have a city fire department, Cupertino is within the Central Fire Protection District. State law designates all lands within the city limits of Cupertino as Local Responsibility Area (LRA) for purposes of wildland fire protection. Most state fire prevention and defensible space laws do not apply within LRA. Recent legislation requires State review and input on General Plan Safety Element updates where wildland fire is a hazard (Government Code Section 65040.20). Fire Protection services for Cupertino are provided by Santa Clara County Fire Department/Central Fire Protection District, including emergency’s in State Responsibility Areas (SRAs) in unincorporated areas of the wildland urban interface (WUI), adjacent to Cupertino. The Cupertino community are served by three fire stations: the Cupertino Fire Station, Monta Vista Fire Station and Seven Springs Fire Station. SRAs within the WUI fall into the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRES) response area. To determine LRAs and SRAs of the community, please visit: http://www.firepreventionfee.org/sraviewer_launch.php LAND USE PLANNING, GENERAL PLAN, BUILDING CODES, AND LOCAL HAZARD MITIGATION PLANS Authority and jurisdiction for approving the General Plan and elements, and determining land use, community design, and building code adoption rests with the Cupertino City Council. The Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (LHMP) identifies hazards that exist in Cupertino that create risk to citizens and properties in Cupertino. WUI fires are a real and present danger to the western portions of Cupertino. This Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) identifies several goals related to functions the City of Cupertino has the authority to undertake. This CWPP may serve as basis for the WUI fire component for LHMP, General Plan, or General Plan element updates. PLANNING TEAM PARTICIPATION The Cupertino community is represented on the Core Team by representative of the Santa Clara County Fire Department. The Cupertino community have been engaged in the CWPP planning Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan Annex 7 – City of Cupertino SWCA Environmental Consultants 2 August 2016 process through two rounds of workshops that have been held in Cupertino and focus on Cupertino and surrounding WUI communities. SUMMARY Cupertino is listed as a Community at Risk from wildfires on the Federal and/or California Fire Alliance list of Communities at Risk in Santa Clara County. Wildfires occur in the vicinity of Cupertino and present a danger to people and properties within the city. Mitigations can reduce the risk of injury and damage. Some mitigations are solely the responsibility of property owners, other mitigations require neighborhood level action, and some require city government action. WUI AREA DESCRIPTION WUI AREA DEFINED The Cupertino WUI area includes primarily moderate Fire Hazard Severity Zone (FHSZ) lands in the western portions of the City of Cupertino and homes within the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains (Figure 7.1). The WUI area is best described as a wildland-urban intermix with homes scattered among wildland fuels. Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan Annex 7 – City of Cupertino SWCA Environmental Consultants 3 August 2016 Figure 7.1. Cupertino planning area. Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan Annex 7 – City of Cupertino SWCA Environmental Consultants 4 August 2016 FIRE HISTORY For fire history information please see Figure 3.5 in the main CWPP document. HAZARDOUS FUEL CHARACTERISTICS The Cupertino planning area comprises a range of vegetation communities that differ depending upon elevation, precipitation, and slope. Chaparral vegetation is often found on south-facing slopes, where winter precipitation is relatively high, but dry summers are common. The chaparral will have long flame lengths under either moderate or extreme weather scenarios. The nature of these fuels is to burn quickly and intensely. Oak woodlands, comprised of a variety of oak species are also interspersed throughout as well as mixed conifer comprising knob cone pine and grey pine. A fire in either the mixed conifer or hardwood would likely be a surface fire with patches of active behavior and fairly low rates of spread. However, active fire behavior is possible in this vegetation type under extreme weather conditions, especially where there is high surface loading. Coastal coniferous forest communities such as redwoods and Douglas fir are located at lower elevations where precipitation is high, fog is common, and temperatures are moderate. Fire spread is generally limited in this fuel type; however, given the right combination of weather conditions, surface fire can be expected to burn uphill. Areas with increased fuel loading from dead and down materials may experience crowning under the right conditions. The varied vegetation composition result in the Cupertino WUI comprising a range of wildfire hazard. For fuel model information please refer to Section 4.6.3 and Figure 4.3 in Chapter 4 of the main CWPP document. NEIGHBORHOOD AND STRUCTURAL CHARACTERISTICS The foothills above Cupertino are characterized by steep, windy and narrow roads that pose potential ingress and egress problems for emergency response and evacuations. Some areas may be subject to slow response times for emergency response due to the distance from the nearest fire station and road conditions. There are many private roads with locked gates behind which are a number of large homes with extensive property (Figure 7.2). Some homes have minimal turnaround space, posing a concern to emergency responders due to potential entrapment. There are a number of dead end roads and narrow driveways. Most homes have moderate defensible space (at least 30 feet) but some homes do not meet the necessary 70- to 100-foot space. Most homes have non-combustible siding, but the majority have combustible decks and fencing that comes into contact with wildland fuels. Some homes have wood shake roofs which put the property and neighborhood at risk. Many subdivisions are managed by HOAs, which provides a conduit for fire prevention and public education and outreach messages regarding structural ignitability and defensible space. A number of 7A compliant new build properties are interspersed with older properties. Many homes are located upslope from thick scrub fuels, with continuous canopies (Figure 7.3). Homes are located on steep slopes with often minimal set-back from the slope. Topography is a concern due to the influence steep slopes have on potential fire behavior. Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan Annex 7 – City of Cupertino SWCA Environmental Consultants 5 August 2016 Water availability is a concern in areas higher in the foothills. There are no hydrants in some areas and people are dependent upon water from wells and storage tanks which may become depleted during periods of drought. Figure 7.2. Many gated areas and dead-end private roads create an access concern for emergency responders. Figure 7.3. Cupertino WUI, showing variety of fuels and varied topography. EMERGENCY RESPONSE CAPACITY Fire Suppression for the Cupertino WUI area is provided by: • Santa Clara County Central Fire Protection District (LRA) o Cupertino Fire Station, 20215 Stevens Creek Blvd. Cupertino. Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan Annex 7 – City of Cupertino SWCA Environmental Consultants 6 August 2016 o Monta Vista Fire Station, 22620 Stevens Creek Boulevard, Cupertino. o Seven Springs Fire Station (West Side of Cupertino), 21000 Seven Springs Parkway, Cupertino. PUBLIC EDUCATION AND OUTREACH PROGRAMS The Cupertino community has a highly involved fire safety council, the Santa Clara County Fire Safe Council (http://www.SCCFireSafe.org). This organization provides information regarding chipping programs, defensible space mitigation, forest health issues, and much more. They also offer public meetings and forums to support wildfire awareness. Santa Clara County Fire Department, Fire Prevention Division provides a comprehensive fire and life safety educational program within Cupertino. More information can be found on their website: http://www.sccfd.org/community-outreach-safety-education/community-outreach-safety- education-overview. The Santa Clara Unit of CAL FIRE provides links to extensive public education materials for fire prevention in the WUI. More information can be found on the CAL FIRE website: http://www.calfire.ca.gov/ POLICIES, REGULATIONS, ORDINANCES, AND CODES The WUI areas within the incorporated City of Cupertino are LRA structures within the planning area are covered under the City’s WUI building codes and other city ordinances. HAZARD ASSESSMENT Community hazard assessments include ratings of community conditions compared to best practices for WUI fire mitigation. Community hazard ratings include consideration of applicable state codes, local ordinances, and recognized best practices guidelines. The National Fire Protection Association Standard 1144 (NFPA 1144) defines WUI hazards and risks at the community and parcel level. This plan utilizes components of NFPA 1144, California laws and local ordinances to evaluate neighborhood WUI hazard and risk. California Public Resources Code (PRC) 4290 and 4291 sections address best practices for WUI community design and defensible space standards. The NFPA 1144 community risk assessment completed for the Cupertino Community assigned the WUI community a risk rating of High with a score of 81 (<40 = low, >40 = moderate, >70 = High, >112 = Extreme). Factors that contributed to the risk are illustrated below. Averages are taken across the community for each of these parameters. Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan Annex 7 – City of Cupertino SWCA Environmental Consultants 7 August 2016 Parameter Condition Rating Access Two or more roads in and out but access still concern +/- Narrow road width - Surfaced road with greater than 5% grade + Moderate fire access and turnarounds available +/- Street signs are present, some non-reflective +/- Vegetation Adjacent fuels: Medium +/- Defensible space: >30 feet <70 feet around structure +/- Topography within 300 feet of structure 31%–40% - Topographic features High concern - History of high fire occurrence Low + Severe fire weather potential Low + Separation of adjacent structures Large lots, good separation + Roofing assembly Class B +/- Building construction Non-combustible siding/combustible deck +/- Building set back <30 feet to slope - Available fire protection Water: available via hydrants, some pressure issues +/- Response: Station >5 miles from structure - Internal sprinklers: some new homes (7A compliant) +/- Utilities One above, one below ground +/- Risk Rating- High (81) In addition to the on-the-ground hazard assessment, the CWPP also includes a Composite Fire Risk/Hazard Assessment which uses fire behavior modelling to determine potential fire behavior and is based on fuel characteristics, topography, weather, and fire history. The Composite Risk/Hazard Assessment for the planning area is shown in Figure 7.4. For more information on the methodology for this assessment please refer to Section 4.6.1 in Chapter 4 of the CWPP. PARCEL LEVEL ASSESSMENT A model for determining parcel level risk and effect of mitigations has been developed through this CWPP project. The model can use information available through public record for basic analysis but can be further refined with a site visit with property owner for a thorough analysis of risk score. The County will be seeking funding to fully implement this parcel level assessment in the future. The goal is for the property owner to be able to use this analysis to determine the most effective steps they can take to take to reduce their risk. For more information refer to Chapter 4 in the countywide CWPP document. Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan Annex 7 – City of Cupertino SWCA Environmental Consultants 8 August 2016 Figure 7.4. Composite Risk and Hazard Assessment for the Cupertino WUI community. Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan Annex 7 – City of Cupertino SWCA Environmental Consultants 9 August 2016 IDENTIFY CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND COMMUNITY VALUES AT RISK Critical utility infrastructure, such as electric power supply lines, substations, and natural gas lines, are essential to supply residents and businesses with services that are in some cases critical to health and life safety. In many parts of the study area, electric power is needed to power pumps for the domestic water supply, and to provide heating and lighting. Wildfire is a significant threat to the electric utility supply. The study area has several watersheds that are community values at risk. Watersheds need to be protected and maintained from catastrophic wildfire damage in order to prevent erosion, sedimentation and water contamination (Taylor et al. 1993). Long-term issues resulting from damage to watersheds would be increased run off, poor soil retention, and decreased water quality. Lands inside and adjacent to the city present WUI fire hazard and threat to property owners in the city. Much of the planning area is comprised of Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve, a 3,988-acre Midpeninsula Regional Open Space Preserve (MROSD) and adjoining 165-acre County Park. Within the boundary of the Preserve is Deer Hollow Farm, a working farm and organic garden. The Preserve is home to vast wildlife habitat and natural and cultural resources. Other community values at risk include: life safety, homes and property values, infrastructure, recreation and lifestyle, wildlife habitat, watershed protection, and environmental resources. MITIGATION PROJECTS AND PRIORITIZATIONS The following project matrices have been developed by the community and Core Team to direct specific project implementation for communities in the Cupertino WUI (Table 7.1–Table 7.4). The matrices below are tiered to the strategic goals presented in the body of the CWPP through project IDs in the first column of each matrix. The matrices are broken down into projects for addressing hazardous fuels, structural ignitability, public education and outreach and fire response capability. Due to the large area of land managed by the MROSD (Rancho San Antonio Preserve) within the planning area, the reader is directed to the MROSD agency annex (Annex 16). Treatment maps have been developed by the Core Team for fuel treatments in the surrounding area, including Saratoga and Los Altos Hills (Figure 7.5). Many of these projects have been part of ongoing planning by the Santa Clara County Fire Safe Council in conjunction with public and private stakeholders. These projects are conceptual in nature and are therefore subject to change as this document undergoes future revisions. Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan Annex 7 – City of Cupertino SWCA Environmental Consultants 10 August 2016 Figure 7.5. Mitigations for areas in northern Cupertino planning area and adjacent Saratoga Cupertino Mitigations Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan Annex 7 – City of Cupertino SWCA Environmental Consultants 11 August 2016 Table 7.1. Recommended Fuel Reduction Projects in Cupertino WUI ID Cupertino (C) Project Description Location and land ownership Method Serves to: Timeline for Action Priority (1,2,3) Monitoring Resources/funding sources available Strategic Goal: FR1: Incorporate single track trails into fire defense system where practical. C-FR1.1 Incorporate single track trails into fire defense system where practical and effective. MROSD; County Parks, County Open Space, and other municipal park agencies. Strategic plan to incorporate fire defense improvements through trail management. Detailed analysis would be needed in development of treatment location to ensure protection of natural resources. Should incorporate a map component and use the Earthquake Clearinghouse exchange core to facilitate project development. Provide access when fires occur to reduce spread. Enhance Community fire defense. Ongoing- LONG RANGE 1 Regular monitoring to determine project success in reducing fuel loading and enhanced access. Grants: CA FSC; California Forest Improvement Program (CFIP); Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), FEMA, Green House Gas Reduction Fund (GHGRF) Fund sustainability efforts through the property owner/manager, or local/state agency that is the responsible party. Strategic Goal: FR2: Work with Park and Open space to have some road width trails for better access. C-FR2.1 Work with Park and Open space to have some road width trails for better access where appropriate. MROSD, County Parks, other municipal parks that bound up to the WUI. Maintain road width trails for fire and park patrol vehicles where possible to facilitate access. Use trails as fuel breaks. Should incorporate a map component and use the Earthquake Clearinghouse exchange core to facilitate project development. Protect life and property by improving access for emergency vehicles to open space areas and WUI areas adjacent to open space. Within 2 years 1 Regular maintenance schedule should be implemented to ensure clearance levels are maintained. Grants: CA FSC; CFIP; NRCS, FEMA, GHGRF Fund sustainability efforts through the property owner/manager, or local/state agency that is the responsible party. Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan Annex 7 – City of Cupertino SWCA Environmental Consultants 12 August 2016 ID Cupertino (C) Project Description Location and land ownership Method Serves to: Timeline for Action Priority (1,2,3) Monitoring Resources/funding sources available Strategic Goal: FR4: Encourage use of prescribed fires where ecologically sound and feasible. C-FR4.1 Encourage use of prescribed fires where ecologically sound and feasible. MROSD, County Fire. Utilize prescribed burn planning that follows agency and regulator protocols. Closely follow plan prescriptions. Reduce fuel loading of fine fuels and understory species to mitigate potential for intense fire behavior in the event of an unplanned ignition. Ongoing 1 Regular monitoring needed to ensure against environmental damage and invasive species into burned areas. Monitoring to determine project success in reducing fuel loading. Grants:, CA FSC, CFIP, NRCS Strategic Goal: FR10: Develop agency partnership to establish creation of hand crew for fire hazard reduction- need not be a fire crew. C-FR10.1 Develop agency partnership to establish creation of hand crew for fire hazard reduction- need not be a fire crew. All agencies Establish a local based crew for use in fire defense improvement work throughout the county. Can be through private resources, contract with CCC, or Sheriff. Primary purpose is to carry out CWPP objectives Within 3 years 2 Monitor cost effectiveness through benefit cost ratio approach Grants: CA FSC; CFIP; NRCS, FEMA, GHGRF Strategic Goal: FR 11: Create Sustainable programs for creating Defensible Space at the parcel Level. C-FR11.1 Develop Defensible Space Programs: Community Chipping, Drive up Chipping, At Home Chipping and Fire Safe Neighborhoods. Private homes and structures throughout the WUI. Use readily available Defensible Space Literature; Encourage home owners to have courtesy inspections by local fire agencies and PG&E. Increases the likelihood that a structure will survive a major wildfire. Annual - Late Spring 1 Regular maintenance needed to ensure the fuel break remains clear of vegetation. Monitor for erosion and invasive species. Utilize local funding sources such as County Fire, local government, home owner association dues, and SRA Fees. Reuse successful programs from previous years, encourage local administration and volunteers from the community to reduce administrative overhead. Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan Annex 7 – City of Cupertino SWCA Environmental Consultants 13 August 2016 ID Cupertino (C) Project Description Location and land ownership Method Serves to: Timeline for Action Priority (1,2,3) Monitoring Resources/funding sources available Cupertino Non-Tiered Projects. C-FR1 Develop Task Force to seek funding sources for homeowners to reduce hazard trees. County Fire Fire Prevention Division to investigate homeowner concerns regarding removal of dead hazard trees. Reduce concerns voiced at community workshops regarding costs of tree removal for hazard reduction. Spring 2017 3 NA FEMA funds, Municipal/local funds, power line grants, California Tree Mortality Task Force, State Greenhouse Gas Reduction Grants. C-FR 3 Establish fuel breaks around communities identified as at risk during workshops: De Anza Oaks Subdivision Blackberry Park Canyon Vista Cristo Rey MROSD lands adjacent to communities (District policy to allow). Municipal/County property abutting subdivisions. Shaded fuel break treatments. Slow the spread of fire from open space lands Reduce the intensity of possible flame fronts. Winter 2017 1 Regular maintenance needed to ensure the fuel break remains clear of vegetation. Monitor for erosion and invasive species. MROSD, CAL FIRE crews and dozers - Public Works budget. Local community groups - donations and grant funding. Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan Annex 7 – City of Cupertino SWCA Environmental Consultants 14 August 2016 Table 7.2. Recommended Public Education and Outreach Projects in the Cupertino WUI ID (C) Project Presented by Target Date Priority (1,2,3) Resources Needed Serves to Strategic Goal: EO1: Educate citizens on how to achieve contemporary WUI code compliance in retrofits/cost: benefit ratio. Provide workshops and/or demonstration site. C-EO1.1 Educate citizens on how to achieve contemporary WUI code compliance in retrofits/cost: benefit ratio. Provide Cupertino focused workshops and/or demonstration site in Cupertino WUI. Hold on weekends to increase attendance. CAL FIRE crews will be carrying out summer inspections. Fire Safe Councils, County Fire, CAL FIRE Within 2 years 1 Workshop expenses, personnel. Workshop venues. Demonstration site. Strategize on avenues for engaging the public. Be opportunistic, engage residents following a local wildfire or at existing well, attended events, i.e. annual BBQ, pancake breakfasts, open days offered by fire departments. Increase compliance with County code. Reduce fire risk level for individual parcels and community as a whole. Strategic Goal: EO2: Analyze playing with fire ignitions and focus education programs at vicinity schools. C-EO2.1 Analyze playing with fire ignitions and fireworks safety and focus education programs at Cupertino schools or youth organizations. Focus at youth and children. County Fire, CAL FIRE, municipal fire departments Fire Safe Council Within 1 year 1 School liaison. Materials for presentations. Personnel. Video processing, could utilize YouTube platform. Could be a college student project. Adds to existing programs provided by County Fire and Fire Safe Council targeted at school age children. Reduces number of ignitions. C-EO2.2 Implement firework bans and increase enforcement during high fire danger periods. Sheriff’s Department in conjunction with County Fire Within 1 year 1 Sheriff’s Department resources. Reduce concerns voiced by community members regarding firework safety in the WUI. Strategic goal EO3: Organize a community group made up of residents and agency personnel to develop materials and communicate relevant defensible space messages. Could coordinate with fire departments or FSC. C-EO3.1 Develop Homeowner guide for homes located in designated Cupertino WUI. Local Home Owner Association Spring 2017 2 Funding to develop and print copies of the handbook. Volunteers to help distribute and explain the document. Give residents detailed and locally specific tools that they can use to improve preparedness. C-EO3.2 Neighbor teach neighbor program. Local residents in conjunction with Santa Clara County Fire Safe Council (SCCFSC) Spring 2017 1 Sustainable funding needed for FSC to provide training to willing neighbors to teach their neighbors defensible space and Firewise practices. Provide a grassroots level of training to residents on how to achieve defensible space and Firewise practices. Builds community interest and capacity for wildfire preparedness. Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan Annex 7 – City of Cupertino SWCA Environmental Consultants 15 August 2016 ID (C) Project Presented by Target Date Priority (1,2,3) Resources Needed Serves to Strategic Goal: EO12: Promote and increase the use of prescribed burning as a fuels reduction method. Gain public support for using prescribed burns to reduce fuel loads and to improve ecosystem health through a pilot burn project and demonstration site. Consider developing informational material for distribution at natural areas or via email distribution lists. C-EO 12.1 Implement a public outreach campaign regarding the use of prescribed fire for natural resource management and fuel reduction in open space areas. CAL FIRE/ MROSD Within 2 years 2 Prescribed burn prescription, type-6 engines, hand crews, equipment. Research and costs of producing, printing, and distributing paper informational flyer. Protect communities and infrastructure by reducing fuel loads. Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan Annex 7 – City of Cupertino SWCA Environmental Consultants 16 August 2016 Table 7.3. Recommended Fire Fighting Capability Projects in the Cupertino WUI ID Project Description Fire Department/ Agency Benefits of the Project to the community Timeline Priority (1,2,3) Resources/ funding sources available Strategic goal FC13: Develop a coordinated approach between fire jurisdictions and water supply agencies to identify needed improvements to the water distribution system, initially focusing on areas of highest wildfire hazard. C-FC13.1 Develop a coordinated approach between fire jurisdictions and water supply agencies to identify needed improvements to the water distribution system, initially focusing on areas of highest wildfire hazard. County Fire, CAL FIRE, Fire Safe Council, Improve fire-fighting response if water is more readily available or closest locations could be identified on a GIS map on a tablet/computer. Within 2 years 1 County Fire Strategic goal FC8: Where road systems are antiquated and do not provide for proper evacuation or two way flow, require removal of obstructions or upgrade to minimum 2 lanes road system over time. C-FC8.1 Widening roads. Benefits fire agencies that deploy smaller trucks. Facilitates evacuation and response times. Hurdle would be the number of private roads in the planning area. multi-year Project 1 Local Road Association Strategic goal FC11: Investigate and potentially install Fire Detection Robots to alert departments of a fire start in remote areas. C-FC11.1 Early Warning Wildfire Detection System on MROSD property. Benefits all fire agencies. This benefits the areas covered by the cameras. Fire can be detected early, data is recorded and can be used for later analysis, and fires in progress can be monitored. Within 2 years 1 There is currently about $30,000 being held by the Santa Clara County Fire Safe Council to continue this phase of the project. Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan Annex 7 – City of Cupertino SWCA Environmental Consultants 17 August 2016 Table 7.4. Recommendations for Structural Ignitability Projects in Cupertino WUI ID (C) Project Presented by Programs Available Description Contact Priority (1,2,3) /Date Strategic Goal- SI 1: Retrofit/eliminate flammable roofs. C-SI1.1 Retrofit/Eliminate flammable roofs City and County Planning in conjunction with County Fire and municipalities FEMA grants Require elimination of all flammable roofs through attrition or time deadline City and County Planning 1/ By 2030 C- SI1.2 WUI Fire Protection Workshops SCCFSC All residents would be encouraged to participate. Firewise, agency outreach personnel, Ready, Set, Go! Tailor to specific risk/hazards in each community Offer hands-on workshops to highlight individual home vulnerabilities and how-to techniques to reduce ignitability of common structural elements. SCCFSC Firewise personnel, CAL FIRE 1/Spring 2017 Strategic Goal- SI4: Adopt common defensible space standards throughout the county. and Strategic Goal- SI 19: Create a countywide defensible space ordinance for parcels below certain size acreage (parcel size: i.e. 2 acres?), if not cleared by owner then county will clear. Could be tied to County weed abatement program. C-SI4.1 and C-SI9.1 Stronger Defensible Space regulations. Regional Fire Marshals. To be adopted locally in the 2016 CFC cycle. Based on existing state laws and standards. New emphasis on maintenance. Presented in plain language and a logical progression. Eliminate current jurisdictional limitations. Regional Fire Marshals. 1/ Spring 2017 Strategic Goal: SI15 Adopt landscape standards for recommended plant landscape materials. C-SI15.1 Consider development of a demonstration site for fire safe landscaping that would be in- keeping with the Tree City USA program City of Cupertino; SCCFSC ‘SelecTree’ application which helps to identify appropriate trees for your region, weather and fire hazard. https://selectree.calpoly.edu/ Consider as an update to the Safety Element- a change to the tree ordinance that aligns more with fire safe practices. Follow model by Diablo Fire Safe Council to develop a Firewise tree list. Seek resident volunteer to participate in program and invite contractors to bid on project. Develop a fire resistant vegetation list to landscapers and to the City Provide example to residents on how to be Firewise while still meeting the Tree USA program standards. 2/ Fall 2017 Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan Annex 7 – City of Cupertino SWCA Environmental Consultants 18 August 2016 ID (C) Project Presented by Programs Available Description Contact Priority (1,2,3) /Date Strategic Goal: SI16- Develop landscape contractor maintenance program for “Right Plant-- Right Place” and maintenance. C-SI16 Develop a fire safe education program for landscaping crews. City of Cupertino ‘SelecTree’ application which helps to identify appropriate trees for your region, weather and fire hazard. https://selectree.calpoly.edu/. Follow model by Diablo Fire Safe Council to develop a Firewise tree list. Hold day long workshops 2-3 times a year that landscapers could attend at a small cost but then they could receive certification in Firewise landscaping. Firewise USA Ready-Set-Go City of Cupertino SCCFSC 3/ Spring 2018 Strategic Goal SI7: Promote Firewise Community recognition program countywide; consider SCL amendments to Fire wise; partner with CERT and Neighborhood Watch. C-SI7.1 Firewise Communities Establish and support a new Firewise Communities Group Firewise Communities USA Give residents ownership of the fire problem, provide resources and information necessary to inform and prepare the community for fire. SCFSC , CAL FIRE 2/Fall 2017 Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan Annex 7 – City of Cupertino SWCA Environmental Consultants 19 August 2016 Table 7.5. Recommendations for General Planning Projects in City of Cupertino ID Project Description Method Timeline for Action Priority (1,2,3) Monitoring/Sustainability Resources/Funding Sources Available Strategic Goal GP1: Ensure project sustainability. C- GP1.1 The CWPP serves as the wildfire component of Cupertino LHMP and General Plan - Safety and other element amendments. Work with city planning to identify timeline for incorporation in next LHMP update. Aim to have the strategic-level CWPP incorporated into the Safety Element of the General Plan when the safety element is next revised. Getting it into the General Plan is equivalent to getting the CWPP adopted. Next 5 years 2 The core group of stakeholders would need to ensure that the document is kept relevant in that time and position it for incorporation. Internal funding Strategic Goal GP3: Ensure project sustainability. C- GP3.1 Ensure project sustainability. Have a target date for updating the datasets used in the risk assessment model and re-running the model. Establish trigger points for updating CWPP. Make contact with Santa Clara County Fire Department to note your interest in participating in the project and identify CWPP meeting schedule. Annually 1 Establish annual oversight of the CWPP and project status. Get buy-in from Core Team members for long-term commitment to CWPP review. Internal funding C- GP3.2 Designate a member to the Countywide CWPP Core Team for CWPP updates. Identify staff and convene a kickoff of the working group and identify tasks and goals for CWPP updates. Meet quarterly 1 Commit to attendance at one CWPP meeting annually. Internal funding C- GP3.3 Develop methods for sustainability of hazardous fuel reduction. Develop action for city council to adopt method to fund sustainable hazardous fuel maintenance (such as Mello-Roos Community Facility Districts for new subdivisions). As needed 2 Enactment of policy. Internal funding Strategic Goal GP4: Parcel Level Defensible Space Inspection Task Force C-GP4.1 Join countywide task force to do parcel level inspection work to enhance model; utilize portable data collection and ArcGIS as analysis tools. Carryout parcel level assessments to enhance risk assessment model components at a finer scale. Add data to model and re-run as necessary. 2 years 1 Set target number of parcels to be assessed each year. Review number of parcels assessed each year at annual CWPP meeting. Internal funding Strategic Goal GP5: Develop countywide standard and method for continued data gathering and risk analysis. C-GP5.1 Use a countywide standard and method for continued data gathering and risk analysis. Conduct funding to purchase a commercial application, such as Fulcrum, that provides a standard data collection platform that could be used on a smart phone/tablet. 2 years 1 Annual review of progress as part of Core Team. California Fire Safe Council clearinghouse grants; internal funding Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan Annex 7 – City of Cupertino SWCA Environmental Consultants 20 August 2016 ID Project Description Method Timeline for Action Priority (1,2,3) Monitoring/Sustainability Resources/Funding Sources Available Strategic Goal GP7: Add hyperspectral and LiDAR imaging to periodic aerial photography flights. C-GP7 Seek LiDAR and hyperspectral imagery for aerial photography of Cupertino. Work in conjunction with the City Planning, County Assessor, or others to add additional sensing cameras to aerial photo flights. Hyperspectral and LiDAR can provide in depth identification and analysis of hazards and risks. 1–3 years 1 Periodic new flights to update data sets. Grants: Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security, Greenhouse Gas Reduction Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan Prepared for Santa Clara County Prepared by SWCA Environmental Consultants August 2016 SANTA CLARA COUNTY COMMUNITY WILDFIRE PROTECTION PLAN Prepared for SANTA CLARA COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT 14700 Winchester Blvd, Los Gatos, CA 95032 Prepared by SWCA ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTANTS 60 Stone Pine Road Half Moon Bay, CA, 94019 Telephone: (650) 440-4160 www.swca.com SWCA Project No. 33985 August 2016 Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants i August 2016 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) acknowledges the efforts of the CWPP Core Team, who without their ongoing contributions, expertise and commitment to wildfire preparedness in Santa Clara County, this CWPP would not have been developed. Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants ii August 2016 This page intentionally left blank Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants iii August 2016 SIGNATORY PAGE (Placeholder) Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants iv August 2016 This page intentionally left blank Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants v August 2016 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Wildfire continues to be a threat to communities across the United States; in the last few years, most western states have experienced the largest wildfires in their histories. Wildfires with a broad range of sizes and locations have destroyed hundreds of homes; the cost to suppress wildfires across the nation typically exceeds one billion dollars annually. In recognition of this threat, many communities have worked to develop Community Wildfire Protection Plans, bringing together many stakeholders to develop strategies to mitigate the occurrence and effects of wildfire. Several communities in Santa Clara County have developed such plans, demonstrating an awareness and concern for wildfire hazard which should be applauded. Because wildfires often threaten areas much larger than individual communities, it is critically important that planning for the occurrence of wildfire occurs within communities and between communities. In recognition of the advantages of a broader scope of wildfire preparation, multi- jurisdictional agencies, organizations, and residents have joined together to develop this plan, the Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP). This larger scale of planning increases the level of coordination and cooperation among stakeholders which can lead to broader and more efficient wildfire risk mitigation measures. For example, the CWPP can serve as the wildfire component within the Safety Element of the Santa Clara County General Plan; can help prioritize and strengthen requests for competitive funding grants to reduce hazardous fuels; and can facilitate the adoption of common standards for defensible space across Santa Clara County. Good ideas can be more readily shared with all communities within the County, greatly facilitating public education outreach efforts. This CWPP is a countywide strategic plan with goals for creating a safer wildland urban interface community, accompanied by report annexes that address specific issues and projects by jurisdiction and stakeholder organizations to meet the strategic goals. The purpose of the CWPP is to assist in protecting human life and reducing property loss due to wildfire throughout the planning area. The plan is the result of a community-wide wildland fire protection planning process and the compilation of documents, reports, and data developed by a wide array of contributors. This plan was compiled in 2015-2016 in response to the federal Healthy Forests Restoration Act (HFRA) of 2003. The CWPP meets the requirements of the HFRA by: 1) Having been developed collaboratively by multiple agencies at the state and local levels in consultation with federal agencies and other interested parties.1 2) Prioritizing and identifying fuel reduction treatments and recommending the types and methods of treatments to protect at-risk communities and pertinent infrastructure. 3) Suggesting multi-party mitigation, monitoring, and outreach. 4) Recommending measures and action items that residents and communities can take to reduce the ignitability of structures. 1 There is limited presence of federal land management agencies in Santa Clara County; Bureau of Land Management and Department of Defense lands. Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants vi August 2016 5) Facilitating public information meetings to educate and involve the community to participate in and contribute to the development of the CWPP. The planning process has served to identify many physical hazards throughout the planning area that could increase the threat of wildfire to communities. The public also has helped to identify community values that it would most like to see protected. By incorporating public and Core Team2 input into the recommendations, treatments are tailored specifically for the planning area so that they are sensitive to local residents’ concerns. The CWPP emphasizes the importance of collaboration among multi-jurisdictional agencies in order to develop fuels mitigation treatment programs to address wildfire hazards. Santa Clara County has a very strong team of career and volunteer firefighters, who work arduously and cooperatively to protect the life and property of the citizens, but these resources can be severely stretched if property owners do not take on some of the responsibility of reducing fire hazards in and around their own homes and business properties. Without reduction of fire hazards by property owners before a fire occurs, it may be impossible for firefighters to safely defend structures when wildfire threatens an area. A combination of property owners and community awareness, public education, agency collaboration, and fuel treatments are necessary to fully reduce wildfire risk. It is important to stress that this document is an initial step in educating the public and treating areas of concern, and should serve as a tool to accomplish these tasks. The CWPP should be treated as a live document to be updated approximately every two years. The plan should be revised to reflect changes, modifications, or new information that may contribute to an updated CWPP. These elements are essential to the success of mitigating wildfire risk throughout the planning area and will be important in maintaining the ideas and priorities of the plan and the communities in the future. This CWPP is a large document because wildfire affects a very complex array of county and city governments, urban and rural communities, many fire departments and jurisdictions, and a broad range of public and private land conservation and resource management entities with varied missions. Wildfire is a significant risk to public health and safety, economies, infrastructure, and irreplaceable cultural and natural resources. Wildfire behavior is itself highly complex, and mitigation of its risk requires careful and coordinated planning be done by all of these stakeholders. Weaknesses in planning, preparedness, communication, prevention, and operations are readily exploited by fast moving, high intensity wildfire. The CWPP therefore contains a wealth of information for government, agency, and community planning activities. This plan may serve as the wildfire basis for future updates of Local Hazard Mitigation Plans, providing a much greater level of detail on wildfire issues and solutions than is often found in such plans. It also provides information that may be used by communities as they develop and update their own CWPPs, facilitating this important work by providing “lessons learned” and a wide variety of data gained by others previously engaged in this process. 2 Core Team, comprised of representatives of Santa Clara County organizations, serves as CWPP project strategic guidance team. Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants vii August 2016 Santa Clara County will continue to grow and change, and the nature and risk of wildfire will continue to evolve as well. This will occur not only due to local issues, such as new developments near the wildland urban interface, but also because of large-scale factors such as climate change. This CWPP is a critically important part of an ongoing process that will enable the residents of Santa Clara County to meet the current and future challenge of wildfire. The CWPP is presented in two component parts: 1. An overarching strategic section that identifies countywide issues and common strategies. 2. Organizational “annexes” by separate jurisdictions that provide detail and specific tasks to achieve the common strategic section. Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants viii August 2016 This page intentionally left blank Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants ix August 2016 DOCUMENT NAVIGATION STRATEGIC COUNTYWIDE DOCUMENT This CWPP document is organized into 7 main chapters that describe overarching county level wildfire risk and hazard and recommendations for improved wildfire preparedness at the county level. This overarching document should be considered a strategic level plan for Community Wildfire Protection. • Chapter 1: provides an overview of the planning area and the planning process for the CWPP. • Chapter 2: outlines community characteristics that relate to wildfire risk and hazard including climate and weather, vegetation, and population. • Chapter 3: describes the fire environment including the description of the Wildland Urban Interface and fire response. • Chapter 4: describes development of the wildfire hazard/risk assessment that is broken down into a county scale, community scale and parcel scale assessment. • Chapter 5: describes existing and proposed community outreach that is integral to improving wildfire preparedness. • Chapter 6: lays out mitigation strategies that could be applied to address wildfire hazard and risk and is broken down into general planning projects, public education and outreach, structural ignitability, fire response capacity and hazardous fuel reduction projects. • Chapter 7: provides recommended monitoring and evaluation strategies to help identify needed updates to the document. • Appendixes: in order to improve the functionality of the main document, some detailed information is provided in separate appendixes and referenced in the text. AGENCY/COMMUNITY ANNEXES In addition to the strategic countywide document are individual agency or community level annexes that are organized by jurisdiction. These annexes provide more specific wildfire mitigation projects that were developed through collaboration with the Core Team and the public. These annexes form the legs of the strategic document and provide projects that could be implemented at the community level, but that are tiered to the countywide strategic goals. The annexes can be updated separately from the main document providing greater utility for agencies to make changes to their project lists. For a full list of the Annexes please see the Table of Contents below. Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants x August 2016 This page intentionally left blank Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants xi August 2016 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 OVERVIEW OF COMMUNITY WILDFIRE PROTECTION PLAN ...................... 1 1.1 Need for Community Wildlife Protection Plan/ CAL FIRE Santa Clara Unit Plan .... 1 1.1.1 Components of Community Wildfire Protection Plan/ CAL FIRE Santa Clara Unit Plan ........................................................................................ 2 1.1.2 Communities at Risk ............................................................................................. 3 1.1.3 Jurisdictional Complexity ..................................................................................... 4 1.1.4 Policies, Laws, Ordinances, Codes, Plans, and Programs in Place ...................... 8 1.1.5 Federal Measures to Facilitate Wildfire Planning and Preparation ...................... 8 1.1.6 State of California Measures to Facilitate Wildfire Planning and Preparation ..... 9 1.1.7 Outcomes of a CWPP ......................................................................................... 10 1.2 CWPP Planning Process ............................................................................................ 16 1.2.1 Planning Team/Core Team ................................................................................. 17 1.2.2 Research Current Conditions .............................................................................. 17 1.2.3 Community Outreach .......................................................................................... 19 1.2.4 Stakeholder Organization Outreach .................................................................... 21 1.3 Project Area ................................................................................................................ 22 1.3.1 Wildland Urban Interface Planning Zones ......................................................... 22 1.4 Organization Involvement .......................................................................................... 23 1.4.1 Signatory Organizations ...................................................................................... 23 1.4.2 Grant Funding Sources ....................................................................................... 23 2 COMMUNITY CHARACTERISTICS AND DEMOGRAPHICS ............................. 25 2.1 Location and Geography ............................................................................................ 25 2.2 Climate and Weather Patterns .................................................................................... 26 2.3 Vegetation, Land Cover, and Wildlife ....................................................................... 30 2.3.1 Vegetation cover for Santa Clara County Grassland .......................................... 31 2.3.2 Chaparral and Northern Coastal Scrub ............................................................... 32 2.3.3 Oak Woodland .................................................................................................... 33 2.3.4 Sudden Oak Death .............................................................................................. 34 2.3.5 Riparian Forest and Scrub ................................................................................... 34 2.3.6 Conifer Woodland ............................................................................................... 34 2.3.7 Irrigated Agriculture ........................................................................................... 35 2.3.8 Invasive Non-native Plant Communities ............................................................ 36 2.3.9 Developed ........................................................................................................... 37 2.3.10 Streams and Watersheds ..................................................................................... 37 2.3.11 Wildlife ............................................................................................................... 39 2.4 Land Use Planning ..................................................................................................... 39 2.4.1 Urban encroachment ........................................................................................... 39 2.4.2 Conversion of Historical Summer Vacation Homes ........................................... 40 2.4.3 Non-permitted Homes ......................................................................................... 41 2.4.4 General Plans/Local Hazard Mitigation Plans .................................................... 41 2.4.5 Santa Clara Valley Habitat Plan ......................................................................... 43 2.5 Population .................................................................................................................. 46 2.5.1 Socioeconomic Components ............................................................................... 46 2.6 Roads and Transportation ........................................................................................... 47 2.7 Adjoining Counties .................................................................................................... 48 Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants xii August 2016 3 WILDLAND URBAN INTERFACE ENVIRONMENT AND FIRE HAZARD ...... 49 3.1 Fire and Land Management Policy and Responsibility ............................................. 49 3.1.1 State of California ............................................................................................... 49 3.1.2 City Fire Departments ......................................................................................... 50 3.1.3 Insurance and Loss Reduction Research Associations ....................................... 51 3.1.4 Fire Safe Councils ............................................................................................... 51 3.1.5 Parks, Open Space, and Protected Lands ............................................................ 52 3.1.6 Water Purveyor and Watershed Management Organizations ............................. 58 3.1.7 Roads Agencies ................................................................................................... 58 3.2 Wildland Urban Interface ........................................................................................... 60 3.2.1 Fire Hazard Severity Zones ................................................................................ 60 3.3 Laws, Ordinances, Standards, and Codes for Fire Prevention .................................. 63 3.3.1 Land Use Planning .............................................................................................. 63 3.3.2 Building Codes ................................................................................................... 63 3.3.3 Research and proposed new standards ................................................................ 64 3.3.4 Wildland Urban Interface Defensible Space ....................................................... 64 3.3.5 Fire Prevention .................................................................................................... 64 3.3.6 Prescribed Burning .............................................................................................. 66 3.4 Fire History ................................................................................................................ 68 3.5 Ignition History .......................................................................................................... 70 3.5.1 Locations ............................................................................................................. 70 3.5.2 Cause Types ........................................................................................................ 70 3.5.3 Extreme Fire Behavior Patterns .......................................................................... 70 3.6 Fire Regimes .............................................................................................................. 71 3.7 Fire and Response Capabilities .................................................................................. 72 3.7.1 Responsible Wildfire Agencies (Federal, State, County, Cities, Districts) ....... 72 3.7.2 Mutual Aid .......................................................................................................... 73 3.7.3 Evacuation Resources ......................................................................................... 74 3.7.4 Water Availability and Supply ............................................................................ 76 3.8 Public Education and Outreach Programs .................................................................. 77 4 WUI HAZARD AND RISK ASSESSMENT ................................................................ 79 4.1 Hazards ....................................................................................................................... 79 4.1.1 Flammable Vegetation ........................................................................................ 79 4.1.2 Flammable Built Environment ............................................................................ 79 4.2 Risk ............................................................................................................................ 79 4.3 Mitigations ................................................................................................................. 80 4.4 Components of Risk and Hazard ................................................................................ 80 4.4.1 Community Vulnerability ................................................................................... 80 4.4.2 Evacuation Complexities .................................................................................... 81 4.4.3 Structural Vulnerability ...................................................................................... 81 4.4.4 Critical Infrastructure Vulnerability ................................................................... 82 4.4.5 Community Values at Risk ................................................................................. 82 4.5 Overview and Purpose of Hazard and Risk Assessment ............................................ 84 4.5.1 Identification of Communities at Risk ................................................................ 84 4.6 Risk Assessment Overview ........................................................................................ 86 4.6.1 Countywide Scale: Composite Fire Risk Analysis ............................................. 86 Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants xiii August 2016 4.6.2 Fire Behavior Models ......................................................................................... 86 4.6.3 Fire Behavior Model Inputs ................................................................................ 87 4.6.4 FlamMap outputs ................................................................................................ 92 4.6.5 Geographic Information System Overlay Process .............................................. 93 4.6.6 Planning Area Scale: NFPA 1144 WUI Assessments ........................................ 95 4.7 Parcel Level Hazard/Risk Assessment Model ......................................................... 103 4.8 Parcel Level Risk Assessment Process .................................................................... 103 4.8.1 Test Results of Parcel Level Hazard/Risk Assessment Model ......................... 105 4.9 Community Survey, Webinar, and Social Media ..................................................... 106 4.9.1 Community Survey ........................................................................................... 106 4.9.2 Social Media ..................................................................................................... 108 4.10 Community Workshops ........................................................................................... 108 4.11 Current Outreach Programs ...................................................................................... 110 4.11.1 Santa Clara County Fire Department ................................................................ 110 4.11.2 Santa Clara County Fire Safe Council .............................................................. 111 4.11.3 CAL FIRE Santa Clara Unit ............................................................................. 112 4.11.4 Fire Department Activities ................................................................................ 113 4.12 Firewise Communities ............................................................................................. 113 4.13 Community Engagement Strategy ........................................................................... 113 5 MITIGATION STRATEGIES ..................................................................................... 115 5.1 Current Public Education and Outreach Programs .................................................. 115 5.1.1 Santa Clara County Fire Safe Council .............................................................. 115 5.1.2 South Skyline Fire Safe Council ....................................................................... 115 5.1.3 Ready, Set, Go! ................................................................................................. 115 5.1.4 Defensible Space ............................................................................................... 116 5.2 Current Structural Ignitability Reduction Programs ................................................ 120 5.2.1 Defensible Space Enforcement ......................................................................... 120 5.2.2 Home Ignition Zone Assessments .................................................................... 122 5.3 Response and Evacuation Programs ........................................................................ 122 5.3.1 Wildland Urban Interface Pre-Plans and Evacuation Guides ........................... 122 5.3.2 Collaboration with Law Enforcement ............................................................... 122 5.3.3 Community Signage ......................................................................................... 123 5.4 Current Hazardous Fuel Mitigation Programs ......................................................... 123 5.4.1 Santa Clara County Local Hazard Mitigation Plan ........................................... 123 5.4.2 Fuel Breaks, and Roadside Treatments ............................................................. 124 5.4.3 Larger-scale Treatments .................................................................................... 125 5.4.4 Vegetation Management Program .................................................................... 126 5.4.5 Methods and Selection of Fuel Reduction Treatments ..................................... 126 5.4.6 Fuel Breaks ....................................................................................................... 129 5.5 Priorities, Recommendations, and Action Items ...................................................... 130 5.5.1 General Planning Project Recommendations .................................................... 130 5.5.2 Recommendations for Public Education and Outreach .................................... 130 5.5.3 Recommendations for Actions to Reduce Structural Ignitability ..................... 140 5.5.4 Action Items for Homeowners to Reduce Structural Ignitability ..................... 145 5.5.5 Recommendations for Community/Firefighter Preparedness ........................... 147 5.5.6 Recommendation for Fuels Reduction Projects ................................................ 152 Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants xiv August 2016 6 MONITORING AND EVALUATION STRATEGY ................................................. 159 6.1 Identify Timeline and Opportunities for Updating the CWPP ................................ 160 7 REFERENCES .............................................................................................................. 163 Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants xv August 2016 APPENDICES APPENDIX A. TOP TEN WAYS TO PROTECT YOUR PROPERTY FROM WILDFIRE APPENDIX B. COMMUNITY WORKSHOP NOTES APPENDIX C. SIGNATORY AND ADVISORY ORGANIZATIONS AND CORE TEAM LIST APPENDIX D. FUNDING SOURCES APPENDIX E. GENERAL PLAN POLICIES AND IMPLEMENTATION GUIDELINES TO ADDRESS WILDFIRE HAZARD APPENDIX F. CALTRANS VEGETATION MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES APPENDIX G. FIRE FIGHTING RESOURCES APPENDIX H. SANTA CLARA FUEL MODELS APPENDIX I. NATIONAL FIRE PROTECTION ASSOCIATION 1144 WILDFIRE RISK AND HAZARD SEVERITY FORM APPENDIX J. DESCRIPTION OF FACTORS INCLUDED IN THE PARCEL LEVEL MODEL APPENDIX K RESULTS OF COMMUNITY SURVEY APPENDIX L. DEFENSIBLE SPACE REQUIREMENTS IN THE COUNTY ORDINANCE CODE Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants xvi August 2016 ANNEXES ANNEX 1. SANTA CLARA COUNTY CENTRAL FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT Chapter 1- Lexington Hills Chapter 2- Los Altos Hills Area Chapter 3- Saratoga Hills Chapter 4- East Foothills and rural Milpitas Chapter 5- New Almaden ANNEX 2. SOUTH SANTA CLARA COUNTY FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT Chapter 1- Casa Loma- Uvas Chapter 2- Almaden Valley Chapter 3- San Martin Chapter 4- Rural Morgan Hill Chapter 5- West Gilroy Chapter 6- East Gilroy ANNEX 3. CITY OF PALO ALTO ANNEX 4. LOS ALTOS HILLS COUNTY FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT ANNEX 5. SARATOGA FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT ANNEX 6. CITY OF SARATOGA ANNEX 7. CITY OF CUPERTINO ANNEX 8. TOWN OF MONTE SERENO ANNEX 9. TOWN OF LOS GATOS ANNEX 10. CITY OF SAN JOSE ANNEX 11. CITY OF MORGAN HILL ANNEX 12. CITY OF GILROY ANNEX 13. UNINCORPORATED AREAS WITHOUT LOCAL FIRE PROTECTION Chapter 1- Mt Hamilton and San Antonio Valley Chapter 2- Stanford University ANNEX 14. SANTA CLARA COUNTY FIRE SAFE COUNCIL ANNEX 15. SOUTH SKYLINE FIRE SAFE COUNCIL ANNEX 16. MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT ANNEX 17. OPEN SPACE AREAS AND WATER PURVEYORS ANNEX 18. SANTA CLARA COUNTY PARKS Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants xvii August 2016 LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1. Climate Averages for Four County Locations, California ...................................... 30 Table 2.2. Population Densities of Cities within Santa Clara County ..................................... 40 Table 4.1. Results of the Community Risk Assessment at the Planning Area ........................ 96 Table 4.2. Test Homes for Parcel Level Hazard/Risk Assessment Model ............................ 105 Table 5.1. Example of a Phased Approach to Defensible Space ........................................... 120 Table 5.2. Summary of Fuels Treatment Methods ................................................................. 127 Table 5.3. General Planning Project Recommendations ........................................................ 132 Table 5.4. Recommendations for Public Outreach and Education ........................................ 135 Table 5.5. Recommendations for Reducing Structural Ignitability ....................................... 141 Table 5.6. Recommendations for Improving Firefighting Capabilities ................................. 148 Table 5.7. Fuel Reduction Treatment Recommendations ...................................................... 153 Table 6.1. Recommended Monitoring Strategies ................................................................... 160 Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants xviii August 2016 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1. Fire hazard severity zones. ........................................................................................ 6 Figure 1.2. Response jurisdictions .............................................................................................. 7 Figure 1.3. Evacuation route markers in the Aldercroft Heights neighborhood developed and installed by the local road association. ................................................................... 15 Figure 1.4. Narrow one-lane roads are common in communities throughout the county, which is a concern for emergency response, as well as evacuation. ................................. 18 Figure 1.5. Community workshop at Redwood Pavilion. ......................................................... 19 Figure 1.6. Roadside treatments completed by the County Roads and Airports Department in Lexington Hills help provide a buffer to vehicle ignitions, as well as protecting an essential evacuation route. ...................................................................................... 21 Figure 2.1. 30-year average temperature and precipitation for San Jose, 1981–2010 (Source: Western Regional Climate Center 2016a). ............................................................. 27 Figure 2.2. Monthly average total precipitation in San Jose (Source: Western Regional Climate Center 2016a). ......................................................................................................... 27 Figure 2.3. 30-year average temperature and precipitation for Los Gatos, 1981–2010 (Source: Western Regional Climate Center 2016b). ............................................................. 28 Figure 2.4. Monthly average total precipitation in Los Gatos (Source: Western Regional Climate Center 2016b). ........................................................................................... 28 Figure 2.5. Monthly average total precipitation in Wrights (closest station to Summit Road). No temperature data available for period of record (Source: Western Regional Climate Center 2016c). ........................................................................................... 29 Figure 2.6. 30-year average temperature and precipitation for Mt. Hamilton, 1981–2010 (Source: Western Regional Climate Center 2016d). .............................................. 29 Figure 2.7. Monthly average total precipitation in Mt. Hamilton (Source: Western Regional Climate Center 2016d). ........................................................................................... 30 Figure 2.8. Watersheds throughout Santa Clara County. .......................................................... 38 Figure 2.9. Two slides taken from a promotional film created by a real estate company for the Redwood Estates in 1926 (Source: YouTube). ....................................................... 40 Figure 2.10. Santa Clara Valley Habitat Plan permit area. ......................................................... 44 Figure 3.1. Land ownership map showing open space areas throughout the County and beyond County boundaries. ................................................................................................. 53 Figure 3.2. WUI areas as designated by state law and local ordinance. ................................... 62 Figure 3.3. Fire preparedness signage is already in place in some areas of the County, but additional signage is recommended. ....................................................................... 65 Figure 3.4. Prescribed fire being used to reduce grass loads on public open space land in the County. .................................................................................................................... 67 Figure 3.5. Santa Clara County fire history from 1900 to 2015. ............................................... 69 Figure 3.6. Water storage tanks at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga Hills. ............................. 77 Figure 4.1. Critical infrastructure. ............................................................................................. 83 Figure 4.2. WUI planning areas. ............................................................................................... 85 Figure 4.3. Fuel models in the CWPP planning area. ............................................................... 88 Figure 4.4. Predicted rate of spread using fire behavior modeling. .......................................... 90 Figure 4.5. Predicted flame length using fire behavior modeling. ............................................ 91 Figure 4.6. Countywide scale composite fire risk/hazard analysis. .......................................... 94 Figure 4.7. Cupertino community workshop. .......................................................................... 109 Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants xix August 2016 Figure 5.1. Defensible space (Source: Santa Clara County Fire Safe Council 2016). ............ 117 Figure 5.2. Defensible space zones (Source: www.firewise.org). .......................................... 118 Figure 5.3. IBHS defensible space guidelines. ........................................................................ 119 Figure 5.4. Home in WUI on steep slope with wooden fence attached to property. ............... 146 Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants xx August 2016 ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ATV All-terrain vehicle BTU British Thermal Unit CAL FIRE California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection CEQA California Environmental Quality Act CERT Community Emergency Response Team CFIP California Forest Improvement Program CHR Community Hazard Rating CMR Community Mitigation Rating CVARs Community Value at Risk CWPP Community Wildfire Protection Plan DHS Department of Homeland Security EQ Earthquake Clearing House FD Fire Department FEMA Federal Emergency Management Agency FHSZ Fire Hazard Severity Zone FPD Fire Protection District FRA Federal Responsibility Area FRCC Fire Regime Condition Class GHGRF Green House Gas Reduction Fund GIS Geographic Information System H High HFRA Healthy Forest Restoration Act HIZ Home Ignition Zone HOA Homeowner Association IBHS Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety IMMS Integrated Maintenance Management System ISO Insurance Services Office KML Keyhole Markup Language LHMP Local Hazard Mitigation Plan LiDAR Light Detection Ranging LRA Local Responsibility Area M Medium MROSD Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District NFPA National Fire Protection Association NPS National Park Service NRCS Natural Resource Conservation Service OSA Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority PG&E Pacific Gas and Electric Company PMR Parcel Mitigation Rating PRC Public Resources Code SAF Society of American Foresters SCCFD Santa Clara County Fire Department SCVHA Santa Clara Valley Habitat Agency SCVWD Santa Clara Valley Water District SHMP State Hazard Mitigation Plan SJWC San Jose Water Company SRA State Responsibility Area TCS Total Community Score VFD Volunteer Fire Department VH Very High VMP Vegetation Management Plan WRCC Western Regional Climate Center WUI Wildland Urban Interface Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants 1 August 2016 1 OVERVIEW OF COMMUNITY WILDFIRE PROTECTION PLAN 1.1 NEED FOR COMMUNITY WILDLIFE PROTECTION PLAN/ CAL FIRE SANTA CLARA UNIT PLAN Fire has been a component of California’s natural history for millennia, with fires caused by both lightning and by Native Americans a common occurrence in most parts of the state. In some vegetation types, frequent fires resulted in a mosaic of burned areas of various ages, with the more recently burned areas tending to impede the spread of new fires (Stephens and Sugihara 2006). Many native plant species have adapted to periodic fires. Fire was used by Native Americans for a variety of purposes, as well as by settlers, ranchers, and loggers. There are very few areas in the state that were not, and continue to be, affected by fire. The influence and effects of fire have changed as attempts were made to suppress it, with the consequent accumulation of more continuous and dense wildland fuels as historic burn mosaics were lost. More continuous fuels have led to larger, more intense wildfires, which are increasingly difficult and expensive to suppress, especially during periods of very dry and/or windy fire weather or episodes of widespread lightning activity, such as those that occurred in northern California in 2008, which started many fires in Santa Clara County. Either condition can quickly overwhelm local, state, and federal firefighting resources. The combination of increasing development in or near wildlands, the accumulation of wildland fuels, dry fire seasons, and rugged terrain has resulted in significant risk due to wildfire to communities located in or near the wildland urban interface (WUI). Such destructive wildfires may be very large, such as the 273,246-acre Cedar fire in San Diego County that destroyed 2,820 structures with 15 fatalities in 2003. Others can be relatively small, such as the 1,520-acre Tunnel fire (Oakland Hills) in Alameda County, which destroyed 3,380 homes with 25 fatalities in 1991, or the 3,007-acre Croy fire in Santa Clara County, which burned 300 structures in 2002. California has experienced a WUI fire problem for nearly a century. The 1923 Berkeley Hills fire and 1961 Bel Air fire clarified the disastrous role poorly designed communities with flammable construction and especially wooden shake shingle roofs play in fire losses in developed areas. Localized efforts to address WUI fires met with mixed success. In 1991 the California legislature passed Fire Safe legislation that established the first combined land use, construction, and defensible space standards that applied statewide. Ironically, shortly after the Fire Safe legislation was law, California experienced the Oakland Hills Tunnel fire, the most devastating WUI fire in state history. Wildfires can also damage watersheds and cause significant erosion and loss of water quality. Sensitive species habitat can be damaged or destroyed, or overrun with invasive species. The economic loss can be enormous as tourism and recreational values are impacted. Social sense of well-being is affected by concern of impact of WUI fires in neighborhoods. Smoke can cause significant safety and health issues, with many sensitive individuals requiring medical treatment. Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants 2 August 2016 It has become increasingly apparent that the mitigation of wildfire risk requires much more than a simple reliance on suppression response. Thoughtful planning, conducted as a collaborative effort by the many people and organizations affected by wildfire, is required to develop and implement short- and long-term solutions and strategies. The CWPP process is a means by which many individuals and organizations can come together in a structured format to do this. While several communities in Santa Clara County have already developed such plans, this is the first effort to develop a CWPP at the county level. It is expected this CWPP will facilitate even broader involvement from many stakeholders in the development of strategies to mitigate common wildfire risk. These strategies can be used by other communities as they develop their own CWPPs in the future, as well as by local governments as they plan for future development through land use planning or promulgate new codes and ordinances for greater resilience to the impact of wildfire. 1.1.1 COMPONENTS OF COMMUNITY WILDFIRE PROTECTION PLAN/CAL FIRE SANTA CLARA UNIT PLAN Nationally, the 2000 fire season triggered great interest by the federal government in the wildfire issue. In 2003 the U.S. Congress recognized widespread declining forest health and increased wildfire risk nationwide by passing the Healthy Forests Restoration Act (HFRA), and President Bush signed the act into law (Public Law 108–148, 2003). The HFRA was revised in 2009 to address changes to funding and provide a renewed focus on wildfire mitigation (H.R. 4233 - Healthy Forest Restoration Amendments Act of 2009). The HFRA expedites the development and implementation of hazardous fuels reduction projects on federal land and emphasizes the need for federal agencies to work collaboratively with communities. A key component of the HFRA is the development of CWPPs, which facilitates the collaboration between federal agencies and communities in order to develop hazardous fuels reduction projects and place priority on treatment areas identified by communities in a CWPP. A CWPP also allows communities to establish their own definition of the WUI. In addition, communities with an established CWPP are given priority for funding of hazardous fuels reduction projects carried out in accordance with the HFRA. CWPPs are composed of three minimum requirements, which are intended to foster communication among the public, government entities, and private organizations as they work towards a common vision of wildfire risk mitigation. These requirements are: 1. Collaboration: Local and state government representatives, in consultation with federal agencies or other interested groups, must collaboratively develop a CWPP. 2. Prioritized Fuel Reduction: A CWPP must identify and prioritize areas for hazardous fuels reduction and treatments; furthermore, the plan must recommend the types and methods of treatment that will protect at-risk communities and their essential infrastructures. 3. Treatments of Structural Ignitability: A CWPP must recommend measures that communities and homeowners can take to reduce the ignitability of structures throughout the area addressed by the plan. Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants 3 August 2016 The area covered by a CWPP usually includes communities or parts of communities. This CWPP is developed at the Santa Clara County level and therefore addresses these requirements with a greater variety of participants than the community plans that have been previously completed. As a result, information associated with these requirements will be accessible to other communities in the county as they prepare their CWPPs, as well as providing a higher overview of wildfire issues, concerns, and risk reduction solutions throughout the county. The expectation is a set of common countywide strategic goals accompanied with specific target projects at the community level to achieve those goals. Information from the Santa Clara County CWPP will also assist Santa Clara County and cities in the development of their General Plans and Local Hazard Mitigation Plans (LHMPs). The mandatory Safety Element found in the General Plan, for example, can draw information and guidance directly from the Santa Clara County CWPP. Land use planning that incorporates provisions for fire-resilient design in WUI areas has been shown to dramatically improve public safety and reduce fire losses3. Guidance on this planning process is described in the 2003 edition of Fire Hazard Planning (State of California, Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, General Plan Technical Advice Series, November 2003, 21 pp.). CWPPs alone provide no authority to enforce findings and conclusions; their value is in the collaboratively developed information and recommendations that can identify and guide activities that mitigate wildfire risk and hazard. The Santa Clara County CWPP can be used by government entities as a reference to guide land use planning and promulgate codes and ordinances in response to its recommendations. 1.1.2 COMMUNITIES AT RISK The California Fire Alliance and federal list of communities at risk from wildfires include 14 communities in Santa Clara County: Cupertino, East Foothills, Gilroy, Lexington Hills, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Milpitas, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill, Palo Alto, San Jose, San Martin, Saratoga and Stanford. Some of these communities have developed a CWPP or Fire Management Plan, such as Lexington Hills, East Foothills, and Palo Alto. The Croy Area CWPP includes parts of Gilroy, Morgan Hill, and San Martin. Wildland Urban Interface Fire Hazard and Environment On the national level, following the establishment of the National Fire Plan via Executive Order due to the 2000 national wildfire season, work throughout the country was undertaken to identify areas at high risk from wildfire; this work would be used to identify the location of hazardous fuel reduction projects designed to reduce this risk. Communities across the nation that are considered to have a WUI have been identified; this list was subsequently published in the Federal Register. California law established a classification of fire hazard severity zones (FHSZs) for wildland areas in the 1980s. FHSZ ratings include factors for weather, vegetation type, topography, predicted fire behavior, ember production, and other factors to rank areas for potential likelihood and severity of wildland fires. The FHSZ rating impacts the nature of community design and building construction in State Responsibility Areas (SRAs) (areas that receive wildland fire protection 3 Megafires: The Case for Mitigation, Institute for Business and Home Safety, 2008. Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants 4 August 2016 directly by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection [CAL FIRE]). As a result of the 1991 Oakland Hills Tunnel fire, the legislature also required applying the FHSZ rating system to cities in California with WUI fire areas. In response, CAL FIRE developed a state list of communities at risk. This work included ranking fuel hazard based on vegetation types and associated fire behavior; assessing the probability of a large, damaging fire; and defining areas with sufficient housing density to create a WUI protection situation. This facilitates the identification of locations most at risk from wildfire and therefore in greatest need of hazardous fuels reduction projects, public education on wildfire risk and fire prevention, and improvements in the ignition resistance of structures. From this work, as previously noted, 14 communities at risk have been identified. Very high wildfire risk conditions are particularly evident along the eastern side of the county, as well as along the southwestern portion from Los Gatos to Gilroy. Current conditions and patterns of fuels, fire behavior, fire weather, and density of structures indicate that these communities are at a significant risk from damaging wildfire, even during relatively short periods of high fire danger (Figure 1.1). The CWPP process is designed to focus on these areas within the county most at risk from wildfire. The names of the communities at risk create some confusion about the boundaries defined by the name. For the purposes of this CWPP we define the boundaries of the various communities to include all WUI areas at risk from wildfire in the vicinity of the place name. For example, the Saratoga community at risk includes unincorporated Santa Clara County in the hills adjacent to Saratoga, and the Lexington Hills community at risk is larger geographically than the place defined by the US Census. 1.1.3 JURISDICTIONAL COMPLEXITY Santa Clara County has a complex arrangement of public and private fire protection organizations that provide preparedness planning and response to wildland fires and other emergencies. These organizations deserve commendation for the level of cooperation and coordination they employ to deliver high level of fire protection to Santa Clara County in a complicated jurisdictional environment. For purposes of wildland fire protection, California law segregates lands within the state into three categories for jurisdictional and financial responsibility (Figure 1.2): 1) Federal Responsibility Areas (FRAs), wherein a federal government agency has jurisdiction for wildland fire protection on federally owned land; 2) SRAs wherein CAL FIRE has jurisdiction for wildland fire protection on all lands within this zone whether public or private ownership; and 3) Local Responsibility Area (LRAs), wherein neither the federal government nor the state have jurisdiction for wildland fire protection. All lands within an incorporated city, whether wildland or not, are designated LRAs by California law. Separate from jurisdiction for wildland fire protection is the jurisdiction for “all hazard” fire/rescue emergencies (structure fires, vehicle fires, vehicle accidents, rescues, medical emergencies, etc.). All hazard response is usually the jurisdictional responsibility of a local government organization. When land development occurs and population increases, a WUI fire protection situation is created. Local government (county, special district, or city) is responsible for delivering all hazard fire protection. Where SRA designated lands are involved, there can be dual, or layered, responsibility for delivering fire protection to the community. This layering occurs in the unincorporated areas of the Central Fire Protection District, Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants 5 August 2016 Los Altos Hills County Fire Protection District, and South Santa Clara County Fire Protection District. Additionally, there are private, not for profit volunteer fire companies volunteer fire companies (Spring Valley, Casa Loma, Uvas, and Stevens Creek) in SRA that, while having no governmental jurisdiction, are actively involved in planning and response to emergencies in their communities. Areas of the east county, portions of Almaden Valley and the Stanford University campus, are not within the normal response jurisdiction of any local fire agency (fire protection district, county service area, or county department (see Figure 1.2). Since these are unincorporated areas, the County Board of Supervisors has ultimate responsibility for provision of local fire protection and administration of building/fire codes. General Plan, local hazard mitigation planning, and land use development are also the responsibility of the County Board of Supervisors. Absent other agreement, the South Santa Clara County Fire Protection District, the Central Fire Protection District, or CAL FIRE will normally respond as a Good Samaritan to all hazard emergencies in these areas with no local government fire organization. Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants 6 August 2016 Figure 1.1. Fire hazard severity zones. Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants 7 August 2016 Figure 1.2. Response jurisdictions Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants 8 August 2016 1.1.4 POLICIES, LAWS, ORDINANCES, CODES, PLANS, AND PROGRAMS IN PLACE The complex nature of wildfire management, and the mitigation of risk associated with it, is reflected in the many policies, plans, and laws that have been developed in response. California state laws and local ordinances at county, city, and district levels address the WUI fire problem. Laws address land use planning and wildfires through various codes. State law related to wildfire, WUI fires, and model building and fire codes are primarily found in the Public Resources Code (PRC), the Health and Safety Code and the Government Code State law4 defines areas in California that are wildland and the responsibility for fire protection related to those lands. Additionally, the probable fire severity of these areas is defined and determined by building codes and fire-resistant design standards that were in place at the time of construction. Land use planning contains the ultimate long range solution to the WUI fire problem. New communities can be designed to be resilient to the impact of wildland fire when Fire Safe community5 components are factored into design. Fire agencies and other stakeholders input into the General Plan process can establish a strong blueprint for a fire-resilient community. State legislation passed in 20126 directs CAL FIRE to review all proposed subdivisions and amendments to local General Plans and Safety Elements. 1.1.5 FEDERAL MEASURES TO FACILITATE WILDFIRE PLANNING AND PREPARATION The National Fire Plan established the collaborative approach to be used at all levels to develop risk reduction solution. It was followed by A Collaborative Approach for Reducing Wildland Fire Risks to Communities and the Environment: A 10-Year Comprehensive Strategy, with updates in 2002 and 2006. In 2003, the HFRA was passed into law, which emphasized the development of CWPPs and the implementation of hazardous fuel reduction projects. In 2014, the final stage of a national strategy for wildfire was issued, entitled The National Strategy: The Final Phase in the Development of the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy. California is in the Western Region of this plan, which notes that steep terrain, invasive species, access limitations, climate change, heavy fuel loads, and an expanding WUI underlie four broad areas of risk: risk to firefighters and civilian safety, ecological risks, social risks, and economic risks. The solution requires a collaborative effort with many stakeholders to improve landscape resiliency and community adaptation to wildfire. 4 Public Resources Code 4125. 5 Fire Safe Community Design Standards (Public Resources Code 4290). 6 California Government Code Sections 66474.02, 65302, and 65302.5. Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants 9 August 2016 1.1.6 STATE OF CALIFORNIA MEASURES TO FACILITATE WILDFIRE PLANNING AND PREPARATION In similar acknowledgement of the escalating risk of wildfire, the State of California also issued several documents to assist in wildfire planning and preparation, detailed in the following sections. Statewide Hazard Mitigation Plan The State of California Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan, revised in 2013, considers wildfire along with floods and earthquakes to be the three primary hazards faced by California (California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services 2013). Chapter 5.4 describes wildfire hazards, vulnerabilities, and risk assessment. The document in particular notes the importance of Senate Bill 1241, which was passed in 2012, and mandates wildfire planning responsibilities by local agencies through requirements regarding: 1. wildfire updates to General Plans; 2. mandatory findings for subdivision approvals in SRAs and very high FHSZs; and 3. California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) checklist updates for wildfire safety. As a result, local General Plans must contain a review of local fire hazards; goals, policies, and objectives for protection of the community from wildfire; implementation measures; and reference to any previously adopted fire safety plan that meets Senate Bill 1241’s goals. California Strategic Fire Plan In 2010, the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection issued the California Strategic Fire Plan, a statewide fire plan developed in concert between the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection and CAL FIRE. Goals included improved availability and use of information on hazard and risk assessment, land use planning, development of shared vision in plans such as CWPPs, establishment of fire resistance in assets at risk, shared vision among fire protection jurisdictions and agencies, levels of suppression, and post-fire recovery. In support of this plan, several policies are noted, including creation of defensible space, improving home fire resistance, fuel hazard reduction that creates resilient landscapes and protects wildland and natural resources, adequate and appropriate fire suppression, and commitment by individuals and communities to wildfire prevention and protection through local planning. The California Strategic Fire Plan’s several objectives are as follows: the state will produce tools such as updates to the CAL FIRE very high FHSZ maps, fire history, and data on values and assets at risk; assist government bodies in the development of a comprehensive set of wildland and WUI protection policies; identify minimum key components necessary to achieve a fire safe community; coordinate CAL FIRE Unit Fire Plans with CWPPs; improve regulatory effectiveness, compliance monitoring, and reporting pursuant to PRC 4290 and 4291; and participate in public education efforts concerning regulation, prevention measures, and preplanning. Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants 10 August 2016 CAL FIRE Santa Clara Unit Fire Plan The Santa Clara Unit of CAL FIRE provides fire protection to many areas within Santa Clara County, as well as to Contra Costa, Alameda, and the western portions of San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties. The 2015 CAL FIRE Santa Clara Unit Fire Plan uses the Seven Strategic Goals and Fire Plan Framework identified in the California Strategic Fire Plan and translates them into work to be done within its area of responsibility. Tactically, the Santa Clara Unit has an objective of keeping all wildland fires to 10 acres or less. Strategically, the primary goal of wildland fire protection in the unit is to safeguard the wide ranges of values found within the unit from the effects of wildfire. The Santa Clara Unit employs multiple programs to accomplish this goal, including development of pre-fire management tactics, fire prevention, a defensible space inspection (LE-100) program for fire safe clearance around structures, information and education programs, and the Vegetation Management Program (VMP) to reduce hazardous fuels and achieve natural resource management goals with within an SRA. Local Hazard Mitigation Plan In 2005, the Association of Bay Area Governments adopted Taming Natural Disasters: A Multi- Jurisdictional Local Government Hazard Mitigation Plan for the San Francisco Bay Area. This plan addresses methods to mitigate the risk from several types of hazards on eight commitment areas (infrastructure, health, housing, economy, government services, education, environment, and land use). The 2005 plan was updated in 2010 with the participation of 116 cities, counties, and special districts. This update was supported by numerous regional and sub-regional workshops, forums, and public outreach campaigns, and further enhanced both the consistency in approach to hazard mitigation planning and the participation rate of local jurisdictions In response, Association of Bay Area Governments counties, including Santa Clara County, have developed an LHMP as an annex to the Association of Bay Area Governments plan. The LHMP also has mitigation strategies for several of these commitment areas. Many of the mitigation strategies identified have been, or can be, used in CWPPs, and the responsible entities are also identified. Items include ensuring reliable sources of water for existing and new developments, developing defensible space programs, providing adequate access roads that meet California Fire Code standards, tying public education on defensible space with a defensible space ordinance and field enforcement, adopting or amending California Building and Fire Codes, and expanding VMPs. 1.1.7 OUTCOMES OF A CWPP Building Collaboration The underlying theme of these various plans, and in particular CWPPs, is collaboration among the many stakeholders affected by wildfire. Chief among the components of collaboration is public education to provide not only information concerning the risk of wildfire but also to let stakeholders know about opportunities to participate in the management and mitigation of wildfire risk. CWPPs are often referred to as “living documents” because of the importance of revisiting and updating these documents periodically as new issues arise and results from recommendations Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants 11 August 2016 in the CWPP, such as hazard reduction projects, develop. The value of the CWPP is ultimately to provide a framework for collaboration between the public, governments, agencies, and other entities affected by wildfire, so that they can discuss and jointly develop solutions and strategies for its management and mitigation. Specific CWPP topics requiring a collaborative effort include: Risk Assessment The purpose of developing the risk assessment model described in this document in Section 4 is to create a unique tool for evaluating the risk of wildland fires to communities within the WUI areas of the planning area. Although many definitions exist for hazard and risk, for the purpose of this document these definitions (that are consistent with state hazard mitigation planning and state standards) include: • Risk = Hazard – Mitigations • Risk is essentially a measurement of the potential consequences of the hazard occurring, in this case a wildfire burning through the WUI community. • Hazards are those existing bio-physical factors that, when combined, present a threat. • Mitigations are actions taken to reduce the hazard or risk in order to reduce the unwanted consequences of the WUI fire. The risk assessment is twofold and combines a geographic information system (GIS) model of hazard and risk (Composite Risk/Hazard Assessment) and an on-the-ground assessment of community hazards and values at risk. From these assessments, land use managers, fire officials, planners, and others can begin to prepare strategies and methods for reducing the threat of wildfire, as well as work with community members to educate them about methods for reducing the damaging consequences of fire. The fuels reduction treatments can be implemented on both private and public land, so community members have the opportunity to actively apply the treatments on their properties, as well as recommend treatments on public land and private land that they use or care about. Insurance Implications in Wildland Urban Interface Areas Insurance companies are reducing their exposure to catastrophic losses. It is commonplace for California property owners in WUI areas to be denied insurance coverage from their preferred provider, including renewals of existing policies. Property owners are left with a search for a willing insurance company or at last resort turning to the California FAIR Plan7, which will assure coverage, but at extraordinary premiums. Insurance companies often rely upon organizations such as Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO) to assist in the evaluation of risk, such as from wildfire. For example, ISO/Verisk Analytics uses a program called FireLine to provide scores used to analyze wildfire risk at the individual address level. Scores are derived from three components: fuel, slope, and firefighter access. 7 California FAIR Plan Property Insurance: cfpnet.com. Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants 12 August 2016 There are a number of important implications for homeowners in WUI areas in the County: Fire insurance policies will be issued or denied based on factors evaluated by insurance companies, evidenced by the fact that many insurance companies in the County are denying coverage in WUI areas. The result of this action by the major insurance companies have reduced the capacity of the industry to accommodate the market demand and the price of coverage is rising as a direct result. There are insurance companies that are taking on this risk by charging higher rates, reducing fire peril coverage, and or increasing the deductibles. This results in the consumer taking on more risk by paying more and having higher deductibles. Alternatively, some homeowners find they cannot afford coverage if they can find it and forego obtaining fire insurance policies entirely. Fuel and access can be modified as a result of projects identified in a CWPP and therefore affect insurance policies and premiums. Properties currently insured in the WUI are inspected periodically for defensible space, site hygiene and maintenance. Upon inspection if there are issues raised, the policyholder is informed and required to make changes prior to the next renewal. Because many insurance companies are no longer taking on new business in these WUI areas, a lapse in policy as a result of a failed insurance inspection can be a significant vulnerability to homeowners, providing motivation for good property hygiene, defensible space and structural maintenance. Areas identified by insurance companies as exposed to wildfire risk should be noted by stakeholders as another source of information, which can also be used to identify and prioritize risk reduction work. Mitigation Strategies The CWPP process identifies many types of mitigation strategies, including hazardous fuel modification, defensible space, signage, public education prevention messages, improved road access, water supply, and building materials and design. It should be noted that while all mitigation strategies will be useful, some will be a more important factor in preventing destruction of a home. An examination of the factors leading to an assignment of extreme risk to a parcel or area can help identify which ones provided the most weight to the rating and, therefore, which factors are in most need of mitigation strategies. For example, the presence or absence of a wood roof is often a determining factor in home survivorship during wildfire incidents, and therefore this factor is given much weight in the development of risk score ratings. Policies, Codes, and Ordinance Changes Mitigation strategies must include monitoring and follow-up, and often require the development of codes, ordinances, and enforcement. Codes and ordinances help define the type and level of work needed to mitigate wildfire risk. A policy of creation of defensible space needs to have a definition of the amount of vegetation clearance. As noted in the state’s General Guidelines for Creating Defensible Space (2006), this definition can change periodically, as was the case with the revision of PRC 4291, which increased the defensible space distance from 30 to 100 feet. Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants 13 August 2016 Outreach and Education The CWPP process is designed to enhance outreach and education on the wildfire situation to the general public, local governments and agencies that may be unaware of the steps they can take to mitigate the risk of wildfire. The collaborative effort encouraged during the construction, review, and approval of a CWPP continues into the future as lessons learned from activities identified in the Santa Clara County CWPP are translated into more specific activities at the community and city level. Outreach increases the number of partners in this work; education promotes a more common understanding of the causes and nature of wildfire risk and increases general knowledge of the best practices to mitigate it. Collaboration on outreach is important because each entity involved in mitigating the risk of wildfire has a different role and can provide a different approach to messaging. For example, CAL FIRE inspectors wear uniforms, actively educate property owners on importance of defensible space, and additionally have the authority to issue citations to property owners who do not clear their defensible space. However, they cannot require someone to clear defensible space based on changes recommended in the latest science if the current code does not reflect those changes, nor can they require property owners to clear defensible space for their neighbor whose home is near the property line. Fire Safe Council coordinators have the flexibility to address these limitations by providing non-threatening guidance to residents who are out of compliance, encouraging adoption of cutting-edge recommendations that are not yet codified, and assisting in outreach to neighbors to encourage voluntary participation in community-wide defensible space strategies. Structural Ignitability As noted in the 2015 CAL FIRE Santa Clara Unit Fire Plan, page 14, “in some instances due to the size, speed, and intensity of the fire, or the building materials and surrounding vegetation, structures can ignite and potentially be destroyed before emergency responders can arrive. In order for a structure to survive it must be able to avoid ignition.” Structural ignitability, and responsibility of property owners in reducing this risk factor, is discussed in detail by Cohen (2008). Cohen notes that “the continued focus on fire suppression largely to the exclusion of alternatives that address home ignition potential suggests a persistent inappropriate framing of the WUI fire problem in terms of the fire exclusion paradigm.” Reinhardt et al. (2008) state that “destruction (of homes) in the WUI is primarily a result of the flammability of the residential areas themselves, rather than the flammability of the adjacent wildlands.” The dwelling’s materials and design within 100 feet determine home ignition potential (also referred to as the home ignition zone). Therefore, if large flames are not causing home ignition, then the cause is often relatively low intensity flames contacting the base of the home, and/or direct firebrand ignitions. Consequently, Cohen believes that the presence or absence of fuels in the immediate surroundings of the home, and its construction materials, will determine ignition potential. Therefore, the authority and responsibility for reducing structural ignition potential of existing buildings belongs to the property owner. Fire agencies can help educate property owners on the need and methods for reducing structural ignition potential. Community design and WUI building code standards adopted by local agencies can serve to reduce ignitability of new structures. However, code revisions tend to lag a long time behind research Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants 14 August 2016 findings, and new codes generally do not apply to older structures. This is why the public education component of CWPPs is so vital to the mitigation of wildfire risk. An ideal goal to reduce structural ignitability is to educate and facilitate the voluntary modification of existing buildings to comply with both current WUI building codes, as well as the latest recommendations from fire science experts. Emergency Response and Evacuation During wildfire events, the routes emergency responders take to the fire are often the same routes being used by residents fleeing from the fire. Other residents may be trying to return to their homes for children or pets. Roads may be too narrow to accommodate two-way traffic of responders and evacuees. Routes may be blocked by fallen trees, spot fires, smoke, downed power lines, traffic congestion, or vehicle accidents. Road names and home addresses may be too indistinct to locate, confusing, or missing. Safe areas and evacuation centers may be unknown to residents, or if there are multiple centers, uncertainty within a family separated by the fire may occur over which one should be used. Evacuation may be urgent, confusing and disorderly, particularly in “No Notice” events during the early part of wildfire response where information about the fire is limited. Law enforcement officers may not be readily available in sufficient numbers, and incident management may be juggling both fire suppression and life safety without enough resources to accomplish both. The possibility of fatal entrapments exists, and therefore planning for the sudden occurrence of a fire under extreme conditions is a vital part of plans develop by local jurisdictions, as well as families. The CWPP will describe many actions that will improve the ability of firefighters to more quickly and efficiently access areas threatened by fire, as well as mobilize law enforcement to assist in providing the public with methods for safer evacuation. Particular attention must be paid during the development of a CWPP to the location of locked gates, which will slow, and possibly block, the use of evacuation routes. Likewise, overgrown evacuation routes with high fuel loading near the road edge may be unusable due to intense heat and long flame lengths, falling trees and power poles, or other hazards that an active fire can create and may lead to fatal results. The CWPP should designate certain roads as evacuation routes and contain a clear description of responsibilities and procedures to unlock gates during evacuations, and prioritize preparing those routes for use during an active fire by implementing roadside fuel reduction projects. Prioritize Fuel Reduction CWPPs provide stakeholders not only the opportunity to identify fuel reduction projects but also to assign priorities to them. While it is true that communities with an established CWPP are given priority for federal funding of hazardous fuels reduction projects carried out in accordance with the HFRA, a collaboratively developed list of such projects is simply more efficient in terms of planning, funding, and execution given the large amount of fuels reduction that could be done across Santa Clara County. Speaking with one voice will carry more weight in the competitive environment of funding for wildfire hazard and fuel reduction projects; collaboration for projects should include Fire Safe Councils at the state, county, and community levels. Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants 15 August 2016 The purpose of any fuels reduction treatment is to protect life and property by reducing the potential for and outcome of catastrophic wildfire, as well as to restore landscapes to a sustainable and healthy condition. Moderating extreme fire behavior, reducing structural ignitability, creating defensible space, providing safe evacuation routes (Figure 1.3), and maintaining all roads for firefighting access are methods of fuels reduction likely to be used around communities located in a WUI zone. Use of multiple treatment methods often magnifies the benefits. It should be noted this CWPP is a countywide policy level document. Therefore, fuel reduction projects will be described in general detail; more specific projects will be essentially “legs” to the CWPP, as jurisdictions identify and tailor projects to their specific needs over the coming years and as part of the CWPP update process. Fuel reduction projects may have the potential to impact the environment both during implementation, as well as through longer-term maintenance of the projects. The protection of sensitive habitats, and the use of CEQA to analyze potential site-specific effects, will be part of the work done within this more specific “leg” of the process. Figure 1.3. Evacuation route markers in the Aldercroft Heights neighborhood developed and installed by the local road association. Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants 16 August 2016 1.2 CWPP PLANNING PROCESS The Society of American Foresters (SAF), in collaboration with the National Association of Counties and the National Association of State Foresters, developed a guide entitled Preparing a Community Wildfire Protection Plan: A Handbook for Wildland-Urban Interface Communities (SAF 2004) to provide communities with a clear process to use in developing a CWPP. The guide outlines eight steps for developing a CWPP and has been followed in preparing the Santa Clara County CWPP: Step One: Convene Decision-makers. Form a Core Team made up of representatives from the appropriate local governments, local fire authorities, and state agencies responsible for forest management. Step Two: Involve Federal Agencies. Identify and engage local federal representatives and contact and involve other land management agencies as appropriate. Step Three: Engage Interested Parties. Contact and encourage active involvement in plan development from a broad range of interested organizations and stakeholders. Step Four: Establish a Community Base Map. Work with partners to establish a base map(s) defining the community’s WUI and showing inhabited areas at risk, wildland areas that contain critical human infrastructure, and wildland areas at risk for large-scale fire disturbance. Step Five: Develop a Community Risk Assessment. Work with partners to develop a community risk assessment that considers fuel hazards; risk of wildfire occurrence; homes, businesses, and essential infrastructure at risk; other Community Values at Risk (CVARs); and local preparedness capability. Rate the level of risk for each factor and incorporate this information into the base map as appropriate. Step Six: Establish Community Priorities and Recommendations. Use the base map and community risk assessment to facilitate a collaborative community discussion that leads to the identification of local priorities for treating fuels, reducing structural ignitability (Appendix A), and other issues of interest, such as improving fire response capability. Clearly indicate whether priority projects are directly related to the protection of communities and essential infrastructure or to reducing wildfire risks to other community values.8 Step Seven: Develop an Action Plan and Assessment Strategy. Consider developing a detailed implementation strategy to accompany the CWPP (detailed in annexes to the CWPP), as well as a 9monitoring plan that will ensure its long-term success. Step Eight: Finalize Community Wildfire Protection Plan. Finalize the CWPP and communicate the results to community and key partners. 8 Detailed project planning and prioritization should be completed at the direction of the Core Team during revisions of jurisdictional annexes and updates to the strategic document. The scale of the Santa Clara County CWPP did not allow for the detail necessary for project-specific planning and it is acknowledged by Core Team members that this work will be completed over the coming years as the CWPP is revisited or as specific project funding allows. Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants 17 August 2016 1.2.1 PLANNING TEAM/CORE TEAM The Core Team reflects the variety of stakeholders affected by wildfire. Members include: • Ken Kehmna Fire Chief, Santa Clara County Fire Department • John Justice Deputy Chief, Santa Clara County Fire Department • Tom Lausten Area Superintendent, Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (MROSD) • Mark Roberts Fire Captain, San Jose Fire Department • Doug Schenk GIS Analyst, Santa Clara County • Ed Orre Unit Forester, CAL FIRE • Anne Rosinski Senior Engineer Geologist, California Geological Survey • Jim Wollbrinck Manager Security and Business Resiliency, San Jose Water Company • Randy Houston Water Maintenance Manager, San Jose Water Company • Gary Sanchez Director, Santa Clara Fire Safe Council; Agent, State Farm Insurance • Patty Ciesla Programs Manager, Santa Clara Fire Safe Council • Derek Neumann Field Operation Manager, Open Space Authority • Dwight Good Fire Marshal, CAL FIRE/Morgan Hill • Rick Parfitt Resident, Lexington Hills • Robert Durr Lieutenant, Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department • Jeffrey McCoy Administrative Sergeant, Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department 1.2.2 RESEARCH CURRENT CONDITIONS The CWPPs that have been developed in the last few years, such as the Lexington Hills, East Foothills, and Croy CWPPs, and the Palo Alto Fire Management Plan, describe in detail the conditions found in these specific areas. The detailed conditions described in these documents can also represent to a significant degree current conditions in other areas within the county that have not developed a CWPP. The CAL FIRE Santa Clara Unit Fire Plan addresses wildfire conditions, patterns, and suggested mitigations in the SRA of the county. General findings and recommendations in these plans include: • Wildfires will reoccur in areas where vulnerable and valuable assets exist. • Firefighting resources are significant, but access to specialized resources such as hand crews are limited. • Reliable sources of water for fire suppression need to be ensured. • Diverse construction types include high hazard residences. Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants 18 August 2016 • Narrow roads (Figure 1.4), unmarked dead-ends, and lack of turnarounds are a concern. • Evacuation of some areas is a concern. • Fuel reduction is key to reducing risk, with a commitment to long-term maintenance. • Reducing structural ignitability is key to reducing loss of life, injury, and property damages. • Community education and outreach about the importance of defensible space and community mitigations is a critical need. Because these findings and recommendations are present in previous planning documents, an examination of which of these issues have been effectively addressed, and which have tended to be more difficult to resolve, would be a valuable undertaking by the Core Team and others to ensure that this CWPP builds on, and enhances, previous and future wildfire risk mitigation work. This CWPP can also focus on the issues that have been more difficult to resolve, using its broader stakeholder coalition to provide more emphasis and support for resolution of such issues. The Core Team should consider these issues during future CWPP revisions and updates. Figure 1.4. Narrow one-lane roads are common in communities throughout the county, which is a concern for emergency response, as well as evacuation. Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants 19 August 2016 1.2.3 COMMUNITY OUTREACH Using social media, such as Facebook, and other outreach means, several community workshops were held to make presentations and to discuss the wildfire situation in Santa Clara County and to provide an opportunity for the public and other stakeholders to present their concerns and thoughts on wildfire risk mitigation. Community Workshops The first round of workshops occurred in Morgan Hill (February 17, 2016), San Jose East Foothills (February 18, 2016), Cupertino (February 22, 2016), and Redwood Estates (February 23, 2016), followed by a second round of workshops in Milpitas (May 2, 2016), Morgan Hill (May 3, 2016), Redwood Estates (May 4, 2016) (Figure 1.5), and Cupertino (May 10, 2016). These meetings will be followed by a public review period of the draft CWPP from May 2 to 16, 2016. Figure 1.5. Community workshop at Redwood Pavilion. Notes from the community workshops are included in Appendix B. The following bulleted list outlines some of the main concerns that residents voiced during the workshops: • Enforcement of codes are needed to ensure defensible space and weed abatement requirements are followed. • Narrow roads and poor access putting property at risk. • Improvements to hydrant network and available water supply are needed. • Pre-attack planning needed to identify evacuation concerns. Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants 20 August 2016 • Fuel loading on public lands is too high and more fuel treatments are needed. • Sustainability of fuel treatment is a problem, need more regular maintenance. • Evacuation routes for some communities are blocked by locked gates. • Evacuation routes for some communities are on poorly maintained roads sometimes unpassable without 4 × 4 drive vehicles. • Prescribed burning is supported and encouraged where ecologically appropriate on public lands. • Need a central location for wildfire preparedness information/literature that is tailored to the community. • Building codes are hard to navigate and some place unreasonable restrictions on property development. • New development is occurring in areas that have limited water supply, putting residents at risk. • Roads agencies (California Department of Transportation [Caltrans], County Roads and Airports, etc.) need to be a partner in fuel treatment actions. • Communities support development of Firewise Communities status. • Residents support the assertion that roof retrofits are needed throughout the country to remove all wood shake shingle roofs. • Tree mortality is a significant problem throughout the County and there needs to be an easier way to deal with tree removal. • Roadside thinning is needed in many neighborhoods in order to improve access and evacuation route viability. • Public land managers need to work with adjacent private property owners to ensure appropriate defensible space can be implemented across property lines. • Major highways (e.g., Highway 17) are a source of ignitions and should be a major focus of roadside fuel treatments (Figure 1.6). • Engagement of adjacent counties is critical for wildfire preparedness, fuel treatment development, and evacuation planning. • More unified planning by agencies is needed. • Maintenance and improvements to private roads to improve ingress and egress is a concern throughout the County. • Defensible space and plant flammability could be tackled through education of landscape companies. • Insurance companies are pulling out of some WUI areas. Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants 21 August 2016 Figure 1.6. Roadside treatments completed by the County Roads and Airports Department in Lexington Hills help provide a buffer to vehicle ignitions, as well as protecting an essential evacuation route. Community Survey A custom community survey was developed for the CWPP in order to gather the perspectives of Santa Clara County residents on wildfire risk and hazard within their community. The objective of the survey was to ensure that the Core Team had a clear idea of the range and prevalence of activities and concerns across the county. Responses from the survey help identify areas of particular concern to residents, ascertain residents’ priorities for actions to reduce wildfire hazard, identify mitigation activities residents are undertaking, and determine what tools residents need in order to undertake further mitigation actions. The results of the survey are presented in Section 4.9.1. Social Media A Facebook profile was developed for the CWPP in order to inform the public about upcoming events, review periods, and announcements, and to provide an avenue through which the public could provide additional input. The Facebook page has 132 followers. 1.2.4 STAKEHOLDER ORGANIZATION OUTREACH The value of any CWPP depends on its identification and outreach to the many stakeholders affected by wildfire. The Core Team represents a broad cross section of such organizations; a variety of means was used to notify and provide invitation to stakeholders to participate in this process. The Core Team is itself the nucleus of stakeholder outreach via the many contacts possessed by members of this team, both to inform stakeholders and to bring stakeholder concerns and ideas to Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants 22 August 2016 the Core Team as it developed the CWPP. In support of this process, the Core Team met on December 1, 2015, and January 28, February 24, April 4, May 10, and June 20th, 2016. In addition, a workshop was convened on May 9, 2016, to provide an opportunity for agency representatives to discuss project ideas and fuel treatment locations with the CWPP Team. A contact list for Core Team members is included in Appendix C. These Core Team representatives were selected by the Santa Clara County Fire Department and the CWPP Team to represent the key agencies involved in fire management in the county. During the CWPP planning process it was identified that law enforcement involvement was integral to the development of mitigation measures for hazard and risk reduction, particularly evacuation. As such, two sheriff department representatives were encouraged to join the Core Team. Other agencies that were not part of the Core Team but could contribute important information to the document were invited to attend the agency workshop on May 9, 2016. It should be noted that engagement of stakeholders did vary during the planning process as schedules prevented some Core Team members attending all meetings. It is also acknowledged by the Core Team that future revisions to the CWPP should include additional collaboration from some under-represented entities who have a responsibility for fuel reduction and/or fire management in the County. The lack of participation by these entities weakens the application of the CWPP in terms of implementation of recommended projects. The Core Team committed to improving participation moving forward as outlined in Table 5.3 in Section 6. Furthermore, continued engagement by the Core Team is necessary in order to move forward specific project recommendations that have been developed at a conceptual level in this document and annexes. It is anticipated this will occur over the coming months and years as this live document is reviewed and revised. 1.3 PROJECT AREA This CWPP is developed at the Santa Clara County, rather than community or city, level. It integrates information from the CAL FIRE Santa Clara Unit Fire Plan and Santa Clara County community CWPPs developed in the last few years, provides new information on the wildfire situation at the County level, and describes risk reduction strategies identified and prioritized by many community stakeholders, which can be applicable at both a countywide and local scale. The Santa Clara County CWPP can also be used to coordinate risk reduction planning with other neighboring counties threatened by wildfire, such as Santa Cruz, San Mateo, Alameda, San Benito, and other counties, with which Santa Clara County shares contiguous wildland fuels and similar wildfire issue. 1.3.1 WILDLAND URBAN INTERFACE PLANNING ZONES The WUI is composed of both interface and intermix communities and is defined as areas where human habitation and development meet at the edge of, or are inserted in the interior of areas dominated by, wildland fuels (U.S. Department of the Interior and U.S. Department of Agriculture 2001:752–753). Interface areas include housing developments that meet or are in the vicinity of continuous vegetation and consist of less than 50% vegetation. Intermix areas are those areas where structures are scattered throughout a wildland area of greater than 50% continuous vegetation and fuels and meet or exceed a minimum of one house per 40 acres. Depending on the Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants 23 August 2016 surrounding fuel conditions, topography, and present structures, wildland areas of up to 1.5 miles from structures may be included in the WUI (Stewart et al. 2007). The WUI creates an environment in which fire can move readily between structural and vegetative fuels, increasing the potential for wildland fire ignitions and the corresponding potential loss of life and property. Human encroachment upon wildland ecosystems within recent decades is increasing the extent of the WUI in Santa Clara County and is therefore placing people and structures at risk and having a significant influence on wildland fire management practices. Combined with the collective effects of aggressive suppression policies, resource management practices, land use patterns, climate change, invasive species infestation and insect and disease infestations, the expansion of the WUI into areas with high fire risk has created an urgent need to modify land use, fire management practices, and policies and to understand and manage fire risk effectively in the WUI (Pyne 2001; Stephens and Ruth 2005). A CWPP offers the opportunity for collaboration of policy makers and land managers to establish a definition and a boundary for the local WUI; to better understand the unique resources, fuels, topography, and climatic and structural characteristics of the area; and to prioritize and plan fuels treatments and community mitigations to mitigate for fire risks. At least 50% of all funds appropriated for projects under the HFRA must be used within the WUI area. 1.4 ORGANIZATION INVOLVEMENT This CWPP is designed to be a strategic policy level document that is signed by designated signatory organizations, with each specific organization’s strategies and projects as separate “legs.” The CWPP policy level document fosters a long term WUI strategy and describes guiding principles at the county level, while at the same time allowing organizations to do periodic updates and develop policies, ordinances, and fuel projects without requiring all CWPP signatories to sign off on the local plans. A long-term goal of the CWPP is the adoption of strategic goals into the Safety Element of city and county General Plans and LHMPs, giving more weight to the CWPP’s recommendations, such as code changes and ordinances. 1.4.1 SIGNATORY ORGANIZATIONS Signatory organizations and advisory organizations included in project development are listed in Appendix C. 1.4.2 GRANT FUNDING SOURCES Support for this work comes from a wide variety of sources listed in Appendix D. Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants 24 August 2016 This page intentionally left blank Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants 25 August 2016 2 COMMUNITY CHARACTERISTICS AND DEMOGRAPHICS 2.1 LOCATION AND GEOGRAPHY The County of Santa Clara, also referred to as “Silicon Valley”, is unique because of its combination of physical attractiveness and economic diversity. With its numerous natural amenities and one of the highest standards of living in the country, the county has long been considered one of the best areas in the United States in which to live and work. (County of Santa Clara 2016) Santa Clara County encompasses 835,449 acres (1,305 square miles), is located at the southern end of the San Francisco Bay (Santa Clara County General Plan 2015), and comprises the fertile Santa Clara Valley, which is fringed on the east by the Diablo Range and on the west by the Santa Cruz Mountains. The northwestern portion of the county comprises the Baylands, salt evaporation ponds, salt marsh, and wetlands. The county enjoys a Mediterranean climate, staying temperate year round, staying warm and dry through late spring, summer, and early fall. Precipitation ranges from an average 12 inches in downtown San Jose to more than 60 inches in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The Santa Clara Valley is generally divided into two geographic regions, the North Valley and the South Valley. The predominantly urban North Valley houses approximately 90% of the county’s residents and 13 of its 15 cities (Santa Clara Valley Habitat Agency 2012). The South Valley is primarily rural, with the exception of Morgan Hill, Gilroy, San Martin (unincorporated community), and scattered low-density residential areas. Until the mid-twentieth century, orchards and other agriculture dominated the area, but in recent decades the valley has been transformed into “Silicon Valley,” a global center for high-tech development resulting from the 1990s internet boom. Since that time the county has seen extensive population growth, focused mostly in the North Valley cities of Campbell, Cupertino, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Milpitas, Monte Sereno, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Santa Clara, Saratoga, and Sunnyvale; nearly 92% of the county population lives in its cities (U.S. Census Bureau 2014). The county has the largest population of any of the nine Bay Area counties, and it provides more than 25% of all jobs in the Bay Area (Santa Clara Valley Habitat Agency 2012). Although the population is expected to continue to grow, the rate of growth is projected to slow (Santa Clara Valley Habitat Agency 2012). Recognizing the population boom in the 1970s, Santa Clara County implemented policies to help curtail potential sprawl and protect the county’s natural resources. Policies were enacted that focused growth inside of cities, controlling sprawl into unincorporated areas of the county. At the same time, the MROSD, Santa Clara County Parks, and the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority began acquiring undeveloped land in the foothills for a permanent greenbelt of wildlands. Santa Clara County’s General Plan includes many measures to address land use issues involving the rural unincorporated areas of the county over which Santa Clara County has direct land use authority. Policy direction is to maintain the scenic rural character of these areas and to promote conservation and productive use of their natural resources for agriculture, ranching, watershed, public recreation, and wildlife habitat (Santa Clara Valley Habitat Agency 2012). Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants 26 August 2016 The county has a rich culture and many community facilities and attractions that serve the residents and attract visitors, including museums and art galleries, performing arts venues, educational facilities, cultural and recreational opportunities, vineyards, orchards, and abundant natural resources. 2.2 CLIMATE AND WEATHER PATTERNS Santa Clara County has a Mediterranean climate, with most precipitation occurring during the winter months and virtually no precipitation from spring through autumn (Santa Clara Valley Habitat Agency 2012). Annual rainfall averages are variable, depending on topography and local orographic and rain shadow effects; due to the large extent of the County weather data is shown in Figure 2.1–Figure 2.7, and Table 2.1 from various communities. The Santa Cruz Mountains typically have the highest precipitation totals (40–60 inches/year) compared to the relatively dry Santa Clara Valley where the city of San Jose has average totals of 12 inches. The Diablo range, though drier than the Santa Cruz Mountains, experiences greater precipitation than the adjacent valley, with totals ranging from 20 to 30 inches a year, especially at higher elevations. Various microclimates also occur in the county; for example, canyon areas of north-facing hill slopes and streams with less direct sunlight will have lower evapotranspiration, greater ambient soil moisture, and generally more moderate cooler temperatures due to higher moisture content and greater shading (Santa Clara Valley Habitat Agency 2012). The topography of Santa Clara County, coupled with the proximity to the Pacific Ocean, greatly influences wind patterns. The prevailing flow along the Santa Clara Valley is roughly parallel to the valley’s northwest-southeast axis. During the afternoon and early evening, a north- northwesterly sea breeze often extends up Santa Clara Valley, while a light south-southeasterly drainage flow often occurs during late evening and early morning (Santa Clara Valley Habitat Agency 2012). In summer a convergence zone is sometimes observed in the southern end of the Santa Clara Valley between Gilroy and Morgan Hill, when air flowing from the Monterey Bay through the Pajaro Gap gets channeled northward into the south end of the Santa Clara Valley and meets with the prevailing north-northwesterly winds (Santa Clara Valley Habitat Agency 2012). Spring and summer sees the greatest wind speeds, with sometimes strong afternoon and evening winds on summer days. Summer “Diablo Winds” can carry hot, dry air from the Central Valley over the Diablo Range and flow across Santa Clara Valley and then upslope over the Santa Cruz Mountains from a northerly direction towards the Monterey Bay. These winds drove both the Lexington Fire and the Summit Fire. The United States is experiencing a cycle of the highest average temperatures in recorded history. California shares this phenomenon and is also suffering through an extended 4-year drought pattern that is creating a dramatic change in the health of native vegetation. Tree mortality from drought stress and pests such as bark beetles and the pathogen that causes Sudden Oak Death have increased significantly. Westerling (2016) notes that western forest wildfire activity increased abruptly in the 1980s and appears to be strongly associated with warming and earlier spring snowmelt. Although this research focused on lightning-caused fires on western federal lands, widespread changes in the patterns and amounts of precipitation will influence wildland fuel availability and wildfire activity in many areas. An increase in wildfire activity, such as due to longer fire seasons Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants 27 August 2016 or due to higher rates of fire spread and intensity as a result of changes in fuel types, will spread more thinly the limited number of fire suppression personnel available for structure protection, further highlighting the importance of pre-fire preparation, such as structural defensibility. Figure 2.1. 30-year average temperature and precipitation for San Jose, 1981–2010 (Source: Western Regional Climate Center 2016a). Figure 2.2. Monthly average total precipitation in San Jose (Source: Western Regional Climate Center 2016a). Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants 28 August 2016 Figure 2.3. 30-year average temperature and precipitation for Los Gatos, 1981–2010 (Source: Western Regional Climate Center 2016b). Figure 2.4. Monthly average total precipitation in Los Gatos (Source: Western Regional Climate Center 2016b). Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants 29 August 2016 Figure 2.5. Monthly average total precipitation in Wrights (closest station to Summit Road). No temperature data available for period of record (Source: Western Regional Climate Center 2016c). Figure 2.6. 30-year average temperature and precipitation for Mt. Hamilton, 1981–2010 (Source: Western Regional Climate Center 2016d). Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants 30 August 2016 Figure 2.7. Monthly average total precipitation in Mt. Hamilton (Source: Western Regional Climate Center 2016d). Table 2.1. Climate Averages for Four County Locations, California Climate Measure San Jose Los Gatos Wrights* Mt Hamilton Annual high Temperature 70.8°F 71.3°F 64.8°F 61.4°F Annual low temperature 48.9°F 46°F 49.6°F 47.1°F Average temperature 59.8°F 58.6°F 57.2°F 54.3°F Average annual precipitation 14.58 inches 26.9 inches 46.32 inches 23.63 inches °F = degrees Fahrenheit. Source: Western Regional Climate Center 2016 (period of record 1893–2012). *Wrights is closest station to Summit Road. 2.3 VEGETATION, LAND COVER, AND WILDLIFE Santa Clara County represents the extremes of the Bay Area region. Due to the variation in topography and soil diversity within the county, there is a wide array of natural community types and subsequently very diverse flora and fauna. The following vegetation descriptions are taken from the Santa Clara Valley Habitat Plan that provides a comprehensive account of the vegetation and habitat within the county (Santa Clara Valley Habitat Agency 2012). Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants 31 August 2016 2.3.1 VEGETATION COVER FOR SANTA CLARA COUNTY GRASSLAND Grassland in Santa Clara County consists of herbaceous vegetation dominated by grasses and forbs. Grassland in the county includes the following land cover types: • California annual grassland (non-native) – found in valley bottoms, lower elevations on the eastern side of the county, and on ridges on dry south- and west-facing slopes. • Non-serpentine native grassland (native) – patchily distributed in the county and generally occurs as small patches within the larger annual grassland complex. • Serpentine bunchgrass grassland (native) – occurs on ultramafic soils derived from serpentinite, limited in extent in the county. • Serpentine rock outcrop/barrens (native) – exposures of serpentine bedrock that typically lack soil and are sparsely vegetated, limited in extent in the county. • Serpentine seep – dry areas where water penetrates the surface and creates a small wetland habitat that supports wetland vegetation. • Rock outcrop (non-serpentine) – rare in the county. Available research on the distribution of grasslands historically indicates that human use of fire may have had a profound impact on the historic distribution and extent of grasslands. Prior to European settlement, Native American burning helped shape native perennial grasslands in Santa Clara County. Keeley (2002) suggests that dense scrub or chaparral had little value to Native Americans, so they used periodic burning to clear shrubs and provide habitat for fire-tolerant native grasses. Keeley (2002) also implies that the current mosaic of grassland is likely a result of historic vegetation management that favored open grasslands over chaparral. Following European settlement, the combination of livestock grazing, drought, and spread of aggressive grasses and herbs dramatically reduced the abundance of native grasses and the extent of native grasslands throughout California (Bartolome et al. 2007). Periodic fire is an important influence on the grassland community. Historically and prehistorically, fires from both lightning strikes and human ignition kept woody vegetation from invading grassland (where the soil conditions are appropriate) and converting it to coastal scrub or oak woodland. Prehistoric burning promoted a spatially patchy grasslands in a mosaic with woody vegetation (Keeley 2002). Prior to Native American occupancy and their frequent burning, Ford and Hayes (2007) speculate that many of the grasslands within the range of coyotebrush (Baccharis pilularis) would have been brushlands. It is believed that in the absence of frequent extensive fire and moderate or higher intensity livestock grazing, much of the grassland will succeed to northern coastal scrub and eventually mixed woodland, except on the hottest south- facing slopes and shallow soils (Santa Clara Valley Habitat Agency, 2012). Prescribed burning is considered an important management tool in grasslands and other natural communities (Santa Clara Valley Habitat Agency, 2012); however, such burning is becoming increasingly difficult to implement due to cost, safety concerns from expanding urban and rural development, and difficulty obtaining permits because of air quality concerns. It has not been feasible in most places to burn frequently enough to control the spread of woody species into existing grassland or to reduce the cover of woody vegetation within grasslands because of the Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants 32 August 2016 natural resistance and resilience of the woody plants to a single burn (Ford and Hayes 2007). Livestock grazing has continued on most rangelands in Santa Clara County and is regarded as generally beneficial in maintaining suitable habitat conditions for many special-status grassland- dependent species. Grassland is considered a fire-tolerant community, since the low-intensity prescribed fire moves so quickly that the fire burns only above the lower few centimeters of material, leaving much unburned or only charred on the ground. Immediately following a grassland fire, areas typically see an increase in annual forb germination and flowering and an increase in overall productivity in response to the light and nutrients made available by the removal of the thatch layer during the following growing season (Harrison et al. 2003). In grasslands that are already dominated by non- native annual grasses, non-natives may increase their dominance following fire by outcompeting natives for the newly available space and light. Native grasses may increase their dominance in serpentine grasslands following fire through the same mechanism (Harrison et al. 2003). 2.3.2 CHAPARRAL AND NORTHERN COASTAL SCRUB Chaparral shrub communities are found in rocky, porous, nutrient-deficient soils and steep slopes throughout Santa Clara County and are dominated by densely packed evergreen woody shrubs, 1.5 to 4 meters tall. Dominant shrubs in this community in Santa Clara County are chamise (Adenostoma fasciculatum), manzanita (Arctostaphylos spp.), scrub oak (Quercus berberidifolia), and ceanothus (Ceanothus spp.). Northern coastal scrub is characterized by low shrubs that are generally more flexible with higher moisture content and thinner stems than the stiff shrubs of chaparral. The plants range from 0.5 to 2 m tall interspersed with openings favored by native bunch grasses. Common plants of coastal scrub include California sagebrush (Artemisia californica), coyote brush (Baccharis pilularis), sticky monkey-flower (Mimulus aurantiacus), golden yarrow (Eriophyllum confertifolium) California melic grass (Melica californica). Native Americans frequently burned shrublands to encourage grass and forb development (Keeley 2002). Plants in the chaparral and northern coastal scrub communities have evolved to persist despite period wildfire; some of the species are dependent on periodic fire for regeneration (Holland 1986; Hanes 1988; Schoenherr 1992).Some chaparral species have fire adaptations such as peeling bark or volatile oils that promote fire (Schoenherr 1992) species like manzanita and ceanothus have adapted to frequent fire by resprouting from basal burls or woody root crowns. Other species have seeds that require fire to initiate growth (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2002; Rundel and Gustavson 2005). Fire occurrence that is too frequent is also known to lead to the elimination of these communities altogether and promote invasive non-native weeds such as star thistle (Centaurea solstitialis) and annual grasses. Despite the adaptations of many plants to periodic fire intervals, the notion that chaparral “needs to burn” is strongly disputed by some researchers. Several examples of old growth chaparral can be found in Henry Coe State Park and in other areas in the Hamilton Range. Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants 33 August 2016 Chaparral is an important refuge for certain sensitive animals; for example, the dusky-footed woodrat (Neotoma fuscipes) is a species of special concern in the county, primarily because encroachment by development into the wildlands reduces the amount of suitable habitat available to this small mammal. The wrentit (Chamaea fasciata) is a unique bird that depends on the chaparral for its home. It may be the most sedentary bird species in North America, with an average dispersal distance from natal nest to breeding spot of about 0.25 mile (Cornell Lab of Ornithology 2016). Depending on the specific site, shrublands can have persistent boundaries with grasslands and adjacent woodlands. Herbivory by wildlife such as brush rabbits (Sylvilagus bachmani) creates a “scurry line” along the edge of shrubs that tends to prevent either grass or shrub seedlings from reaching maturity. Similarly, white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) tend to favor succulent new growth of many shrub and tree species, and occupy the edges of woodlands while seeking cover, which can reduce sapling success in competing with and overtopping chaparral shrubs. Sprawl of human habitation in chaparral and shrub communities poses a great threat to both these plant communities and habitable structures. Similar to the various woodlands and forests, buildup of fuel over many years increases the risk of catastrophic fire (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2002). Severe topsoil erosion is also a problem after intense fires, particularly if they burn hot enough to kill the burls and lignotubers of woody chaparral plants (Schoenherr 1992). 2.3.3 OAK WOODLAND Oak woodlands are a common cover type found in Santa Clara County. A number of oak- dominated woodlands can occur: • Valley oak woodland – common in the valley floors but also along ridge tops. • Mixed oak woodland and forest – most geographically widespread of all oak woodlands in the county. • Coast live oak woodland and forest – commonly found abutting grassland areas. • Blue oak woodland – present in scattered locations mostly in the low to mid-elevation hills on dry or well-drained north- or northeast-facing slopes. • Foothill pine-oak woodland – often occurs along valley floors within chaparral communities in the eastern foothills and also adjacent to other oak land cover types and on serpentine soils. • Mixed evergreen forest – occurs on the west side of the Santa Clara Valley, usually on north-facing slopes. Oak-dominated woodlands are thought to have been more prevalent in Santa Clara County historically and have become fragmented as a result of urban development and agricultural uses (Grossinger et al. 2006). Oak woodland is a fire-adapted ecosystem, and fire has likely played a large role in maintaining this community type in the study area. Fire creates the vegetation structure and composition typical of oak woodlands, and this natural community has experienced frequent, low-severity fires that Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants 34 August 2016 maintain woodland or savannah conditions. In the absence of fire, the low or open understory that characterizes this land cover type can be lost. Depending on site characteristics closed canopy oak forests can be replaced by shade-tolerant species and conifers if oaks cannot regenerate and compete as shade encroaches. Soil drought may also play a role in maintaining open tree canopy in dry woodland habitat. Mixed evergreen forests on the northern slopes of the Santa Cruz Mountains are being heavily impacted by drought, Sudden Oak Death, and bark beetle infestations, resulting in widespread die off of certain oak species, tanoak (Notholithocarpus densiflorus), and Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) that leaves large openings in the woodlands, full of hazardous fuels where sunlight penetrates and dries out the ground. 2.3.4 SUDDEN OAK DEATH A recent influence on oak woodlands is Sudden Oak Death. The disease, first identified in 1995, has since spread to 12 counties and killed hundreds of thousands of oaks. Research indicates that members of the black oak family such as coast live oaks (Quercus agrifolia) and black oaks (Q. velutina), as well as tanoak, appear to be the most susceptible to this disease (Rizzo et al. 2003). Sudden Oak Death is caused by the water mold pathogen Phytophthora ramorum (P. ramorum) and is a serious threat to oak woodlands and mixed evergreen forests in northern California. The pathogen can kill adult oaks and madrone (Arbutus menziesii); California bay (Umbellularia californica), buckeye (Aesculus californica), and maple (Acer spp.) host the pathogen without being killed by it. Members of the white oak family such as blue oak (Quercus douglasii) and valley oak (Q. lobata) have not shown symptoms of the pathogen. 2.3.5 RIPARIAN FOREST AND SCRUB Riparian areas of Santa Clara County are broken down into the following: • Willow riparian forests, woodland, and scrub – occur in or along margins of active channels on intermittent and perennial streams. • Central Californian sycamore alluvial woodland – generally present on broad floodplains and terraces along Coyote Creek and Pacheco Creek. • Mixed riparian woodland and forest – occur in or along margins of active channels on intermittent and perennial streams. These vegetation types are found in association with riverine watercourses along streambanks and floodplains and surrounding open water bodies. Much of the existing stream network has been largely developed with human intervention and creation of canals and ditches. 2.3.6 CONIFER WOODLAND There are three conifer-dominated vegetation communities that occur in Santa Clara County (Santa Clara Valley Habitat Agency 2012): Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants 35 August 2016 • Redwood forest – coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) occurring primarily in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Adjacent cover types are mixed oak woodland and mixed evergreen woodland. Occurs in areas that receive substantial rainfall >35 inches per year. Redwood- dominated overstory and tanoak (Notholithocarpus densiflorus), madrone, and California bay understory trees; hazelnut (Corylus cornuta var. californica), thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus), and black huckleberry (Vaccinium ovatum) in the shrub layer. In riparian areas, California bay and bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum) are common, California nutmeg (Torreya californica) may occur, and ferns such as sword fern (Polystichum munitum) often form a dense layer. • Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) woodland – restricted distribution within the county, only occurring on three high elevation ridges in Henry W. Coe State Park—Pine Ridge, Middle Ridge, and Blue Ridge—and extending downslope into north-facing canyons and valleys. • Knobcone pine (Pinus attenuata) woodland – consists of dense stands of knobcone pines that regenerate following fire. Uncommon in the county, occurring only in the Santa Cruz Mountains on ridge top sites, often on serpentine-derived soils. Knobcone pine is an obligate fire-climax species—fire is required to melt the resin that seals the cones, releasing the seed, and fire also creates the bare mineral soil required for the seeds to germinate. Stands of knobcone pine are therefore even-aged, dating back to the last stand-replacing fire. Prior to European settlement, the Santa Clara Valley supported a mosaic of plant and wildlife communities and the upland regions were heavily forested with redwoods and pine and oak woodlands. In the mid to late 1800s, the foothill forests and woodlands were heavily thinned to support regional population growth. A major factor influencing the distribution of conifer-dominated land cover types is fire intensity and frequency. The combination of logging and burning at the end of the nineteenth century resulted in the conversion of conifer-dominated forests (redwood and Douglas fir) in the Santa Cruz Mountains to grassland or chaparral and oak-dominated woodlands. Periodic stand-replacing fire is required for the regeneration of knobcone pine woodland. 2.3.7 IRRIGATED AGRICULTURE This cover type encompasses all areas where the native vegetation has been removed for irrigated agriculture (not including rangeland). The cover types included are: • Orchards – apricot, prunes, and walnuts predominantly. • Vineyards – occur throughout the county but predominantly in the southern portion. • Agriculture (developed) – i.e., greenhouses, nurseries, Christmas tree farms; occurs in small patches throughout the county. • Grain, row crops, hay, and pasture – abundant throughout the Santa Clara Valley south of San Jose. Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants 36 August 2016 Father Junípero Serra gave Santa Clara Valley its name when he consecrated the Mission Santa Clara de Asis in 1777 (National Park Service 2006). The establishment of the mission also heralded the beginning of large-scale agriculture in the Santa Clara Valley. Soon, the Guadalupe River dam (located near Mission Santa Clara) was constructed for irrigation of wheat, corn, bean, and other crops. Fruit trees and grapes were also cultivated. Population growth in the county has been continuous since 1850. In order to facilitate the sustained growth in 1870, Los Gatos Creek was diverted to meet water demands for agriculture. Improved access to railroads also led to increased agricultural production in the county at that time. Agricultural products included carrots, almonds, tomatoes, prunes, apricots, plums, walnuts, cherries, pears, grapes, and lumber for the world market (National Park Service 2006). The rural nature of the Santa Clara Valley lasted through to World War II, after which time the amount of cultivated lands was reduced to make room for urban expansion. 2.3.8 INVASIVE NON-NATIVE PLANT COMMUNITIES In addition to native grasslands, shrublands, and woodlands, Santa Clara County contains plant communities of species that are not native but exist outside agricultural or developed areas. Scattered non-native escaped plants are not likely to significantly change fire behavior or affect other natural resource values. However, some species can dominate or even completely take over areas, excluding natural vegetation and changing fuel characteristics. Examples of non-native plant communities and invasive species of concern for wildfire include: • Grassland: wild oats (Avena spp.), yellow star thistle, curly dock (Rumex crispus) • Rock outcrops: fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), broom species (Bromus spp.), cotoneaster (Cotoneaster spp.), jubota grass (Cortaderia jubata) • Seeps and riparian: poison hemlock (Conium maculatum), teasel (Dipsacus spp.), jubota grass, arundo (Arundo spp.), Himalayan blackberry (Rubus armeniacus), black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) • Shrublands: French broom (Genista monspessulana), Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius), gorse (Ulex spp.), fennel • Mixed oak woodland: Ivy (Hedera spp.), locust, privet (Ligustrum spp.), acacia (Acacia spp.) • Valley oak woodlands: milk thistle (Silybum marianum) • Mixed evergreen: periwinkle (Vinca spp.), English ivy (Hedera helix) • Replacement woodlands: blue gum eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus), acacia, tree-of- heaven (Ailanthus altissima) Several invasive, non-native plant species are found in riverine land covers within the study area. One of the most prevalent is giant reed (Arundo donax), which is often found in large pure stands. Santa Clara County Community Wildfire Protection Plan SWCA Environmental Consultants 37 August 2016 Other invasive, non-native plants potentially found in the study area include blue gum eucalyptus, acacia, fennel, periwinkle, French broom, black locust, English ivy, Algerian ivy (Hedera canariensis), cape ivy (Delairea odorata), Himalayan blackberry, weeds, curly dock, thistle, blackwood acacia (Acacia melanoxylon), tree-of-heaven, glossy privet (Ligustrum lucidum), fig, and poison hemlock. 2.3.9 DEVELOPED A large portion of Santa Clara County is composed of developed lands. Developed land cover types include: • Urban-suburban • Rural-residential • Barren • Landfill • Golf courses/urban parks • Ornamental woodland Vegetation found in the urban-suburban land cover type is usually in the form of landscaped residences, planted street trees (e.g., elm [Ulmus spp.], ash [Fraxinus spp.], sweet gum [Liquidambar spp.], pine [Pinus spp.], palm [Arecaceae]), blue gum eucalyptus, Monterey pine (Pinus radiata), and parklands. Most of the vegetation is composed of non-native or cultivated plant species. The major urban-suburban area in the study area is San Jose, located in the northern portion of the Santa Clara Valley. Other urban-suburban areas include areas within Morgan Hill and Gilroy. 2.3.10 STREAMS AND WATERSHEDS Major streams in the County include the San Francisquito, Matadero, Adobe, Permanente, and Stevens Creeks in the Lower Peninsula watershed to the north; Saratoga, San Tomas Aquino, and Los Gatos Creek in the West Valley watershed; and Coyote Creek, Guadalupe River, Uvas Creek, Llagas Creek, Pajaro River, Pacheco Creek, and their various tributaries. Major watersheds in the County are shown in Figure 2.8. Visit Santa Clara Valley Water District website for more information on watersheds and creeks in the County: http://www.valleywater.org/Services/WatershedInformation.aspx