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Models for Mitigating
<br />Through Zoning
<br />By/i'm Sfhwc~b, A~CP, and Stuart Meek, ~,4fc~
<br />
<br />Wildfire
<br />
<br />Hazards
<br />
<br />Wildfires have a nasty habit of grabbi'ng the entire nation's attention with televised
<br />images: forests aflame, conflagrations licking at and then overwhelming communities at
<br />the urban edge, people returning to a home that has been reduced to rubble.
<br />
<br />If zoning even enters the discussion as people
<br />react, it is often as they ask, "Why are those
<br />people living out there anyway?"
<br /> In fact, however, [[rowing numbers of
<br />communities are planning for wildfire hazards
<br />and taking specific steps to revise their land-
<br />use re§uiations to address the prob[em. In a
<br />newly released PAS Report, Plannin[[ for
<br />Wildfires (No, 529/53o), we discuss not only
<br />why people 'choose to live in the
<br />wildland/urban interface (WUI), the term that
<br />has been applied to the area where the built
<br />environment and forests or grasslands inter-
<br />min§te, but how communities are revising their
<br />plans and zoning codes to mitigate the prob-
<br />lem. This issue of Zoning Practice provides a
<br />preview of our findings with regard to
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<br />HOW ZONING APPLIES
<br />Both zoning and subdivision ordinances can
<br />address wildfire hazards by implementing a
<br />number of policy options to curb the problem.
<br />
<br />Most important are the community's criteiia
<br />for desi[[natin[[ the wiidland/urban interface,
<br />a concept that is easily misunderstood. The
<br />WUI, notes Michete Steinberg, the Firewise
<br />Communities Support Manager for the
<br />National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), is
<br />not a fixed location but is defined by a set of
<br />conditions that can chan§e over time. Purely
<br />undeveloped forest is not part of the WUI pre-
<br />cJsely because it lacks an interface with urban
<br />development, but a forested area can become
<br />part of the WUI if such development is intro-
<br />duced into the area. The implications for
<br />lng ar~ si[[nificant, A city can apply zonin[[
<br />restrictions to the WUI, but the WUI itself most
<br />closely resembles a floatin~ zone, not a fixed
<br />§eo[[raphic area. On the other hand, undeve(-
<br />oped areas can undergo severe wildfires, and
<br />planners can map areas accordin[[ to their
<br />propensity for wildfires and zone them accord-
<br />in§ly as more or less suitable for development
<br />in view o.f the dan§era.
<br />
<br /> The essential issue in wildfire hazard
<br />mitigation is denyin[ fuel to the fire. With that
<br />focus in mind, one can understand some
<br />unique features of zonin[[ in wildfire hazard
<br />areas, includin~ the use of~egetation man-
<br />agement plans, fire control plans, public dis.
<br />closure and information requirements, and
<br />standards for acc.ess, fuel reduction, water
<br />supply, and construction, All involve various
<br />means of tryin§ to reduce the supply of
<br />bustible materials within probable reach of
<br />flames from a forest fire su'rroundin§ a subdi-
<br />vision, planned unit development, or other
<br />residential area. it is particularly important
<br />that planners understand that, unless meas-
<br />ures are taken both in building codes and in
<br />landscapin§, houses can ma[[nify the intensity
<br />of a wildfire by increasing the ready supply of
<br />combustible materials in its path. When that
<br />happens,.the homes themselves may be per-
<br />petuatin~ a wildfire in ways that the surround-
<br />in[[ forest cannot,
<br />
<br />MODEL CODES
<br />Two model codes exist that may serve to
<br />[[uide planners in draftin[[ their own local
<br />requirements. NFPA's "Protection of Life and
<br />Property from Wildfire" (NFPA t. t44) estab-
<br />lishes standards used to provide minimum
<br />plannin[[, construction, maintenance, educa-
<br />tion, and management elements for the
<br />tection of life, property, and other values that
<br />could be threatened by wildland fire. The
<br />International Code Council's International
<br />Urban-Wildland Interface Code contains simi-
<br />lar provisions,
<br /> NFPA tz44 contains measurable stan-
<br />dards for access, ingress, egress, evacuation,
<br />building design, location, and construction,
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<br /> ZONINGPRACTICE 3,os
<br />'J O~ AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCiATiON J poge 2
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