Highlights of Supervisors’ Meetings
by Joe Naiman

An ordinance for fire-prevention measures and recommendations for Community Development Block Grant allocations highlighted Board of Supervisors meetings on Feb. 24, 25 and March 16.

The Feb. 24 meeting included second-quarter budget adjustments, most reflecting reimbursements or carryovers from previous fiscal years. They include $500,000 for North County subarea Multiple Species Conservation Program planning.

On Feb. 25, amendments to the Biological Mitigation Ordinance and the Weed Abatement Ordinance were introduced, to aid fire prevention.

Fuel management, or the clearing of brush, is now permitted under the Biological Mitigation Ordinance, when it is authorized in writing by a fire-protection agency with jurisdiction.

The clearing work must adhere to a 1997 Memorandum of Understanding between local fire-protection interests and state and federal wildlife interests. Under the memorandum, fuel management within 100 feet of structures can be required, using methods that leave the plant-root structure intact to stabilize soil. Any clearance of more than 100 feet from a structure requires approval of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the California Department of Fish and Game.

Changes to the Weed Abatement Ordinance will apply to areas outside fire-protection districts, including communities served by volunteer fire departments. Fire-protection districts have their own weed-abatement ordinances, but they can adopt county standards.

The Board of Supervisors also serves as the board for the seven County Service Areas providing fire protection, and the Weed Abatement Ordinance will now apply to those CSAs.

The general term "weeds" in the Weed Abatement Ordinance has been replaced by hazards including combustible vegetation, green waste, and dead, dying, or diseased trees. The ordinance will be renamed the Removal of Combustible Vegetation and Other Flammable Materials Ordinance.

The county now may require an adjacent property owner to remove combustible vegetation to protect neighboring property. The 100-foot clearance requirement, which can be reduced to 30 feet under certain conditions, often crosses property lines. The revised ordinance requires the structure owner to clear to the property line while allowing the county to require the adjacent owner to clear the remaining distance.

Clearance also is now required for 30 feet from a property line and up to 100 feet if a hazard exists. Clearance will be required for 10 feet from roads and driveways and up to 20 feet from the sides of narrow roads and driveways.

The Weed Abatement Ordinance authorizes clearances of up to 5 acres outside the Multiple Species Conservation Plan mitigation areas and up to 2 acres within the mitigation areas if the clearance does not interfere with the MSCP Preserve. Clearance requirements do not include single trees, fire-resistant ornamental shrubbery, and other fire-resistant planting materials or cultivated ground covers.

Ordinance amendments will take effect April 23. Additional fire-prevention ordinances are to be brought before supervisors during the next few months.

On Feb. 25, supervisors were to establish a program to use infrastructure development fees to pay for future road improvements in Ramona, but after members of the Ramona Community Planning Group voiced concerns, the county’s Land Use and Environmental Group recommended a 60-day continuance. The extension will give county staff more time to work with the planning group.

Feb. 25 actions also included amendments to the county’s Grading, Clearing, and Water-courses Ordinance. Changes include the
following:

• Elimination of the 1-acre maximum parcel size for a minor grading permit

• Allowing for quick approval for temporary stockpiling of surplus earth from other projects

• Allowing the county’s Department of Planning and Land Use to issue a permit for a driveway that affects a water body serving a drainage area of no more than 25 acres

• Setting a time limit for submittal of final reports

• Allowing a county official to require that an applicant demonstrate that the owner of land upon which the grading has been performed has granted permission for that work

• Allowing a county official to issue an emergency permit for up to 10,000 cubic yards of earthwork in a watercourse

The ordinance was clarified to show that private road maintenance, grading the surface of a dirt road or filling in ruts is not considered grading and do not require a grading permit. It also was clarified to show that construction of a home on land being farmed is not excluded by the standardized minor grading permit for agriculture.

Other Feb. 25 actions included authorizing the preparation of area-specific management directives, a fire-management plan for the Boulder Oaks Open Space Preserve and modifying a Williamson Act contract to allow horse breeding at Ballena Vista Farm.

On March 16, supervisors heard initial recommendations for the annual CDBG funding plan. Their approval of the plan includes a 30-day public review and comment period. The plan will return to the board May 4 for final approval before it is submitted to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which provides funding.

The largest grant to the Ramona area would provide $300,000 for reconstruction and paving of La Brea Street between Ramona and Day streets. The work would include sidewalks on the north side of the street and curbs, gutters and drainage improvements.

Recommendations also include $83,000 for improvements to the Ramona Senior Center, $50,000 for Phase I of the Ramona Revitalization Plan for Downtown Ramona, and $18,739 to the Intermountain Volunteer Fire Department for a new fire station between Ramona and Santa Ysabel.

Supervisors approved trust-fund money for volunteer fire departments, including an additional $50,481 to Inter-mountain for its fire station, and they asked county staff to find funding for the remaining $306,317 needed for the station’s construction.

Also March 16, supervisors accepted a $39,000 state grant to pay for overtime of a sheriff’s department sergeant and two deputies, who will patrol off-road riding areas.