SANTA CRUZ — The County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to ease rebuild requirements for CZU Lightning Complex fire victims, but faced sharp criticism from survivors on a requirement that will force those rebuilding to assume risk in waiving geologic inspection and mitigation.
Those geologic investigations were cited by CZU Complex victims as a major roadblock to redeveloping, because of the high cost and lengthy-wait-times for inspections. The vote means fire survivors would be allowed to rebuild their home “in kind” without a geologic investigation, a process where an expert identifies potential hazards such as landslide or debris flow risk, on the property.
Under this code change, the new home would have to be a replica of the original. Add-ons can be no larger than 10% of the original home’s size. Residents must also sign a document accepting liability for rebuilding without investigating geologic hazards, a document that would be included in a property’s title.
Boulder Creek resident Antonia Bradford, who lost her home, said she supported the code change but rebuked the idea of a formal waiver.
“The covenant that is to be recorded on our deeds will lower our property values,” Bradford said. “This covenant has every single worst case scenario possible, we have no idea how this will effect lending options for resale or refinancing or insurance. It truly feels like fire victims are being penalized for our homes burning down.”
If such an agreement was not included, David Reid, director of the Santa Cruz County Office of Response, Recovery & Resilience said the financial responsibility of a catastrophic natural disaster could fall on taxpayers or the county government.
“The concern is that people are going to be in these homes someday…and they need to know whether or not county codes were compiled with in the building of these homes, so that they have a choice whether they want to go through an investigation and see if there are any dangers associated with that property,” Reid said. “This is a choice that fire victims are making to not comply with certain county code provisions. I realize this is a difficult choice and no one wants them to be in this situation.”
Approximately 20 fire victims spoke during the public comment period, a handful breaking into tears when speaking.
Many echoed Bradford, voicing criticisms on the requirement to sign a legal agreement taking on liability for foregoing a geologic inspection.
“What I demand is the right to build my lawful home in my footprint,” said Boulder Creek firefighter Vince Cortinas Sr., who lost his home. “You guys are offering ‘we’re going to help you fix your car but we’re going to put a salvage title on it.'”
Numerous survivors took issue with a requirement which specifies that the code change would only apply to homes that were built after 1986. Other residents asked the board to delay voting and instead request that additional code amendment options be drafted by the Office of Response, Recovery & Resilience.
Still, Tuesday’s vote doesn’t mean anything is formally on the books yet.
Reid’s office must return to the board in two weeks with finalized language for the code amendment. At that meeting, the board will vote to formalize the change, and could choose to edit the language live.
The board also voted to explore changing county code more permanently in response to increasingly common climate-change-fueled disasters, beyond wildfire, such as landslides, debris flows and floods.
Planning Director Paia Levine said that near-term residents are at risk of not having housing. She also expressed concerns about safety in the Santa Cruz Mountains long-term.
“Future disasters are expected to occur and they’re expected to be more likely than they have been in the past,” Levine said. “It’s desirable to build resilience into the rebuild and the recovery … we’re turning over a significant part of the housing stock at this point, and at the end of the day we want the community in a better position and safer for future occurrences.”
Supervisor Ryan Coonerty acknowledged those concerns, but said time and money are waning for many looking to rebuild.
“The broader conversation … about this being our new normal and developing codes and systems and operations that reflect an increasing number of natural disasters, especially along our coasts and mountains, is really important but time is of the essence,” Coonerty said. “People’s insurance money for housing is running out, there’s anxiousness to return home and we’re trying to thread that needle today.”
He added the decision must take into account the interests of not only fire survivor’s, but others, including future property owners.
“We are trying to balance these interests, and balance the interests for future homeowners as well as the county itself as an organization and the liability we assume,” Coonerty said.
In August, UC Santa Cruz Distinguished Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences Gary Griggs said he supported such a waiver. Still, the local landslide expert said as part of that, residents should formally take on liability.
Tuesday’s debate touched on a deeper conversation that’s been spurred in the wake of the CZU Complex fire: what is the future of communities in the Santa Cruz Mountains amidst a changing climate and increasing natural disasters? Beyond county regulations, state officials are eyeing rebuild and development crackdowns in steep, hard-to-access mountainous neighborhoods, commonplace throughout Santa Cruz County.
“This is due to extenuating circumstances,” Supervisor Zach Friend said. “There will not be a situation where the board is just waiving codes to any specific issue moving forward… what happened throughout the rural areas in the 3rd and 5th districts is nothing short of catastrophic and that’s what we’re trying to respond to today.”
The next County Board of Supervisors meeting is Sept. 28.
