Half Moon Bay contends with new fire zones

It could also warrant removal of around and up to 250 trees, each costing, at minimum, $10,000 to take down, Interim Public Works Director Todd Seeley told councilmembers during a City Council meeting Nov. 18. 

But in reality, no one knows for certain what, exactly, those new rules — and their implementation — will look like, although the end-of-year deadline for the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to decide is fast approaching. 

A 2020 state law mandated development of new standards for the areas around properties in very high fire hazard severity zones, particularly within the 5-foot area of those properties known as Zone 0. Standards within the 30- and 100-foot area, like tree thinning and removal of dead vegetation, have also been established, but it’s the Zone 0 standards — which could warrant the removal of all combustible materials and potential fire fuel in the area — that are causing the most confusion and frustration. 

The Coastside Fire Protection District will begin inspections of existing properties in very high hazard zones in the new year, with inspections of properties in high hazard zones to come after, Fire Chief Jed Wilson said. New buildings and renovations will be required to abide by the standards, whatever they may be, beginning in 2026, and compliance for existing properties will be enforced in the next two years. 

“It’s going to be a big change for all of us,” Wilson said. “We’re going to have to get creative and think outside the box.”

Properties within the very high fire hazard zones will also be subject to a bevy of regulations, including hazard disclosures when selling a home and California Environmental Quality Act, Safety Element, California Fire Safe and building code requirements for new projects, Wilson said.  

Properties in high fire hazard zones will be subject to hazard disclosures and building code requirements. 

What will downtown look like?

Downtown business owners came to the meeting, hosted in tandem with the Planning Commission, to express concerns with what segments of Main Street might look like if the city is forced to remove trees, awnings, planters and benches within a 5-foot reach of businesses in very high hazard zones. 

Sara O’Sullivan, manager of downtown business Coastside Books, is no stranger to fire danger, she told councilmembers, recounting a three-week evacuation from her Pescadero residence during the 2020 CZU Lightning Complex Fire. But she has concerns that new fire standards could irreparably damage the character of Half Moon Bay’s historic downtown. 

“I have nothing but gratitude and respect for Cal Fire. I owe them my home,” she said. “I also want to temper that with making sure that our community and where we live is also a beautiful place still, and we don’t get rid of everything over what could potentially happen.”  

Forced removal of all vegetation within a 5-foot radius of a property discounts the positive, fire-retardant properties of certain plants, Janice Moody, a Half Moon Bay homeowner and owner of Seascapes Garden Center, said. She challenged the fire district to attempt to light her front-garden succulents on fire. 

“If you can’t get a succulent to burn, those plants are there to stay,” Moody said. “A well-hydrated garden is your best defense [against fire].” 

Pushback from property and business owners aside, the city is dealing with its own challenges from potential new mandates.  

Costly tree removal

Up to 250 trees in urban forest areas like Frenchmans Creek, the corporation yard, city-owned parcels in the Roosevelt neighborhood, Carter Park and portions of Main Street may need to be removed, although those numbers could dwindle to only 100 trees depending on how the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection decides to regulate very high hazard zones, Seeley said. 

Proper tree removal and disposal will cost the city at least $10,000 per tree, with prices rising to $30,000 per tree for up to 70 trees in harder-to-reach areas like Frenchmans Creek. With little state or federal grants available for such mitigation, funding for the removal presents its own issue. 

“It’s a very daunting number,” Seeley said. 

Although the information is overwhelming, preparing the community for future fires is ultimately a good thing, Mayor Robert Brownstone said. 

“I think this is great,” he said. “There’s a lot of pieces to this. There’s been a lot of information out there about how to harden your home. Some of us take it more seriously than others … having the inspections will be very helpful, and people will be much more proactive.” 

In addition, the city has had plans for a streetscape redesign of downtown in the works for some time, City Manager Matthew Chidester said. 

“We could take a very purposeful approach to that design work, to encourage a lot of what we’ve heard tonight,” he said.

Insurance for fire-threatened homes in Half Moon Bay and across the state presents another issue. Though obviously correlated, fire hazard maps are created by measuring physical conditions, like topography and weather, that create fire likelihood. That’s in contrast to how insurance companies measure fire risk, which calculate existing conditions and building modifications that hazard maps do not take into account. 

Costly insurance

Regardless of how fire risk is measured, the threat of property insurance becoming canceled or cost-prohibitive is a problem both for residents and the city itself, Seeley said, citing one example of a building across from City Hall whose fire insurance was almost canceled because of proximity to a city tree. 

“It’s a huge liability for us we needed to seriously consider,” Seeley said. 

The city reached out to representatives from the insurance industry for its discussion on fire maps, but no one expressed interest in going on record, Chidester said. 

Wilson assured residents that the inspection and compliance process would be collaborative and keep all interests in mind, a sentiment that was echoed by Councilmember Paul Nagengast, who also voiced hope the city would work together with neighboring jurisdictions. 

“This is a lot. It’s going to be a lot for us to absorb. It’s going to be a lot for us to plan out,” he said. “I assume everybody is going to have to collaborate together.”