5.6.10 Development Standards for Wildfire Lands

A. Requirements for Subdivisions, or Planned Developments, 1. A Fire Prevention and Control Plan shall be required with the submission of any application for plan approval of a Planned Unit Development or preliminary plat of a subdivision, which contain areas designated Wildfire Hazard areas. 2. The Planning Director shall forward the Fire Prevention and Control Plan to the Fire Chief within three days of the receipt of a completed application. The Fire Chief shall review the Fire Prevention and Control Plan, and submit a written report to the Planning Director no less than seven days before the scheduled hearing. The Fire Chief’s report shall be a part of the record of the Planning Action. 3. The Fire Prevention and Control Plan shall include the following items: a. An analysis of the wildfire hazards on the site, as influenced by existing vegetation and Town of Wallsburg Development Code topography. b. A map showing the areas that are to be cleared of dead, dying, or severely diseased vegetation. c. A map of the areas that are to be thinned to reduce the interlocking canopy of trees. d. A tree management plan showing the location of all trees that are to be preserved and removed on each lot. In the case of heavily forested parcels, only trees scheduled for removal shall be shown. e. The areas of primary and secondary fuel breaks that are required to be installed around each structure, as required by this section. f. Roads and driveways sufficient for emergency vehicle access and fire suppression activities, including the slope of all roads and driveways within the Wildfire Lands area. 4. Criterion for Approval. The hearing authority shall approve the Fire Prevention and Control Plan when, in addition to the findings required by this chapter, the additional finding is made that the wildfire hazards present on the property have been reduced to a reasonable degree, balanced with the need to preserve and/or plant a sufficient number of trees and plants for erosion prevention, wildlife habitat, and aesthetics. 5. The hearing authority may require, through the imposition of conditions attached to the approval, the following requirements as deemed appropriate for the development of the property: a. Delineation of areas of heavy vegetation to be thinned and a formal plan for such thinning. b. Clearing of sufficient vegetation to reduce fuel load. c. Removal of all dead and dying trees. d. Relocation of structures and roads to reduce the risks of wildfire and improve the chances of successful fire suppression. 6. The Fire Prevention and Control Plan shall be implemented during the public improvements required of a subdivision or Performance Standards Development, and shall be considered part of the subdivider’s obligations for land development. The Plan shall be implemented prior to the issuance of any building permit for structures to be located on lots created by partitions and for subdivisions or Performance Standards developments not requiring public improvements. The Fire Chief, or designee, shall inspect and approve the implementation of the Fire Prevention and Control Plan, and the Plan shall not be considered fully implemented until the Fire Chief has given written notice to the Planning Director that the Plan was completed as approved by the hearing authority. 7. In subdivisions or planned unit developments, provisions for the maintenance of the Fire Prevention and Control Plan shall be included in the covenants, conditions and restrictions for the development, and the Wallsburg shall be named as a beneficiary of such covenants, conditions and restrictions. B. Requirements for construction of all structures. 1. All new construction and any construction expanding the size of an existing structure, shall have a “fuel break” as defined below. a. A ”fuel break” is defined as an area which is free of dead or dying vegetation, and has native, fast-burning species sufficiently thinned so that there is no interlocking canopy of this type of vegetation. Where necessary for erosion control or aesthetic purposes, the fuel break may be planted in slowburning species. Fuel breaks do not involve stripping the ground of all native vegetation. b. Primary Fuel Break - A primary fuel break will be installed, maintained and shall extend a minimum of 30 feet in all directions around structures, excluding fences, on the property. The goal within this area is to remove ground cover that will produce flame lengths in excess of one foot. Such a fuel break shall be increased by five feet for each Town of Wallsburg Development Code ten percent increase in slope over ten percent c. Secondary Fuel Break - A secondary fuel break will be installed, maintained and shall extend a minimum of 100 feet beyond the primary fuel break where surrounding landscape is owned and under the control of the property owner during construction. The goal of the secondary fuel break is to reduce fuels so that the overall intensity of any wildfire is reduced through fuels control. 2. All structures shall be constructed or re-roofed with Class B or better non-wood roofing materials, as determined by the Building Ordinance. All re-roofing of existing structures in the Wildfire Lands area shall be done under approval of a zoning permit. No structure shall be constructed or re-roofed with wooden shingles, shakes, wood-product material or other combustible roofing material, as defined in the Wallsburg’s building ordinance. C. Fuel breaks in areas which are also Erosive or Slope Failure Lands shall be included in the erosion control measures outlined in SECTION 9.