AnonymousSource: City of Santa Barbara
In response to the high level of interest and participation of the community related to the release of the City of Santa Barbara’s Draft Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) and the new impacts of COVID-19 social distancing, the City has extended the public commenting deadline from Friday, May 22nd to Friday, June 5th at 5pm.
Over the past year the City has worked closely with the project consultant team at Dudek to perform an extensive public outreach campaign to engage citizens throughout the City as community engagement is cornerstone of an effective CWPP. In addition to the development of a project specific website, two community workshops were held in advance of the Draft CWPP release to solicit comments and feedback.
The first Community Workshop, held in February at Adams Elementary School, provided an introduction into the CWPP planning process which included presenting the overall outline and framework for the draft CWPP and programmatic Environmental Impact Report (EIR) process. The second workshop was transitioned from a traditional workshop to an online webinar due to COVID-19 restrictions. The webinar provided an overview of the community hazard and risk assessment process, including base data mapping results. Mapping is focused on fire spread modeling, ember exposure zones, and preliminary updates to the designated City High Fire Hazard Areas and vegetation management project areas. Recordings for both the workshop and webinar, as well as project mapping, can be found by visiting the project website at: https://cwpp.santabarbaraca.gov
In conjunction with the extended public commenting period, the City has developed a new, interactive website tool to help the community identify if their property is mapped within the City’s Draft CWPP High Fire Hazard Area boundary. This new tool allows property owners to easily search by either address or Assessor’s Parcel Number (APN) to determine their location as it falls within the City Limits. The tool can be accessed here: https://cwpp.santabarbaraca.gov/webmap
To find more information about the High Fire Hazard Area in the Draft CWPP and to submit comments online visit:https://cwpp.santabarbaraca.gov/2020/05/the-draft-cwpp-is-now-available-online/
I strongly recommend SB City residents to participate in this important plan. I know it’s much easier to sit back and let other folk discuss and draft a plan and then to complain about it afterward, but this affects you. I entered ours late in the game and was amazed by the comprehensive plan put together for our mountain area. You truly do have an opportunity to have input and voice your concerns regarding fire hazards in your area. All of you have specialized knowledge of fire hazards in your area. Take advantage of this opportunity to let you voice be heard.