Two California coastal commissioners have asked the state panel to review Laguna Beach wildfire fuel modification projects, teeing up a showdown between residents terrified by the Emerald Fire and those looking to preserve rare habitat.
Commission Chair Donne Brownsey and Vice Chair Caryl Hart requested the appeal of two fuel modification zones planned near West Street and Sunset Avenue on Feb. 7, agency spokesperson Noaki Schwartz said. Three days later a wind-blown brush fire forced evacuations in Emerald Bay and Irvine Cove before scorching 154 acres.
Brownsey and Hart didn’t respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
“We have been working with the Coastal Commission staff over the last few weeks on this issue and hope to resolve the matter in early March so that there would no need for an appeal hearing,” City Manager Shohreh Dupuis said in a prepared statement Thursday.
The South Laguna fuel modification zones under discussion total 17 acres of fire break and were approved by the Laguna Beach Planning Commission in December, following a slate of public workshops and meetings. Laguna Beach has already started this fire break and will continue the work once an emergency permit has been issued, a city spokesperson said.
Coastal commissioners’ reach into a public safety issue vetted by the Laguna Beach Fire Department and Orange County Fire Authority, was met with swift condemnation from some Laguna Beach residents.
“I think all public officials, regardless of the level of their agency, need to be mindful of the [wildfire] risk to life and property and their primary responsibility to protect public safety above all,” said Matt Lawson, chair of the Laguna Beach Emergency and Disaster Preparedness Committee.
He pointed out comments by Orange County Fire Authority Chief Brian Fennessy who lauded the defensible space provided to firefighters—combined with calmer winds and availability of firefighting aircraft—as critical to preventing the loss of a single structure during the Emerald Fire.
“Whatever the impact of creating fuel modifications and creating defensible space is, it’s absolutely insignificant compared to the environmental catastrophe of a wildfire and urban conflagration here in Laguna,” Lawson said.
The Commission will first hear a discussion on March 9 regarding another pair of local fuel modification projects, one in Arch Beach Heights east of Barracuda Way and another north of Ocean Vista and south of K Street. Commissioners will review the projects near West Street and Sunset Avenue on a future date not yet determined, Schwartz said.
Last month, South Laguna resident Peter Walzer wrote to the Coastal Commission, scrutinizing comments by Community Development Director Marc Wiener saying he believed the panel will be fine with this particular project and city officials intend to complete a ring of similar fire breaks to protect neighborhoods.
“Mr. Wiener’s statements indicate that the city is attempting to piecemeal these fuel modification projects, each of which the city is attempting to portray as having minimal environmental impact,” Walzer said.
Environmentalists often file lawsuits claiming violations of the California Environmental Quality Act by developers, including local government, who allegedly piecemeal projects together to avoid a time-consuming environmental impact report. The hills above South Laguna are home to coastal sage scrub habitat that’s home to plants and wildlife found nowhere else. City consultants found that trimming brush away from neighborhoods wouldn’t have significant environmental impacts on these species.
Walzer told a reporter Wednesday that he’s concerned about Laguna Beach’s very high fire risk after experiencing the Emerald Fire but still wants to see a review of the fuel modification’s impacts on natural resources.
“If we look at the impacts and say, ‘we still need to do this,’ then fine,” Walzer said.
David Horne, founder of the Greater Laguna Fire Safe Council, said packing his bags to flee the Emerald Fire brought back memories of losing his home in the 1993 Laguna fire. It was hard for him to process that he may relive this experience after rebuilding his home.
“Once [fuel modification projects] are evaluated and deemed good by the fire and landscaping professionals they should move forward. They save houses. They save communities. That’s pretty clear not just in Laguna but across the State,” Horne said.
Why do people in Laguna look to government every time there’s some thing threatening? It’s really up to anyone that cares with brains. Cut the brush.
Water prevents and puts out wildfires. Laguna Beach is the only South County city without a perimeter, citywide recycled water system and will not take steps until the next big wildfire destroys homes and precious habitats. Doing nothing comes at a big cost to our safety.