TO: Napa County Planning Commission
FROM: Brian D. Bordona, Director - Planning, Building, and Environmental Services
REPORT BY: Michael Parker, Planning Manager
SUBJECT: Viewshed Protection Program and Defensible Space
RECOMMENDATION
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Receive an informational presentation from the Planning Division of the Planning, Building, and Environmental Services (PBES) Department and the County Fire Marshal on the application and scope of the County's Viewshed Protection Program (NCC 18.106) and Defensible Space Ordinance (NCC 8.36).
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The purpose and intent of the County's Viewshed Protection Program (NCC 18.106) is to protect the public health, safety, and community welfare and to otherwise protect the scenic quality of the county both for visitors to the county as well as for its residents by ensuring that future improvements are compatible with existing land forms, particularly county ridgelines and that views of the county's many unique geologic features and the existing landscape fabric of the county's hillside areas are protected and preserved. These regulations are consistent with the goals and policies of the Napa County general plan, particularly as specified in the land use, open space and conservation, circulation and the scenic highways elements.
The purpose and intent of Napa County's Fire Protection - Fire Hazard Abatement Ordinance (NCC 8.36), also referred to as the Defensible Space Ordinance, is to protect the public health, safety, and general welfare of the public by reducing the risk of wildfire ignition and spread through the regulation and abatement of combustible vegetation, prohibited materials, and other fire hazards on private property. The ordinance is intended to promote defensible space around structures, enhance the safety of residents, visitors, and first responders, protect life and property from the threat of wildfire, and declare hazardous fire conditions to be public nuisances subject to abatement. These...
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