TO: Board of Supervisors
FROM: Brian D. Bordona, Director of Planning, Building, and Environmental Services
REPORT BY: Jason M. Dooley, Deputy County Counsel
SUBJECT: Introduction and intention to adopt an Ordinance amending Chapter 8.80, Disaster Recovery
RECOMMENDATION
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PUBLIC HEARING - Introduction of Ordinance
Introduction and intention to adopt an Ordinance amending Chapter 8.80 (Disaster Recovery) to extend the effective date and expand the provisions to any declared local emergencies affecting property or structures. (No Fiscal Impact)
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BACKGROUND
After the 2017 Napa Complex wildfires, the Board of Supervisors adopted Chapter 8.80 to provide relief to property owners affected by the fires from administrative requirements for rebuilding their homes and other structures. The provisions simplified the review of fire rebuild projects in connection with the Conservation Regulations, Viewshed Regulations, and other provisions of the Napa County Code, without compromising the purposes of those regulations.
Chapter 8.80 was amended again after the 2018 Steele Fire disaster, and then again after the 2020 LNU Lightning Complex Fire and the 2020 Glass Fire, to ensure that the relief extended to victims of those wildfire disasters. The last amendment extended the effective date of the provisions of Chapter 8.80 to December 31, 2024.
The Board of Supervisors has also adopted policies that provide other relief to disaster victims, including a fee waiver for fire rebuilds as well as temporary relief from certain regulations associated with building permits. At the July 23, 2024, regular meeting of the Board, staff outlined the different provisions of these policies and highlighted the continuing need for relief as the process for rebuilding after a wildfire can be slow. Staff also informed the Board that the applicability of the various policies was not coordinated in any way, so that the terms of Chapter 8.80 expired nearly a year before the fee waiver p...
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