Environmental groups have been arguing in California courts that developers are not fully considering the risks of wildfire and choked evacuation routes when they plan their housing developments near fire-prone areas.
FILE - Fire crews prepare to defend a home as a wildfire advances Thursday, Dec. 7, 2017, in Bonsall, Calif. Environmental groups have been arguing in California courts that developers are not fully considering the risks of wildfire and choked evacuation routes when they plan housing developments near fire-prone areas.
That's not the only time California's escalating cycle of fire has been used as a basis to refuse development.Environmental groups are seeing increased success in California courts arguing that wildfire risk wasn't fully considered in proposals to build homes in fire-prone areas that sit at the edge of forests and brush, called the wildland-urban interface. Experts say such litigation could become more common.
Bonta said his office is working on a policy that will help developers and local officials avoid future opposition from his office. It will provide guidance on evacuation routes, planning for population growth and minimizing fire risk, he said.Developers say they already consider wildfire risks in their plans, comply with strict fire codes and adhere to state environmental policies, all while trying to ease another one of the state’s most pressing problems: the need for more housing.
Peter Broderick, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, said environmental groups are challenging “the worst of the worst," large projects in undeveloped, high fire-prone areas that cater to wealthy buyers.Pro-housing advocates have said the state’s policies encourage sprawl.But by fighting big developments, environmental groups are holding up thousands of homes, said Mark Dillon, an attorney who represented the Otay Village 14 builders.
Hernandez represents an industry group that sued Calabasas, an affluent community of over 20,000 northwest of Los Angeles, arguing that it improperly cited wildfire risk to deny a 180-unit development.Calabasas City Manager Kindon Meik said the project would violate open space rules and was in a high-risk area that had recently burned, adding the city has plans to meet its new housing needs.California's housing shortage has made homes unaffordable for many moderate and low-income residents.
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