Support for Fire Families Requested
On the agenda for the August 10, 2021 Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors meeting was an item of interest to victims of the August 2020 CZU Lightning Complex fires. Supervisors Bruce McPherson and Ryan Coonerty introduced a request for board approval to direct the Planning Department to assess and present options within county code that would allow fire families to move forward with the permitting process to rebuild their homes by providing a geology exception.
The permitting process for many families has stalled due to the manner in which planning officials were interpreting county code. McPherson and Coonerty, at the urging of fire families, responded with the following recommended action.
Several fire survivors spoke in support of the recommendation. Read Antonia Bradford’s statement here: slvpost.com/letter-comments-to-august-10-board-of-supervisors.
The item passed unanimously:
Directed the Planning Department and the Office of Response, Recovery and Resilience (OR3) to return no later than September 14, 2021, with options for Board action, including but not limited to code amendments, General Plan amendments, or existing code interpretation, that would allow CZU Lightning Complex Fire survivors to rebuild their homes without evaluating and mitigating potential geologic hazards that pre-date the August 2020 fire.
In the runup to the September 14 board meeting where the Planning Department will present their options for board action, fire families are asking the public for support in the following ways:
- Watch for the agenda item at santacruzcountyca.iqm2.com/citizens/default.aspx. When it is listed on the Thursday prior to the Tuesday, September 14 meeting, comment to express your support of non-fire related geology exceptions that will help families to rebuild
- Write the Board of Supervisors urging them to support and advocate for their constituents who are trying to rebuild: bruce.mcpherson@santacruzcounty.us, ryan.coonerty@santacruzcounty.us, manu.koenig@santacruzcounty.us, zach.friend@santacruzcounty.us, greg.caput@santacruzcounty.us.
- Attend the Board of Supervisors meeting on September 14th, in person or via zoom, to express your support for the fire victims. Details will be posted here: santacruzcountyca.iqm2.com/citizens/default.aspx.
- Share this article and a Facebook event urging the people in your community to support the fire community.
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