Quick Take
Hearing a public desperately concerned about increasing wildfire risk, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to stall a proposal that would have expanded camping opportunities on private property throughout the county.
After more than three hours of debate Tuesday and – mostly – protest from residents around the CZU burn scar, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors pulled the reins on the proposed low-impact camping area (LICA) ordinance.
The board decided too little is understood about how the proliferation of campsites throughout the county would affect wildfire risk, an already precarious insurance landscape and sensitive habitats.
The debate made clear that, less than a couple months from the four-year anniversary of the CZU Complex fire, the community’s fears around wildfires are still too great an obstacle for any policy that increases risk. The trauma of that destructive blaze rang through the halls of the county building Tuesday as the public weighed in on the LICA ordinance and whether expanding camping opportunities on large plots of private land are good policy.
The supervisors also questioned the urgency of the new law. Initially proposed by District 2 Supervisor Zach Friend, LICA is meant to pair with Senate Bill 620, a bill proposed by state Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire of Santa Rosa. It would remove the red tape for owners of large private properties who want to set up more than a single campsite on their land. However, that bill is held up in the Assembly’s Appropriations Committee and its path to passage during this legislative session is uncertain.
The supervisors unanimously voted to not move forward on a local LICA ordinance unless SB 620 is passed. If the state bill does pass this summer, county staff will begin analyzing how to move forward with an environmental review of a possible LICA ordinance. It will also seek an understanding from the state insurance commissioner on how such an ordinance would affect local insurability.
The proposed rule change comes not only as wildfire season settles in, but as thousands of Santa Cruz County residents are getting dropped by their insurance companies due to wildfire risk.
Barbara Parna, a Boulder Creek resident, told supervisors she was now paying $10,000 per year for a policy that doesn’t even offer full coverage of her home.
“What does the [state] insurance commissioner think about LICA?” Parna asked. “This proposal brings some many people into a community whose infrastructure has already been damaged and we are trying to recover. I’m shocked by this ordinance. I think you don’t care about Santa Cruz County residents and what we’ve been through.”
Although the county’s community development department recommended the supervisors pass the LICA ordinance, the county planning commission narrowly rejected it in May. It has also drawn opposition from local environmental groups and fire protection officials.
The original language of the LICA ordinance would have allowed property owners with 5 or more acres to open up private campsites at a density of one site per acre, four campers per site, with a maximum 36 total campers on a property. The ordinance would prohibit campsites on properties in very high fire hazard zones — designations set by the U.S. Forest Service — and broadly restrict campfires and barbecues.
Campsite properties would need a site manager available to campers 24 hours per day and within a 15-mile radius of the property. Although campsites would be required to offer some septic sanitation such as portable toilets, the properties would not need to have cellphone service or water infrastructure. Staff estimated that more than 1,800 parcels throughout Santa Cruz County could be eligible to host a LICA.
However, after months of public pushback, Friend on Tuesday brought forward a heavily watered-down version of that language, allowing a maximum of only four campsites per LICA, and only 12 campers on a property at a time. His proposal also sought to require LICAs to have an on-site manager when cellphone service was unavailable. Friend also proposed capping the number of LICA permits issued throughout the county at 150.
The changes could not find consensus. District 1 Supervisor Manu Koenig, who made the motion to ultimately ice the LICA proposal, said Santa Cruz County government must take seriously its role as a steward of the area’s natural resources.
“It’s a delicate balancing act between public access and environmental protection preserving natural resources and access,” Koenig said. “I do have concerns that this ordinance will shove us off the balancing beam.”
Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here.