LAGUNA BEACH : Tighter Building Rules Head for Council Vote

Trying to make this city less vulnerable to fire, the City Council on Tuesday will consider extending fire-resistant building requirements throughout the entire city.

Since 1975 and until the firestorm 15 months ago, part of the city has been considered particularly susceptible to wild land fires and property owners in those areas were required to meet more stringent building requirements.

Generally, that area included parts of town closest to open spaces and most of the south end of Laguna Beach.

However, in a memo to the council, Community Development Director Kyle Butterwick said the massive fire in October, 1993, revealed that “no effective barrier exists between the established hazardous fire area and the rest of the city and that the entire city should be considered a hazardous fire zone.”

The fire burned 14,337 acres and destroyed or damaged 441 homes in or around Laguna Beach. Since then, the city has been taking special pains to make homes and wild land areas less susceptible to fire.

If the proposed ordinance is approved, among other requirements, wood roofs would not be allowed on new homes.

“On a new roof or a re-roof, you would not be able to use any wood roofing regardless of whether it met even a Class A rating,” building official John Gustafson said.

However, up to 25% of a wood roof could be replaced with in-kind roofing material if it meets specific fire safety classification and if no other part of the roof is redone in a three-year period.

Some exceptions would also be made for historic buildings.

The council first considered this proposed amendment last month. If members endorse the ordinance Tuesday night, it will likely return for final approval Jan. 24.

A more stringent ordinance proposed last year and opposed by some residents in the rustic, fire-damaged Canyon Acres neighborhood, was unanimously rejected by the previous council.

“This (ordinance) is not very radical at all,” Gustafson said. “I don’t know of anybody that’s resisting (it), but I don’t know how many people are aware of it either.”