Even while many Eaton and Palisades fire victims have lost everything and remain unable to rebuild their homes, Los Angeles County plans to consider yet another housing project in a dangerous wildfire area. This project is located entirely within a very high fire severity zone fire designation. As temperatures continue to increase due to climate change and wildfires increase in chaparral areas, such locations become more dangerous for housing, especially with uncontrollable wind-driven fires that often have been experienced locally such as occurred in January. Santa Clarita Organization for Planning and the Environment therefore believes this is a highly inappropriate location for new housing; that it doesn’t comply with the General Plan Safety Element, evacuation requirements or the county fire code.
New Urban West, a Santa Monica developer, is proposing to build 510 houses near the Newhall Pass designated as a very high fire hazard severity zone. Many residents are already unable to obtain fire insurance and future residents of this project will have trouble, too. Will they be told before they purchase?
In spite of the project being (several) miles from the nearest fire station (Station 124 on Hemingway Avenue in Stevenson Ranch), the developer says he cannot make room for a fire station and residents will have to depend on a helicopter’s ability to obtain water from a nearby water tank. But we all know that helicopters aren’t able to fly in Southern California’s wind-driven fires.
In the last two decades at least three fast-moving major wildfires have occurred in the immediate vicinity of this proposed project, along with several smaller ones, the most recent being the Sage Fire in 2016, which burned through this project and required the evacuation of the post office facility on The Old Road near this project and many residents. The environmental documents describe many other fires.
Perhaps the most egregious wildfire issue, however, is this project proposes to put senior housing in this very high fire hazard severity zone. The Eaton and Palisades fires caused 29 deaths, most of them elderly residents who could not evacuate. Moreover, cardiovascular events may increase in the face of evacuation orders. The Trails at Lyons Canyon Project proposes that almost 10% of the new units will be deed-restricted rental apartments for very-low-income senior citizens. Senior citizens, particularly low-income seniors, experience increased vulnerability to hazards. Not only do they often have physical or medical impediments to evacuation, but also, they may not have enough money to afford to evacuate.
In addition to the human and emotional cost of wildfires, there is also an extreme economic cost to all of us. The county and city are facing billions of dollars for firefighting and cleanup expenses. The federal government has so far not provided emergency FEMA funding for the Palisades and Eaton fires, saying we shouldn’t be building in wildfire areas. While we certainly agree that we shouldn’t build more new development in these areas, housing built, in some cases over a decade ago, should not be punished by our failure to address climate change. California insurance rates are skyrocketing for everyone. Enough is enough. It is time to stop placing housing and people in these dangerous areas.
We believe it is time that the county pays serious attention to avoiding approvals such as this project that are located in a high fire hazard zone and thus avoid putting future residents at risk.
Last, there is a huge natural resource cost to building in this open space area. This project is located in an oak woodland. Around 335 trees will be removed, a tributary placed underground and massive grading. The project will be built along a popular hiking trail in Towsley Canyon, significantly impacting the viewshed along that trail and impacting wildlife with this dangerous incursion into a natural area.
You can express your concerns about this project by writing to Erica Aquirre at [email protected] before July 29. Refer to project No. PRJ2021-001195. You can get more information about the project at bit.ly/3xYekD8.
Lynne Plambeck
Santa Clarita
