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The national database of state and local wildfire hazard mitigation programs
serves as a clearinghouse of information about nonfederal policies and
programs that seek to reduce the risk of loss of life and property through
the reduction of hazardous fuels on private lands. If
you would like to submit a program to the national wildfire programs database,
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Title: |
Santa Fe County, NM: Urban Wildland Interface Code
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Type: |
Regulatory
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Jurisdiction: |
County
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State: |
New Mexico
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Program Description: |
Background
On October 9, 2001 Santa Fe County adopted New Mexico's first Urban Wildland Interface Code. Ordinance No. 2001-11 can be found on the internet at this web site.
The Urban Wildland Interface Code supplements the Building Code and Fire Codes of Santa Fe County in order to mitigate the threat to life and property from the intrusion of wildland fire exposures, fire exposures from adjacent structures, and prevention of structure fires from spreading to wildland fuels. Vegetation management considerations of the code are limited. Santa Fe County has made the defensible space regulations voluntary, and works with individual communities for education and compliance. They feel that this has been a more successful approach than legislating defensible space requirements to homeowners.
Applicability
It shall apply to all permit applications submitted after the date of adoption of the Code and to the construction, alteration, moving, and use of any building, structure, or premises within the urban wildland interface areas in Santa Fe County. The boundaries of the urban wildland interface areas within Santa Fe County are graphically presented on Appendix I attached to the ordinance.
Provisions of the Ordinance
The Santa Fe Urban Wildland Interface Code addresses many aspects of fire mitigation including: access, signage, fire hydants, special building construction regulations, and water availability. It requires three classes of Ignition Resistant Construction materials to be used in extreme hazard, high hazard, and moderate hazard zones. These regulations may be viewed on the website, as they are beyond the purview of this analysis.
Vegetation Management Requirements
Vegetation Management considerations include the requirement that Preliminary Development Plans for new subdivisions of 12 or more lots shall include vegetation management measures. And subsequent to approval of the subdivision, these vegetation management measures must be recorded in the covenants of the subdivision. These vegetation management measures include:
* Management of fire-prone vegetation which could transmit fire from a structure to vegetation or from vegetation to a structure.
* Onsite recycling of vegetative debris such as dead trees, leaf/pine litter, and brush.
* Coordination of regulations with existing regulations contained in the Land Development Code, Extraterritorial Zoning Ordinance, and Extraterritorial Subdivision Regulations.
The text of Chapter 6 of the Urban Wildland Interface Code is shown below.
Chapter 6. Fire Protection Requirements
Section 1. Defensible Space Vegetation Management for Fire Protection.
1.1 Objective. Provisions of this Section are intended to establish fire-safe areas and to minimize the threat and occurrence of fire in the urban wildland interface areas, while maintaining the ecological integrity of the landscape and recognizing the functional uses of vegetation.
1.2 Preliminary Development Plans--In addition to information required to be submitted by the Fire Code, the Land Development Code, the Extraterritorial Zoning Ordinance, and/or the Extraterritorial Subdivision Regulations, preliminary development plans for new subdivisions of twelve (12) or more lots shall also include vegetation management measures required by this Chapter. Upon final approval of the development plans, the vegetation management measures shall be recorded in the covenants of all new subdivisions.
1.23 Vegetation Management Measures--In areas immediately adjacent to buildings or structures subject to this Code, a vegetation management plan shall address the following:
a. Management of fire-prone vegetation that may form a means of readily transmitting fire from the native vegetative growth to any structure or from any structure to the vegetative growth.
b. Onsite recycling of vegetative debris such as dead trees, brush, and leaf/pine litter, with the primary intent of maintaining soil health.
c. Vegetation management under this Section shall be otherwise coordinated with the vegetation, landscaping, and terrain management requirements set forth in the applicable provisions of the Land Development Code, Extraterritorial Zoning Ordinance, and Extraterritorial Subdivision Regulations to ensure the protection of soil, vegetation, and air quality, and the preservation of wildlife habitat.
Contact Information
For more information, contact Hank Blackwell, Santa Fe County Fire Marshal at (505) 992-3076, or email him at [email protected].
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