Bluebird Canyon and Park Avenue Fuel Modification Projects

Bluebird Canyon and Park Avenue Fuel Modification Projects

The City of Laguna Beach Fire Department proposes to conduct fuel management practices in the Bluebird Canyon area and along Park Avenue primarily within the City of Laguna Beach, California, with a small portion of fuel modification (FMZ) 17 within unincorporated County of Orange. Fuel modification would provide defensible space adjacent to homes and a crucial evacuation route to enhance residents' ability to evacuate and allow for safer emergency access during a wildfire. All fuel modification activities would be conducted in accordance with the approved Treatment Protocols for Fuel Modification Zones Subject to Coastal Development Permitting prepared by the Laguna Beach Fire Department. Hand crews, with the option of goat-grazing, would reduce vegetation load in 100-foot-wide sections within FMZs 17 and 18 for a total of approximately 17.8 acres to reduce the risk of wildfire threat to residential structures. Hand crews would reduce vegetation within a 50-foot zone on either side of Park Avenue (FMZ 22), a local evacuation road, for a total of approximately 7.2 acres. The majority of roots of perennial plants would remain, and native vegetation waste would be mulched and left on site to minimize erosion. Non-native vegetation waste would be transported to a green waste recycling facility or landfill if not recyclable. Exclusion areas within all three FMZs would be established to avoid disturbance to High and Very High Value Habitat and sensitive biological resources, such as the California gnatcatcher, big-leaved crownbeard, and intermediate mariposa-lily.

Laguna Beach

Orange

Citywide

California Air Resources Board (ARB), California Coastal Commission (CCC), California Department of Conservation (DOC), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Marin Region 7 (CDFW), California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), California Department of Parks and Recreation, California Department of Transportation, District 12 (DOT), California Department of Water Resources (DWR), California Highway Patrol (CHP), California Native American Heritage Commission (NAHC), California Natural Resources Agency, California Regional Water Quality Control Board, San Diego Region 9 (RWQCB), California State Lands Commission (SLC), Department of Toxic Substances Control, Office of Historic Preservation, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Water Quality, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, South Coast Region 5 (CDFW)

California Department of Fish and Wildlife, South Coast Region 5 (CDFW)

Other (Fuel modification)

Coastal Permit

Aesthetics, Agriculture and Forestry Resources, Air Quality, Biological Resources, Coastal Zone, Cultural Resources, Cumulative Effects, Drainage/Absorption, Energy, Flood Plain/Flooding, Geology/Soils, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Hazards & Hazardous Materials, Hydrology/Water Quality, Land Use/Planning, Mandatory Findings of Significance, Mineral Resources, Noise, Population/Housing, Public Services, Recreation, Schools/Universities, Septic System, Sewer Capacity, Solid Waste, Transportation, Tribal Cultural Resources, Utilities/Service Systems, Vegetation, Wetland/Riparian, Wildfire