SCH Number 2022030589

Project Info

Title

Bluebird Canyon and Park Avenue Fuel Modification Projects

Description

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.

2 documents in project