Wildfire-resistant building and landscaping

increasing available home hardening grants funds, expanding contractor training opportunities

Its tier one programs include home hardening, building codes, and emergency preparedness.

there is a line in the sand where you can't ask for funding directly tied to home hardening measures

Enhancing Boulder’s Wildfire Resilience through (1) the Development of a Comprehensive Wildfire Home Hardening Implementation Hub

not hopscotch cross town home hardening with goals expressed as metrics achieved over a stated and near time frame

I just want to clarify um the conversation we're having tonight around the the road map that we're preparing that really informs the advocacy with Excel

I'm wondering if my house is going to burn down on April 8th of of 2026 with a goat trail fire.

financing mechanisms for, say, homeowners to be able to harden their own homes

put in place some landscaping standards in wildfire zones quite recently

with the wildfire risk that our community faces in the WOOI, how do we want to consider uh uh land uses

I believe a community education is an essential is essential to the creation of Boulder as a fire adapted community.

investments in wildfire resilience include a one-time increase of 300,000 in the climate tax fund for wildfire ready priorities

pilot and um profile wildfire resist uh resilient landscape installations in the wildland urban interface

We already have videos on defensible space, home hardening, and the history of wildfire

We spent a lot of time giving our community really good information about wildfire risk, defensible space, and home hardening

then we will then be talking to council about a variety of home hardening and wildfire mitigation efforts

put a pause on all ordinance 866 projects in the wildland urban interface overlay zone until we can better understand the impact of evacuation

requesting a temporary pause on high density permits in wildfire fire ignition zones

this ballot measure designates all state sales tax revenue collected from sporting goods and equipment as wildfire and conservation revenue.

The city considers an integrated approach to wildfire risk, including emergency management planning and egress capacity when evaluating development

So, we're surrounded on three sides by open space. We're really on the border of the town.

Given the threat of catastrophic wildfires, the neighborhood is very concerned about this.

The board also unanimously passed a second motion recommending that staff work with the applicants to include reasonable high-value, low-cost wildfire mitigation measures

Where Council and staff will discuss home hardening

I think it's a known fact that buildings burn from the inside out, not from the outside in.

the vast majority Of houses that burn in a fire, burn from the inside out.

bring annexed properties into substantial compliance with WUI landscaping codes adopted in 2025.

short-term actions we can take to, mitigate wildfire risk

I'll first offer a comment to the, like, neighbor motivation factor in terms of, like, the wildfire hardening that we did for our

we give a rebate to qualifying property owners to do, certain wildfire mitigation actions on their property

it offers one more level of resilience To the building, particularly in the face of

as the property is within the wildland-urban interface WUI area, fencing material within 8 feet of any building

creating and sustaining a fire adapted community through coordinated regionwide approach to fire and wildfire resilience and prevention

those relate to wildfire resistance and agricultural viability and um, water systems

I know we have our WOOI codes, but those are all um nothing's retroactive there.

we've developed a fire-specific policy. So that's, you know, another example

the development of a comprehensive wildfire home hardening implementation hub

become a fire adapted community/w wildfire home hardening implementation hub

we supported the adoption of the Wildland Urban Interface Regulations

Second was cost-benefit list of measures to become a fire-adapted community, and wildfire home hardening implementation hub.

one policy area with the, you know, wildfire Resilience and wildfire hardening.

we've already initiated several code updates, the wildland urban interface code update

the extent to which wildfire issues orientation thinking um is recommended to be in the update

a vision level funded regional wildfire mitigation program that addresses ignition sources, parcel level targeting, fuel management, structural hardening

Cost-benefit list of measures to become a fire-adapted community slash wildfire home hardening implementation hub

We have existing code and building standards and so on about wildfire

Obviously, wildfire is an incredibly, timely and important thing to be

Retroactive wildfire mitigation for existing homes. What are the consequences of not elevating it

the information that the city provides related to home hardening and wildfire resilience

I'm on wildfire home hardening implementation hub

adoption of international wildland urban interface code with modification

The non-combustible zone doesn't allow any combustible materials, including vegetation.

before the council tonight is ordinance 8721 related to the wildfire hardening and

We are kind of sitting in the WUI. Zone, the wildland-urban interface, and that presents unique challenges, especially with the building that sits there now.

The metal gates are contemporary and meet the requirements of the wildfire urban interface regulations.

accelerating efforts to address commercial vacancies, a lot of, wildfire, information

to address resilience in the face of future wildfires, the city and county will collaborate on a fire adapted community policy

a lot of standards, have come out of Council's priorities. The Family-Friendly, Vibrant Neighborhoods standards.

updates to landscaping codes for water conservation and wildfire deterrence, land use code modernization and simplification

the response to first of all the Marshall fire and also the Eaton fire

there is at least one wildfire coordination policy, and I haven't dug into the language

And one of the primary threats is wildfire.

They also have, wildfire hardening and water-wise landscaping policies, which is related to

It doesn't require, window replacement on existing buildings, but what the fire, folks are saying is that that tempered glass is a safety piece

the wildfire threat as illustrated by what happened with the Marshall fire have really brought this forward

fences that are built within 8 ft of any structure has to be of non-combustible materials

The focus tonight is mostly on water wise landscaping, although there are some elements in the um wildfire hardening part of of the ordinance as well.

anything east or west of Broadway is now in the Wildland Urban Interface and subject to the Wildland Urban Interface landscape codes

trying to find at least one place to show as an example of what our landscape code was asking for

we're looking for when we talk about landscapes for the wildland-urban interface

I mean, they've been in this process since way before, the WUI standards were adopted

there are any requirements for this property to come into compliance with WUI building or landscaping codes

Is staff contemplating bringing forward any additional ordinances in the area of Wildfire resilience and homeowners

With the WUI code adoption, though, you can see in the right-hand side of, of the maps.

Density in the WUI, what does that look like in the future?

we've gone through a lot of recent, um, wildfires, and that's been definitely a priority topic for community members

I think we have similar issues around the wildfire um, ordinances that we have, right?

Addressing wildfire threats and urban heat island effect, overall durability of landscaping and use of native species

Council identified water-wise landscape policy and wildfire hardening as, priorities for 2024-2025.

to homeowners for wildfire mitigation, and $123,000 of support for the realignment of a fire rescue community risk reduction specialist

when the wildfire urban interface, the WUI code, was being developed, and I saw our historic preservation design guidelines

with our wildfire threats, and with the changes there is

I know we're adding all this wildfire. building code stuff

wildfire preparation mitigation for urban areas, not just natural ecosystems

the board will recall that we brought an ordinance through this spring related to wildfire hardening

that same standard in the WUI didn't make as much sense, because it might, you know, could spread wildfire

within the wildland-urban interface, a reduced plant density is permissible to deter wildfire spread

it is a question of how can historic buildings also meet of wildfire regulations

or what the WUI ordinance would be required to change

to accommodate a WUI regulation, an ADA regulation, or in this case, a TDM regulation

it's also similar to our wildland-urban interface discussion

how do we think about landscoping requirements um for protecting and hardening against wildfire.

council adopted the 2024 International Wildland Urban Interface or WOOI code with local amendments

no new junipers can be planted in that defensible space area in the WOOI area based on the code that you already adopted.

we adopted in the WOOI applies to all three ignition resistant zones.

But then you have the the balance of well, how does that impact? You know what potential wildfires?

These guidelines, or these requirements, only apply to new development or redevelopment.

the the Re, the the Wui code requirements apply as requirements only to properties that are in the Wui zone.

The Wui codes. The Wildland urban interface codes will guide any new development or redevelopment in these designated 3 areas.

do we have a false sense of precision in some cases when we look at maps as we as we currently understand them with with with wildfires

planning for wildfire being at the top of mind in a lot of engagement work we've done

We are observing the study of the retroactive application of the Wui ordinance

The class 3 ignition resistant construction does not have requirements

what the code itself is requiring when we start talking about ignition resistant one

Boulder should update building codes to incorporate effective wildfire resilient construction

money that could instead be spent on actually effective home hardening and defensible space up to 100 feet around homes

getting that vegetation or that fire protection plan in ignition resistant one and two obviously also includes that non-combustible zone

Like the very top one, roofs all have to be a non-combustible roof.

Chapter 5 is the ignition resistant construction or that home hardening that that everyone is kind of familiar about

The biggest impacts to us are where the parks are in the Wildland urban interface

the city has recently finalized the Wildfire mitigation plan. I encourage you to Google and read on about it

we're, we're giving recommendations on wildfire resilience, solar panels, transportation

we've also had our um mapping folks focused on mapping and expanded Wildland Urban interface or wooi area based on Ember cast modeling

we've also had our um mapping folks focused on mapping and expanded Wildland Urban interface or wooi area based on Ember cast modeling

what you also heard about related to building code and the Wildland Urban interface code

they will go in and look at both your landscaping and your house, and provide recommendations on fire hardening for that

it is very possible to have both. A more kind of fire, wise or fire hardened landscape

Needless to say, we've gotten more questions about that since the Marshall fire and wind event.

one of the things that probably the most important one in terms of wildfire protection is requiring permits for replacement windows

the Wildland Urban interface code is not on this list of codes we're adopting at this time

focus on fire mitigation before the next Wildfire consumes our city

But the principal concern, I will agree, is still the Wildland urban interface

The challenge there is that the point of requiring the permit is so we can flag properties that are in the Wui that they need to comply.

with the increasing risk of wildfires in our community and our strict energy code

trying to come up with a consolidated citywide plant list that would also have the fire resistant plants in there

This project's actually tied to a wildfire code update, too.

Since the Marshall fire. We're all aware that it's going to need to have fire, sprinkler, fire, alarm

we don't have the Wildfire hardening in place there and I think we should probably not um add more fencing or landscaping

restrictions around what can be done to prevent Wildfire spread um especially because we have one Transit Corridor

doing that before we have settled on some uh Wildfire hardening and Landscaping regulations

explore applying some vegetation management standards to a larger area beyond the Wui

compliance with wildfire regulations at the time of sale of a property is something they asked us to look into

It's essentially the practice of ensuring that buildings are prepared for a wildfire or embers

that would already be required to come into compliance with the Wildland Urban interface code that we've already adopted

people have used that grant funding to complete Wildfire hardening work on their home

when we talk about Wildfire hardening we are talking about ensuring that buildings are prepared for a wildfire

amend and fix the cwpp by addressing human Wildfire ignition mitigation in that plan

the root cause of threatening Urban adjacent wildfires human ignition from Flagstaff to El Dorado is neither mentioned nor addressed in the community Wildfire protection plan

oh, landscaping and wildfire matters. Update? Which is a pretty meaty.

How are we discussing wildfire risk and forests like, and trees

how they're thinking about using it as wildfire opportunity

not proposing any changes to certain areas based on their potential Wildfire risk

and then are there when we think about the whole wildfire

Some of the departments of the city who are working on their Wildfire Protection Act.

the landscaping updates wildfire hardening. This is I I think, a really important one

in a wildfire scenario as a vulnerable site. So Chautauqua has for the last last really 4 years dug into things we could be doing.

Well, for the past several years now Chautauqua has been spending a lot of time and resources thinking about and preparing for a wildfire mitigation

Wildfire being one of the biggest environmental challenges that we're facing. and the the kind of focus of study of of this particular kind of landscaping

recent floodplain changes, wildfire concerns obviously energy, efficiency and sustainability

there were discussions around. some of the wildfire mowing, and things like that open space that they have

We have had initial conversations about the need to deal with wildfire risk on the fringe.

to be clear on what the expectations for building in this you know know Wildfire prone area would be

city council is currently pondering changes to the code related to wire Wildfire issues

You brought forward our draft, community wildfire protection plan. And I just wanted to signal to the board.

Just thinking about wildfire. How do we think about wildfire? How do we think about, or virus gaming? On the water and hydrology system.

there's new guidance about how close to structures you should have trees.

we want to explore the adoption and enforcement of defensible space and building fund as P said

the Wildfire piece move quickly and be somewhat streamlined at least for the initial steps

prioritization for those areas that are within 800 meters of the Wildfire Urban interface

community wildfire protection plan is great because we're running a lot of experts that do a lot of modeling for fireside behavior.

as far as Wildfire. I don't know who we used to address that

Given that a lot of wildfires start from electrical situations and down power lines, and it is a practice that's developing across the nation

I had a a tree down on my property on December thirtieth, the day of the Marshall fire. They didn't come for 3 days the tree fell on my line.

they had full opportunity to down the electricity during the Marshall fire. They did not. They even had a line that was How do you say?

perhaps later this fall, and the wildfire hardening will set the the landscape for what that code change will be

The other thing underneath the heart, the wild tech, hardening wildfire hardening that I also wanna make sure is included

we still allow mulch and the incentivize multiple mulch is not great for wildfire hardening.

the fact that the what recent wildfire concerns in this house is basically a a tinder box

better connections between the hill and downtown wildfire hardening particularly in the Wildland urban interface

We got a Wildfire protection plan, but there are ordinances we can pass right now that get us on the way to protecting the homes

then landscaping code revisions. I really wanna make sure that our requirements reflect our commitment, sustainability and wildfire resilience.

thinking about keeping people safe when

that we wanna cut down the trees as need be to avoid the disastrous wildfires.

Finally, wildfire mitigation resources. I understand that this would be an issue that would be again.

and the topic is Wildfire Prevention, and they're gonna walk around the from the Shanahan Ridge trail

what we're really speaking to is is education and Outreach here home hardening you know fuels modification directly

This framework. First, is resilient landscapes. second is fire adapted communities.

There are also trees that are more wildfire resistant. And so how can we, you know, make those best recommendations for trees

Wildland Urban interface code so there will probably be conversations about that

it will deny any relationship with the Marshall fire because it doesn't want to be tied to its cause

So we think with the ever increasing risk of fire we'd like to avoid wood where possible.

a bill that would create a State Building Code board to create minimum standards for the Willy the Wildland Urban interface

we'd like to make sure that we have resources to conduct fuel mitigation on residential lands

it is not going to be a magic solution to the issue of wildfire

Isn't is very, very um actively pursuing wildfire mitigation, and we've got several grand State Brands National Park Service brand

there is already wildfire areas designated in the city where the building code already requires

and then of course we've realized uh that we need to do some more work on wildfire mitigation

it does include 1.5 million dollars for wildfire mitigation and that's the kind of climate resilience move that we need

so council has already adopted the wild urban interfaith wildland urban interface code

i haven't actually heard it in terms of you know masonry versus wood or something else as a as a you know fire retardant

there's gonna have to be more fire provisions up at 311 on his previous development because that's where the big one's coming in

reschedule it for the may 17th meeting on the wildfire protection resiliency regarding the study session we had about that

pull that off of consent and then we can tackle uh wild

remove item 3a which was to accept the april 26 2022 study session summary on wildfire resilience

I understand the cost effectiveness of using the word frames, but I mean we have higher more and more wildfires happening

even if the wui now covers all of boulder in our re in new definition

we even have to probably rethink what a wildland urban interface actually means

the difference here though is that this is not a retroactive adoption of the code this one is about new builds and renovations

some people, for example. opposite. Marshall fire. 10 years you know it's

For Marshall fire it's not the green building that's expensive

the building code piece is something I'm I'm actually not prepared to speak to um tonight

we're making a concerted push out there for interface homes

fire prevention Specialists speak about the need to harden buildings against Flames everything from removing vegetation to close close to homes

To address fuel loads within the boulder area, you know the public lands are taken care of pretty well

a detailed home assessment related to strategies around wildfire risk reduction

to come up with social enterprise kinds of approaches to to create helping citizens create their defensible spaces

60% of the homes in the wildland urban interface will have received a wildfire assessment

these free assessments give homeowners recommendations to improve their ability to mitigate risks

THE REQUIREMENT FOR A MISSION RESISTANT BUILDING MATERIALS FOR THE DECKING THE WALKING SURFACE OF DECKS

we can do a lot as a community to harden it against the threat of wildfire that's a big goal for us

a second one on a resilient or prepared community is about homes in the interface and being able to help them prepare their homes in case of a wildfire

they need to back their project off so that they are defensible space is within the footprint that's necessary

HOW CAN WE DEFEND THIS SITE IF A WILD FIRE WERE OCCURRING IN THIS AREA RIGHT AROUND

THERE IS A BBC POLICY THAT TALKS ABOUT WILDFIRE

BOULDER HAS DONE A SUPER JOB IN BEING REALLY AGGRESSIVE WITH WILDFIRE MITIGATION