LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – With thousands of people having lost their homes in the Valley fire last month, state and local officials are working to find solutions to make sure emergency housing measures are in place as fall begins.
The 76,067-acre fire, expected to be fully contained on Tuesday, has destroyed approximately 1,958 structures, including more than 1,300 homes, according to Cal Fire.
Sheriff Brian Martin recently estimated that the fire may have left more than 3,600 people without homes.
This week, county Social Services Director Carol Huchingson told Lake County News that some of the ways the county hopes to meet the temporary housing needs of those left homeless by the fire is through existing and temporary RV parks.
On Friday, the California Office of Emergency Services reported that Gov. Jerry Brown issued an executive order to expedite the placement and processing of temporary housing for victims of the Valley fire as well as the Butte fire in Calaveras County.
On Sept. 13, Gov. Brown had proclaimed a state of emergency in Lake County because of the Valley fire, as Lake County News has reported.
Eight days later, he requested a presidential major disaster declaration from President Barack Obama, who granted the request the following day. The president's action made available to the county and fire survivors aid through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA.
Brown, in his Friday declaration, acknowledged that temporary housing options in Lake County are limited, the fire has resulted in the declaration of a health emergency and “rapid action needs to take place in order to assist the disaster survivors, locate housing, rebuild the communities, repair and restore the environment, and mitigate the hazards for future disasters.”
As such, Brown's order suspends for three years parts of the Mobilehome Parks Act – which relates to the specific requirements for park construction, maintenance, use, occupancy and design – and sections of the Special Occupancy Parks Act, which also covers issues related to mobilehome park construction, design and other requirements.
That action will allow the California Department of Housing and Community Development and county agencies “to jointly develop permitting, operating and construction standards to maintain reasonable health and safety standards for the residents and the surrounding communities,” the executive order said.
Brown's executive order calls for requirements that provide “reasonable consistency with appropriate fire, health, flood, and other factors normally considered in the mobilehome park approval process for the construction of a new mobilehome park or manufactured home installation standards” during the three-year suspension of the state rules.
The order also gives priority to advising those who are developing and installing mobilehome and special occupancy parks in Lake County, including expediting permits and inspections.
Brown's action suspends for three years “all local land use and zoning ordinances, and other ordinances which would delay or impede prompt development or construction of temporary mobilehome parks or manufactured home installations, or special occupancy parks, or use of recreational vehicles” in Lake County. The executive order also suspends all fees that normally would be imposed on such developments.
Lake County ordinances prohibiting the placement and use of a manufactured home or recreational vehicle on a private lot for use during the reconstruction of a home are suspended for three years for individuals impacted by the fires, the order states.
However, property owners placing manufactured homes or recreational vehicles on lots must still obtain permits to ensure health and safety standards are met, the governor's order explains.
Supervisors to discuss proposed temporary housing rules
Issues surrounding housing for Valley fire victims will be among the chief topics the Board of Supervisors will tackle when it meets Tuesday.
The supervisors will meet at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 6, in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.
The meeting can be watched live on Channel 8 and online at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Boards/Board_of_Supervisors/calendar.htm . Accompanying board documents, the agenda and archived board meeting videos also are available at that link.
At 9:25 a.m., Community Development Director Rick Coel is scheduled to take to the board a proposed interim urgency ordinance that would defer Lake County Zoning Ordinance provisions pertaining to the use of RVs as temporary dwellings due to the Valley fire.
So far, it's unclear if the board will need to take action or if any action it takes will conflict with the governor's suspension of local rules for the three-year period.
Supervisor Rob Brown told Lake County News that the county has been receiving requests from community members who want to be able to live on their properties in RVs as the recovery phase takes place.
He said most of the requests so far have come from Middletown, but he anticipates more coming from Cobb, the last community where residents were allowed to return. Restrictions to the area were lifted last Saturday.
The Lake County Zoning Ordinance currently prohibits RV occupancy unless a building permit has first been issued for construction of a residence, and either the foundation for the residence is constructed or a septic system or sewer connection exists.
However, it's anticipated that the cleanup process before rebuilding can begin will take months. State officials have a goal of having the cleanup completed by Christmas. Rebuilding likely would have to wait until the normal start of the construction season in the spring.
Because of the extent of the fire's destruction, Coel and his staff are proposing a limited exception to the county's zoning ordinance provisions for temporary dwellings.
Specifically, those who lost homes in the Valley fire and whose properties are at least one acre in size would be able to place an RV as a temporary dwelling for up to one year. That would be allowed as long as the property can accommodate a safe RV location that isn't close to debris from burned structures, with all damaged trees having been taken down.
Coel's proposal also calls for parcel sizes to be confirmed, and sites to be inspected and deemed appropriate for RV occupancy.
He said the proposal will help reduce demand for RV park spaces, which are in short supply.
The deferrals are not recommended for mobilehomes, tiny homes or on-site construction of small temporary dwellings, Coel said.
The other item Coel will take to the board on Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. is a proposed interim urgency ordinance deferring provisions for permitting RV parks that are to be used specifically for housing people who lost their homes in the fire.
His report to the board notes that most of the homes lost in the Valley fire were on small lots that would not be appropriate locations for people to live during the debris cleanup process.
“Development of temporary RV parks, as emergency housing facilities exclusively for the Valley Fire victims appears to be a practical solution to provide temporary, transitional housing so that people can move back into or at least in close proximity to their communities soon and begin the process of rebuilding,” he wrote in his report to the board.
Coel said he and his staff believe using the temporary RV parks for 12 months will provide sufficient time for people to start the cleanup and rebuilding process. If needed, he said the board could decide to extend the deferral.
Once the smaller properties are cleaned up, building permits are obtained, foundations are constructed and sewer or other on-site disposal systems are authorized for use, owners could move their RVs back to the properties while they rebuild their homes, he said.
Coel said the temporary RV parks would need to be vetted through a review process involving his department, Cal OES, FEMA and Lake County Environmental Health.
Also on Tuesday at 9:35 a.m., the board will consider another urgency ordinance, specifically to prohibit rental housing price gouging in the county during the present state of emergency.
The proposed ordinance notes that county officials already have been alerted to price gouging by landlords charging in excess of a 10-percent increase in rent compared to rental rates before the fire.
Some existing tenants also have been evicted – or are being evicted – “in order for landlords to take advantage of fire victims whose insurance companies will pay rental amounts far in excess of what that landlord was previously charging,” the ordinance states.
The proposed ordinance seeks to impose a more severe penalty for price gouging in such instances than is certainly provided for in Penal Code Section 396, which makes that crime a misdemeanor that is punishable by up to a year in county jail, a fine of up to $10,000, or both a fine and imprisonment.
If passed, the urgency ordinance would allow for a misdemeanor and a fine of up to $20,000
The governor's executive order also notes that penal code section provisions prohibiting price gouging – specifically Penal Code Section 396 – in times of emergency and disaster shall remain in effect to protect Lake County's disaster survivors.
That penal code section prohibits more than a 10-percent increase in services – as compared to prices in place before an emergency – for a 30-day period after a disaster has been declared.
However, Gov. Brown's order waives that 30-day time period limitation.
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Governor issues order to expedite emergency housing for Valley fire survivors; Board of Supervisors to discuss housing issues Tuesday
- Elizabeth Larson
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