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Make it Paradise: Planning for a More Resilient Community

Proposition 84 Wildfire and Resilience Planning Grant Case Study

 

Brief Summary  photo of yellow, green, and blue road signs at town limit of Paradise, CA.

The Town of Paradise looked for opportunities after the devastating 2018 Camp Fire, which destroyed over 90% of the Town’s structures, to plan for and build back a more wildfire resilient community. This process started in April 2021 with the update of the Town’s General Plan Housing Element which, for the first time, incorporated a section dedicated to wildfire resiliency. The project also included securing accessory dwelling unit (ADU) plans for use by the public, which are designed beyond the minimum requirements of the Wildland Urban Interface building materials and methods and can provide additional affordable housing opportunities to the economically disadvantaged and vulnerable segments of the community. These plans will be available by Fall of 2022 and updated for the next 3-year building code cycle and will be accompanied by an ADU booklet to help owners understand the process.  

Lead Agency and Partnerships  

Town of Paradise Planning Division staff oversaw all project tasks and worked with other Town Divisions, such as Building and Engineering, and community housing stakeholders, such as local developers and affordable & special needs housing advocates, to assist in reviewing the project documents for code compliance and future development policies. 

Drivers  

Given the Camp Fire was the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California’s history, the returning residents were very active in participating in community listening sessions where their rebuild concerns were collected and resiliency projects were prioritized. As the Town’s Housing Element was already scheduled for an update by 2022, the timing was right for incorporating community-driven housing related wildfire resiliency policies. In addition, funding through the Prop 84 grant was the only means for the Town to be able to offer free ADU plans, going above the minimum Wildland Urban Interface design standards, to the public. 

Engagement Process  

The Town of Paradise is located in a Very High Fire Severity Zone which can create an extra burden for vulnerable populations such as the economically disadvantaged, the uninsured, the elderly, and those with special needs. Key stakeholders for the project were Town staff, residents, housing advocates, wildfire experts, service agencies, and community organizations addressing housing and special needs. Stakeholder engagement consisted of virtual group meetings, one-on-one interviews, and a survey questionnaire.  

The input and feedback through the stakeholder engagement process assisted in the development of realistic and community-supported solutions, in the form of Housing Element policies and the creation of ADU plans, to address housing challenges in a high wildfire risk community. 

Climate Impact Area  

This project responds to localized climate impacts including very high wildfire risk and extreme weather events related to heat and drought. The project looked to establish housing policies related to wildfire resiliency such as increasing building and landscaping requirements for fire resiliency, home hardening programs, and acquisition of high hazard parcels along the periphery of town to act as a Wildfire Risk Reduction Buffer. 

Funding Source 

The project required a total of $237,065 with $198,341 from the Proposition 84 Wildfire Resiliency and Recovery Planning Grant and was supplemented with $38,724 from the Town of Paradise General Plan Update Fund. 

Research and Data  

To analyze the housing needs of the community, the project used data from the Town of Paradise Local Census Survey, US Census, three-year and five-year American Community Survey (ACS) data, California Dept of Finance, Butte County Association of Governments (BCAG), US Dept of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Next 10 & UC Berkeley’s Center for Community Innovation, stakeholder interviews, California Tax Credit Allocation Committee, and the Butte County Homeless Point in Time Survey.  

To track the progress of the goals, policies, and programs developed in the Housing Element, the Town of Paradise is required to prepare an annual progress report for presentation to the Town Council and submission to the State Dept of Housing & Community Development (HCD) during the life of the Housing Element (2023-2030). The annual progress report will also report on the use of the mastered fire resistant ADU plans as a program of the Housing Element. 

Challenges  

As a jurisdiction facing the rebuild of 90% of its buildings and infrastructure, adequate staffing to move the project forward at the pace desired was difficult amidst the other day-to-day workloads being assigned. The solution was to complete the most time sensitive portion of the project first, the Housing Element update, before moving on to the ADU and landscape plans instead of stretching the available staff out too thin to run the projects concurrently.

Outcomes  

The deliverables of the project include an updated General Plan Housing Element with a focus on fire resiliency, mastered ADU plans for use by the public that are designed beyond the minimum Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) building requirements for a very high fire severity zone, mastered residential landscape plans for use by the public that encourage appropriate plantings for the Wildland Urban Interface, and an ADU booklet for the public to better understand the process of permitting ADUs and the free available plans.  

The next step after the project is complete is to connect with other community organizations to help reach the segments of the community that could benefit from the ADU and landscape plans as well as reach out to other jurisdictions in the WUI to share how fire resiliency was incorporated into the Paradise Housing Element to help strengthen the housing stock against future wildfires. 

Replicability 

All deliverables of the project could be replicated by other communities. The RFPs for ADU and landscape design services can be shared, the fire resiliency goals, policies, and programs of the Housing Element referenced and/or copied, and the ADU booklet referenced. 

Additional Resources

Further Information  

For further information, contact Community Development Director Susan Hartman at shartman@townofparadise.com