La Verne Municipal Code Ch. 15.37 Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone Regulations

This chapter shall be known as the very high fire hazard severity zone regulations and is adopted pursuant to the requirements of Government Code Section 51175 et seq.

(Ord. 930 § 1, 1999; Ord. 1042 § 12, 2013; Ord. 1075 § 12, 2016)

The territory described as a very high fire hazard severity zone (VHFHSZ) shall be as established by the Director of California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and as designated on a map entitled city of La Verne VHFHSZ, dated July 1, 2008, and retained on file at the city of La Verne and which shall also be retained on file at the office of the State Fire Marshal.

(Ord. 930 § 1, 1999; Ord. 1008 § 1, 2009; Ord. 1042 § 12, 2013; Ord. 1075 § 12, 2016)

Whenever a more restrictive standard is set forth in any of the city's codes or state law, the more restrictive standard shall apply in all cases.

(Ord. 930 § 1, 1999; Ord. 1042 § 12, 2013; Ord. 1075 § 12, 2016)

As used in this chapter:

"Accessory building"

means any building used as an accessory to residential, commercial, recreational, industrial or educational purposes as defined in the latest adopted edition of the Los Angeles County Building Code, Group U, Occupancy that requires a building permit.

"Building"

means any structure used or intended for supporting or sheltering any use or occupancy that is defined in the latest adopted edition of the Los Angeles County Building Code, except Group U, Occupancy. For the purposes of this chapter, "building" includes mobile homes and manufactured homes, churches, and day care facilities.

"Dead-end road"

means a road that has only one point of vehicular ingress/egress, including cul-desacs and looped roads.

"Defensible space"

means the area within the perimeter of a parcel, development, neighborhood or community where basic wildland fire protection practices and measures are implemented, providing the key point of defense from an approaching wildfire or defense against encroaching wildfires or escaping structure fires. The perimeter as used herein is the area encompassing the parcel or parcels proposed for construction and/or development, excluding the physical structure itself. The area is characterized by the establishment and maintenance of emergency vehicle access, emergency water reserves, street names and building identification, and fuel modification measures.

"Development"

means as defined in Section 66418.1 of the California Government Code.

"Driveway"

means a vehicular access that serves no more than two buildings, with no more than three dwelling units on a single parcel, and any number of accessory buildings.

"Dwelling unit"

means any building or portion thereof which contains living facilities, including provisions for sleeping, eating, cooking and/or sanitation for not more than one family.

"Greenbelts"

means a facility or land-use, designed for a use other than fire protection, which will slow or resist the spread of a wildfire and includes parking lots, irrigated or landscaped areas, golf courses, parks, playgrounds, maintained vineyards, orchards or annual crops that do not cure in the field.

"Hammerhead/T"

means a roadway that provides a "T" shaped, three-point turnaround space for emergency equipment, being no narrower than the road that serves it.

"Hydrant"

means a valved connection of a water supply/storage system, having at least one two and one-half inch outlet, and one four-inch outlet, with male American National Fire Hose Screw Threads (NH) used to supply fire apparatus and hoses with water.

"Occupancy"

means the purpose for which a building, or part thereof, is used or intended to be used.

"One-way road"

means a minimum of one traffic lane width designed for traffic flow in one direction only.

"Roads, streets, private lanes"

means vehicular access to more than one parcel; access to any industrial or commercial occupancy, or vehicular access to a single parcel with more than two buildings or four or more dwelling units.

"Roadway"

means any surface designed, improved, or ordinarily used for vehicle travel.

"Same practical effect"

means an exception or alternative with the capability of applying accepted fire suppression strategies and tactics, and provisions for firefighter safety, including:

Access for emergency fire equipment;

Safe civilian evacuation;

Signing that avoids delays in emergency equipment response;

Available and accessible water to effectively attack fire or defend a structure from fire; and

Fuel modification sufficient for civilian and firefighter safety.

"Structure"

means that which is built or constructed, an edifice or building of any kind, or any piece of work artificially built up or composed of parts joined together in some definite manner.

"Traffic lane"

means the portion of a roadway that provides a single line of vehicle travel.

"Turnaround"

means a roadway, unobstructed by parking, which allows for a safe opposite change of direction for emergency equipment. Design of such area may be a hammerhead/T or terminus bulb.

"Turnouts"

means a widening in a roadway to allow vehicles to pass.

"Vertical clearance"

means the minimum specified height of a bridge or overhead projection above the roadway.

(Ord. 930 § 1, 1999; Ord. 1042 § 12, 2013; Ord. 1075 § 12, 2016)

The California Wildland Urban Interface Code 2025 Edition as adopted by the city pursuant to Sections 15.04.010 and 15.32.010 of the La Verne Municipal Code are amended as follows:

A. Add the following new subsection to California Wildland Urban Interface Code:

Section 106.13. Fire Protection Information on Plans and Specifications in Wildland-Urban Interface Fire Area When Requested by the Fire Department. In addition to all other relevant provisions of this code and the California Fire Code, appendices and amendments thereto, a vicinity plan, scale no smaller than one inch equals forty feet, shall be submitted to and approved by the fire department prior to the issuance of a grading permit or, if no grading permit is to be issued, prior the issuance of a building permit. The plan shall show the following:

1. All existing and proposed private and public streets on the proposed development property and within three hundred feet of the property line of the proposed development, and so identified, with street width dimensions.

2. The location and identification of all existing and proposed fire hydrants within three hundred feet of the property line of the proposed development. The water supply shall meet the fire flow requirements as set forth in the latest adopted edition of the I.F.C. and Los Angeles County Building Code, and amendments thereto.

3. The location, occupancy classification, and use of abutting properties.

4. Preliminary fuel modification plans for all improvements in areas containing combustible vegetation shall be submitted to and approved by the fire department concurrent with the submittal for approval of any project requiring discretionary approval by the city. Final fuel modification plans shall be submitted to and approved by the fire department prior to the issuance of a grading permit. The plans shall consider the criteria set forth in the Fuel Modification Plan Guidelines for Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones.

B. Add the following new definition to the Wildland Urban Interface Code Section 202—Definitions.

Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone.

All territory as established by the Director of California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, is hereby determined to be within the very high fire hazard severity zone due to the areas containing the type and condition of vegetation, topography, weather and structure density to increase the possibility of conflagration fires.

(Ord. 930 § 1, 1999; Ord. 985 § 2, 2006; Ord. 1001 § 10, 2007; Ord. 1008 § 1, 2009; Ord. 1042 § 12, 2013; Ord. 1075 § 12, 2016; Ord. 1088 § 9, 2019; Ord. 1114 § 8, 2022; Ord. 25-1137, 12/15/2025; Ord. 26-1139, 1/20/2026)

A. Section 507 of the Wildland Urban Interface Code is amended by the addition of the following:

Building Standards. Building and structures hereafter constructed, or relocated into very high fire hazard severity zones shall, in addition to the requirements of the Los Angeles County Building Code and any other local ordinances, meet the following construction requirements.

1. Roofs. All new structures, and every existing structure where twenty-five percent or more of the total area of the existing building is re-roofed within any one-year period within a very high fire hazard severity zone shall not be wood and have at least a Class A fire retardant roof.

2. Underfloor Areas (Attached Structure). When the attached structure is located and constructed so that the structure or any portion thereof projects over a descending slope surface, the area below the structure shall have all underfloor areas enclosed to within six inches (152 mm) of the ground, with exterior walls in accordance with Section 504.6.

3. Walls. Detached accessory structures located less than fifty feet (15,240 mm) from a building containing habitable space shall have exterior walls constructed with materials approved for one-hour-rated fire-resistive construction, or constructed with noncombustible materials on the exterior side.

4. Underfloor Areas (Detached Structure). When the detached structure is located and constructed so that the structure or any portion thereof projects over a descending slope surface, the area below the structure shall have all underfloor areas enclosed to within six inches (152 mm) of the ground, with exterior walls in accordance with Section 504.11 and 504.6.

(Ord. 930 § 1, 1999; Ord. 1001 § 12, 2007; Ord. 1042 § 12, 2013; Ord. 1075 § 12, 2016; Ord. 1088 § 9, 2019; Ord. 1114 § 8, 2022; Ord. 25-1137, 12/15/2025; Ord. 26-1139, 1/20/2026)