December 24, 2025 · Wui Vegetation Code Workgroup
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Resident Guide Written Materials: Proposed Ideas with Context for the Resident Guide
Written Materials: Email from member Margit Roos-Collins regarding prohibition on any new combustible structure at or within five feet of a property line shared with a neighboring lot. 12/24/2025 AGENDA Page 1 Agenda packet includes materials that are not agendized for discussion or action WORK GROUP REPORTS Adjournment This meeting will be conducted in accordance with the Brown Act, Government Code Section 54953. Any member of the public may attend this meeting. Questions regarding this matter may be addressed to the Wildland Urban Interface Division of the Berkeley Fire Department, wildfire@berkeleyca.gov 510-981-5620. Communications to Berkeley boards, commissions or committees are public record and will become part of the City’s electronic records, which are accessible through the City’s website. Please note: E-mail addresses, names, addresses, and other contact information are not required but, if included in any communication to a City board, commission, or committee, will become part of the public record. If you do not want your e-mail address or any other contact information to be made public, you may deliver communications via U.S. Postal Service or in person to the secretary of the relevant board, commission, or committee. If you do not want your contact information included in the public record, please do not include that information in your communication. Please contact the secretary to the relevant board, commission, or committee for further information. Any writings or documents provided to a majority of the commission regarding any item on this agenda will be made available for public inspection at Berkeley Fire Department located at 2100 Martin Luther King Jr. Way Berkeley, CA. COMMUNICATION ACCESS INFORMATION: This meeting is being held in a wheelchair-accessible location. To request a disability-related accommodation(s) to participate in the meeting, including auxiliary aids or services, please contact the Disability Services specialist at 981-6418 (V) or 981-6347 (TDD) at least three business days before the meeting date. Please refrain from wearing scented products to this meeting. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I hereby certify that the agenda for this regular/special meeting of the WUI Vegetation Code Workgroup was posted at the front of the Old City of Berkeley City Hall Bulletin Board, as well as on the City’s website, three days prior to the scheduled Commission meeting. SECRETARY SIGNATURE Colin Arnold 12/24/2025 AGENDA Page 2 Agenda packet includes materials that are not agendized for discussion or action From: Margit Roos-Collins To: Wild Fire; Arnold, Colin Subject: FW: item request for WUI Veg agenda Date: Friday, December 19, 2025 6:35:56 AM WARNING: This is not a City of Berkeley email. Do not click links or attachments unless you trust the sender and know the content is safe. Please include the email below in the packet for next week, as opposed to just adding the item to the agenda. I’d like members to have time to think about this before the meeting. Thank you! Margit From: Margit Roos-Collins <margit@rooscollins.net> Date: Friday, December 12, 2025 at 3:28 PM To: "Arnold, Colin" <CArnold@berkeleyca.gov>, Wild Fire <wildfire@berkeleyca.gov> Subject: item request for WUI Veg agenda I request that we devote some time to a topic I think we missed, namely, that Berkeley’s WUI Fire Code should contain a prohibition on any new combustible structure at or within five feet of a property line shared with a neighboring lot (as opposed to a property line bordered by the street), at least in the HFHSZ and VHFHSZ. Given that the Fire Department (and fire science) supports maximizing the observance of Zone 0’s around each combustible structure and given the principle that neighbors should not be allowed to make choices that negatively impact each other’s properties, this seems obvious but isn’t in the code. What is the process for the Fire Department to propose that addition, given that the Council has just adopted the new code revisions? Also, the guidance document will eventually need to address how you plan to manage impacts from existing structures across property lines, unless that plan is mooted by the state’s language. The state’s current rule plead says: For the purposes of compliance with defensible space requirements, the addition of any building, including an Accessory Dwelling Unit as defined in Gov Code section 66313, on a neighboring property shall not require a landowner to create additional defensible space on their property and shall not result in that landowner being found to be out of compliance with defensible space regulation. [p. 3 of October Rule Plead https://34c031f8-c9fd-4018-8c5a- 4159cdff6b0d-cdn-endpoint.azureedge.net/-/media/bof-website/projects-and- programs/defensible-space-zones-0-1-2/october-zone-0-summary-and-rule- plead.pdf? rev=927f9551dc7b4f15b8263671cca15ef2&hash=F80F2C5451370BB3C855E38 CCCC516D4 While Berkeley can make stricter rules than the state’s, I’d be surprised if that includes ignoring a direct “shall not.” Either the state Zone 0 rules bind Local Responsibility Areas or they don’t. I’d like to get clear on what Berkeley’s stance is on this, given a couple of comments in our meetings indicating that the state’s jurisdiction over LRAs isn’t as clear as our conversations have assumed. Cheers, Margit WUI VEGETATION CODE WORKGROUP REGULAR MEETING DECEMBER 16, 2025 1:00 PM BFD Division of Training – 997 Cedar Street Fire Chief’s Representative – Asst. Chief Colin Arnold Assistant Chief David Winnacker Eric Weaver Richard Illgen Margit Roos-Collins George Perez-Velez DRAFT MINUTES Preliminary Matters Call to Order: 1:00 PM Present: • Assistant Fire Chief, Colin Arnold • Assistant Fire Chief, David Winnacker • Eric Weaver • Margit Roos-Collins (via teleconference) • Richard Illgen • George Perez-Velez Approval of December 10 Minutes Motion by Richard Illgen with a reservation to amend the minutes to reflect one public comment made on Agenda Item 1 and seconded by Eric Weaver. Public Comment on Non-Agenda Matters Public Members: 3 comments Member George Perez-Velez moved to allow a brief, informal community discussion on non-agenda items for up to five minutes. The motion was seconded by Richard Illgen. Following the initial five-minute period, Member Margit Roos-Collins moved to allow an additional five minutes for continued informal community discussion on non-agenda items. The motion was seconded by George Perez-Velez. 12/16/2025 DRAFT MINUTES Page 1 AGENDA MATTERS All Regular agenda matters are for discussion and possible action.