Discussion: Potential Resource Protection Pilot Program zoning code text amendment.
 

The purpose of this work session is to consider the development of a pilot program to address Forest Resource preservation requirements for both developed and undeveloped properties within the Resource Protection Overlay (RPO).  The pilot program will be a joint effort between the Flagstaff Fire Department and the Community Development Division to integrate new technology as well as the principles of the recently adopted Forest Management Plan.  The pilot program is intended to inform future permanent revisions to the Flagstaff Zoning Code intended to support the preservation of resources in our community.

The City of Flagstaff is surrounded by the largest continuous ponderosa pine forest in the world. It is flanked by sacred peaks and canyons. The ponderosa pine forests of northern Arizona have existed for thousands of years and evolved to benefit from frequent fires ignited by both seasonal monsoonal weather patterns and cultural burning practices. Unfortunately, more than a century of management based on excluding cultural burning and suppressing lightning-based ignitions has left the forest in an altered condition. These changes threaten Flagstaff's natural resources, economy, built environment, water resources, municipal infrastructure, and quality of life.
 
Frequent, low-intensity fire is required for a healthy ponderosa pine ecosystem. These fires do not pose a community-wide threat if the built environment properly considers science-based defensible space and home-hardening strategies.

The City of Flagstaff has a robust collaborative process that assures that developable land complies with the 2024 Forest Management Plan and the Resource Protection Standards within the Zoning Code. The current process requires a Developer to submit a Forest Stewardship Plan to the Flagstaff Fire Department’s Wildland Fire Management Program. This Stewardship Plan must be fully implemented before any construction begins. The next step related to tree protection for developers involves working with Community Development staff to document compliance with the Resource Protection Standards.
 
The challenge with the current planning process is that thinning without knowing the final development plat (roads, driveways, and building envelopes) most certainly removes trees that should be retained, and forces the retention of trees that conflict with the desired conditions of the 2024 Forest Management Plan and the best available wildfire risk reduction built environment science.
 
City staff have dedicated significant time over the last year to better understand each division's needs and how the current process impacts planning outputs and development costs. The outcome of this effort is a proposal for the City of Flagstaff Forest and Vegetation Management Pilot Project - a 3-year effort based on better aligning the current thinning and resource protection process.
The intent of this pilot is to improve the integration of the 2024 Forest Management Plan Desired Conditions and Resource Protection Standards.
 
Staff believe this pilot will enhance community well-being by:

1. Protecting the community from undesirable wildfire by improved mitigation of hazards in the built environment
2. Ensuring built environment forest sustainability by improving long-term forest health, carbon storage, and other natural benefits of the forest.
3. Providing improved resource management guidance to the customers we service using modern technology, for example, LiDAR.
4. Developing new business practices based on the best available science and technologies that can reduce build costs while designing more fire-adapted and insurable communities.

The implementation of this pilot will still require full compliance with the intent of the 2024 Forest Management Plan and Resource Protection Standards. Our hypothesis is that we can better align forest stewardship plans and natural resource protection plans if they are developed and implemented in parallel, rather than in sequence.