The following standards shall apply to all, or some, of the foothill fire zones as noted by the letter(s) in parenthesis following the standard.
1. ACCESS AND CIRCULATION
A. Local hillside street standards shall be used to minimize grading and erosion potential while providing adequate access for vehicles, including emergency vehicles. The right-of-way shall be 48.5 feet with 40 feet of paved width and parking on both sides and a sidewalk on one side. (A + B)
B. Streets shall have a paved width of 32 feet with parking and sidewalk on 1 side of the street only and right-of-way of 40.5 feet, subject to review and recommendation by the Fire Chief and the City Engineer, with approval by the Commission. (A + B)
C. Subdivisions shall be designed to allow emergency vehicle access to wildland areas behind structures. This is to be accomplished in either of two ways:
1. Provide a perimeter street along the entire wildland side of a development; or
2. Provide a fuel-modified area, a minimum of 150 feet in depth from the rear of the structure, adjacent to the subdivision and connected to the interior street by flat 12-foot minimum access ways placed no more than 350 feet apart. If designed as a gated easement, access ways may be part of a side yard. (A + B, and C where abuts wildlands.)
D. No dead-end streets are permitted. Temporary cul-de-sacs are required. (A+B+C)
E. All permanent cul-de-sac turnarounds and curves shall be designed with a minimum radius of 40 feet to the curb face. No parking shall be allowed on the bulb of a cul-de-sac. (A+B+C)
F. Cul-de-sacs to a maximum of 750 feet in length may be permitted with a maximum of 30 dwelling units, and to a maximum of 1,000 feet in length with a maximum of 20 dwelling units. (A+B)
G. Driveways to residential garages of more than 30 feet in length shall extend for a minimum distance of 20 feet from the garage, on a maximum grade of 5%. Driveways less than 30 feet in length shall have a maximum grade of 8% for a minimum distance of 20 feet from the garage. No portion of a driveway shall exceed a grade of 15%, unless approved by the Fire Chief and City Engineer. Driveways shall be designed so that the algebraic difference in grades will not cause a vehicle to drag or hang-up. (A+B+C)
H. Hillside collector and arterial streets shall not exceed 8% grade. Hillside residential streets shall not exceed 15% grade. Grades of streets shall be as provided in this subsection, unless otherwise approved in writing by the Public Services, Fire, and Public Works Departments. (A+B+C)
I. A tentative tract or parcel map shall provide for at least two different standard means of ingress and egress which provide safe, alternate traffic routes subject to approval by the Fire Department. The two separate means of access shall be provided pursuant to Section 19.30.200 of this Development Code. (A+B+C)
2. SITE AND STREET IDENTIFICATION
A. Non-combustible and reflective street markers shall be visible for 100 feet pursuant to City standards. (A+B+C)
B. Non-combustible building addresses of contrasting colors shall be placed on the structure fronting the street. Four-inch high (residential) and 5-inch high (commercial) lettering and numbers visible at least 100 feet are required. (A+B+C)
3. ROADSIDE VEGETATION
All vegetation shall be maintained and all dead plant material shall be removed for a distance of 10 feet from curbline. (A+B+C)
4. WATER SUPPLY
A. Static water sources such as fire hydrants and wells shall have clear access on each side of at least 15 feet. (A+B+C)
B. A minimum of two private spigots facing the foothills/wildlands shall be required for each structure. (A+B+C)
C. Fire hydrants shall be identified with approved blue reflecting street markers. (A+B+C)
D. Each cul-de-sac greater than 300 feet in length shall have a minimum of 1 hydrant. (A+B+C)
E. Minimum fire flow shall be 1,000 gallons per minute. (A+B+C)
5. EROSION CONTROL
A. All fills shall be compacted. (A+B+C)
B. For all new projects, erosion and drainage control plans must be prepared by a licensed civil engineer, and be approved prior to permit issuance. (A+B+C)
C. The faces at all cut and fill slopes shall be planted with a ground cover approved by the City Engineer. This planting shall be done as soon as practicable and prior to final inspection. Planting of any slope less than five feet in vertical height, or a cut slope not subject to erosion due to the erosion-resistant character of the materials, may be waived by the City Engineer. An automatic irrigation system shall be installed for planted slopes in excess of 15 feet in vertical height, unless recommended otherwise in the preliminary soils report or waived by the City Engineer. If required by the City Engineer, a recommendation for types of planting materials shall be obtained from a Landscape Architect. The Landscape Architect shall, prior to final inspection, provide the City Engineer with a statement that the planting has been done in compliance with recommendations approved by the City Engineer. (A+B+C)
D. Erosion landscaping plans shall incorporate the use of fire resistant vegetation. (A+B+C)
E. All parties performing grading operations, under a grading permit issued by the City Engineer, shall take reasonable preventive measures, such as sprinkling by water truck, hydroseeding with temporary irrigation, dust palliative, and/or wind fences as directed by the City Engineer, to avoid earth or other materials from the premises being deposited on adjacent streets or properties, by the action of storm waters or wind, by spillage from conveyance vehicles or by other causes. Earth or other materials which are deposited on adjacent streets or properties shall be completely removed by the permittee as soon as practical, but in any event within 24 hours after receipt of written notice from the City Engineer to remove the earth or materials, or within such additional time as may be allowed by written notice from the City Engineer. In the event that any party performing grading shall fail to comply with these requirements, the City Engineer shall have the authority to engage the services of a contractor to remove the earth or other materials. All charges incurred for the services of the contractor shall be paid to the City by the permittee prior to acceptance of the grading. (A+B+C)
6. CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT DESIGN
A. Building standards governing the use of materials and construction methods for structures contained within the Foothill Fire Zones shall be in accordance with the San Bernardino Municipal Code Section 15.10.
B. A slope analysis shall be filed with all discretionary applications for all projects in Fire Zones A & B consistent with the Hillside Management section of the General Plan and Section 19.17.080(2) of this Development Code. (A+B)
C. Structures shall be located only where the upgraded slope is 50% or less. If the building pad is adjacent to a slope which is greater than 50% and is greater than 30 feet in height, a minimum pad setback of 30 feet from the edge of the slope is required. The setback may be less than 30 feet only when the entire slope, or 100 feet adjacent to the building pad, whichever is less, is landscaped with fire resistant vegetation and maintained by an automatic irrigation system. (A+B)
D. All proposed property lines shall be placed at the top of slopes, except where the original parcel's exterior boundary line does not extend to the top of the slope. (A+B+C)
E. Development on existing slopes exceeding 30% or greater may occur if in conformance with all applicable ordinances, statutes and California Environmental Quality Act review. (A)
F. Structures shall be permitted in narrow canyon mouths or ridge saddles, only if approved by the City Engineer and Fire Department. (A+B)
G. All new structures requiring permits, including accessory structures, guest housing or second units shall conform to all applicable fire zone standards. (A+B+C)
H. Excluding openings, all exterior elements, including walls, garage doors, fences, etc., shall be free of exposed wood (as defined in Chapter 15.10). (A+B, and C where abuts wildlands.)
I. The minimum distance between structures shall be 60 feet in Zone A and 30 feet in Zone B, unless otherwise approved by the Fire Chief with concurrence by the Development Review Committee. (A+B)
J. A fuel-modification plan, or a reasonable equivalent alternative as approved by the Fire Chief is required. The plan, shall include a "wet zone" of a minimum depth of 50 feet of irrigated landscaping behind any required setback and "thinning zones" of a minimum depth of 100 feet of drought tolerant, low volume vegetation, adjacent to any natural area behind structures and provisions for maintenance. A fire model shall be prepared pursuant to Section 19.30.200(6) (D)(3). (A+B, and C where abuts wildlands.)
K. Retrofitting of any element is required when more than 25% replacement of that element occurs; i.e., roofing, fencing. (A+B+C)
7. MISCELLANEOUS
A. All future transfers of property shall disclose to the purchaser at the time of purchase agreement and the close of escrow the high fire hazard designation applicable to the property. (A+B+C)
B. Firebreak fuel modification zones shall be maintained, when required, through homeowner associations, assessment districts or other means. (A+B+C)