Bruce E. Jones: What caused homes to burn? Bad planning

To Gov. Jerry Brown:

Back in the olden days, when I was a regional land use planner and your first administration was new, many of us hoped you would find a way to improve statewide land use planning that could resolve the inherent conflicts and gaps in our many-layered pile of regulatory bureaucracy. It can’t be denied that consistency and efficiency are limited by all the varying programs of governance, a mix of federal, state, regional, local agencies and special districts.

Such gaps and conflicts are illustrated by the current firestorms that don’t respect legal boundaries, with each watershed and jurisdiction treated differently by planners. Please review the Dec. 7 article by Richard Haley in the Los Angeles Times entitled “Why are California’s homes burning? It isn’t natural disaster it’s bad planning.” While nature does have a role here, it is inadequate land use planning and regulation that has led to such loss of structures.

Now is the time for statewide upgrading of all local construction codes and land use decisions for areas at risk from future wildfires – and that is pretty much all of California.

This story was originally published December 12, 2017 at 12:46 PM with the headline "Bruce E. Jones: What caused homes to burn? Bad planning."