Non-county maintained roads still need to be maintained. 

When faced with how to manage shared private roads for fire safety, what can communities do?

Here are two success stories from Marin County:

SOUTHERN MARIN

Autumn Lane Fire Safe Work Day - November 24

On a warm evening in October, Tamalpais Valley resident Christina Waldeck smelled smoke and called 911.  An engine from Southern Marin Fire District responded, but had trouble driving all the way up her road due to low hanging branches and overgrown vegetation along the narrow roadsides. The smoke turned out to be from a woodstove not a wildfire, but the fire department realized there was still a lot of work to do. Captain Cary Gloeckner talked with Christina about organizing a community fire safe work day to clear out the roadsides and create vertical clearance so fire engines would be able to get through. Captain Gloeckner has a long track record of working with homeowners to create FIREWISE communities, and proudly calls Autumn Lane his "newest project area." 

The date was set for Sunday, November 24 and Christina began notifying her neighbors. Southern Marin Fire District will provide a chipper and 6 firefighters in return for volunteer labor contributions by the community, as well as their participation in a FIREWISE fire safety class, and a commitment to develop a community vegetation management plan. The homeowners will cut and pile vegetation on their properties and cover the cost of an additional 4-person crew to help drag cut material to the chipper. In conjunction with ongoing work for the Tamalpais Valley Community Service District (TCSD), Clement Tree Service will haul the chips and green waste to the TCSD yard, and Redwood Engineering will transport the material to West Marin Compost in Nicasio. Captain Gloeckner will offer two fire safety classes (November 30 and early 2014) after the work day, and will also lead the vegetation management planning process that will follow.  

Autumn Lane has only one way in, and one way out.  It ends in a vast expanse of coastal scrub and oak woodland that is part of Golden Gate National Recreation Area, creating a classic example of wildland-urban interface where FIREWISE practices are especially important.  

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Brush clearance along Drake's View Drive improves sightlines for drivers. Note the open area to the left of the car where a large tree was recently removed. Photo by Ed Stetson.  

WEST MARIN

Measure N for Paradise Ranch Estates Road District

In 2006, residents in  Paradise Ranch Estates, a subdivision in Inverness Park, voted on Measure N:

Shall a special tax of up to $275.00 in the first year and $185.00 per parcel per year for a period of the next nine (9) years be confirmed and the appropriations limit of Paradise Ranch Estates Permanent Road Division be increased by the proceeds of such tax? 

This measure passed by a wide majority and now provides an annual budget of $20K for roadside vegetation management in the subdivision. Paradise Ranch Estates learned the importance of well maintained evacuation routes during the 1995 Vision Fire, and they know how quickly a storm can make roads un-driveable.  

Road Advisory Board Member Tamia Marg paints a picture of how the road system in Paradise Ranch Estates is managed today:

"Every year, the Paradise Ranch Estates Road Advisory Board puts together multiple strategically-timed vegetation management projects.  The goals of our vegetation management are to reduce road-side ignition hazard, maintain visibility on our narrow winding road system, protect our roads from falling trees, while keeping the character of a park-like wooded retreat. Flashy fuels need to be weed-whipped at the point where most will not regrow after being cut to the ground and before the fire season, usually by June. While it would be good to cut most of these weeds before they go to seed, it is not practical to cut them repeatedly. Trimming back shrubs and trees from the road edge and to improve sight lines and clear around fire hydrants ideally happens before mid March or after mid-July, bird nesting season. In 2010 Sudden Oak Death (SOD) became noticeable on our hill, and since 2011, we began proactively cutting SOD-killed trees that lean over the roads. Throughout this work, we encourage good communication between the neighbors, both directly and through the Inverness Ridge Association, the contractors, and the road advisory board." 

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