Santa Cruz County Planning Director Tom Burns said he is aware of how complicated the futures may be for some people who built in rural areas, especially those who didn’t get permits because of money, a distaste for government’s authority or other reasons.

Was Burns surprised by the number of people living in non-conforming dwellings built without permits?

“I was not so surprised,” he said. “It is a pretty remote part of the county.”

Burns said that even though he understood people wanting to live off the grid, he said that homeowners still had to comply with building codes.

County Board Will Set Tone

Burns said that he’ll look to the county Board of Supervisors to determine how his department will proceed.

“We will see what tone the board sets,” Burns said. “[My intention] is not to make the experience [of recovering from the fire] more difficult.”

If one supervisor has her way, part of the solution will be to be timely with decisions.

“I’m anxious to see the report,” said Supervisor Jan Beautz, who was in office in the aftermath of the 1989 earthquake. “I think we need to come to reasonably quick decisions so people can move forward and know what they have to do. After the earthquake, the process was too long and became too cumbersome.”

Burns said that he has already brought together the various agencies that will be part of the decision-making process, including Cal Fire, the county’s health department and geology experts.

Part of the challenge will be determining what new geologic hazards were created with the fire. While the 1989 earthquake made visible some fault lines in an area where many homes existed, this May’s wildfire created a moonscape of some parts of the forest.

Mudslides and associated landslides are now issues, and Burns wants to be sure that new homes are properly situated on properties when owners go to reconstruct.

Beyond that, he said there will likely be a mixed set of rules.

A Mixed-Bag of Situations

Burns is preparing a report for supervisors on June 17, which will be presented at a public hearing.

Part of the challenge of the report is the number of situations he must cover.

There are three categories of people affected.

First, there are those who have been living in homes built before 1956. The question for these people is not whether they have a permit; they are not required to. Instead, the issue is whether in the last 50 years any improvements were made to the structure. For instance, Burns said, there might have been a 300-square-foot cabin built in 1955 that is a legal structure. However, over the years it may have been significantly expanded without permits. In this case, a homeowner will have to show he or she has the sufficient infrastructure �" for instance a properly sized septic tank �" in order to rebuild a larger dwelling.

Second, there are people who built small houses with permits after 1956, only to significantly expand their homes without permits. Burns doesn’t expect these people to face zoning issues �" in general all the parcels are very large �" but the homeowners will have to potentially meet other standards, like showing that their building pad is geologically sensitive to their property, recognizing some hazards exist.

The third group is those without any permit. Burns is more uncertain about what will happen to this group, noting that the county is always looking to help people bring their property into conformance even without a disaster having struck.

Still, there will be the permit to secure, potentially costly and time consuming.

“If they built a house without a permit, then that is an issue we will have to deal with,” he added.

One bit of good news is that the county is prepared to offer building permits for trailers and RVs, so property owners can return to their properties quickly. Burns expected to have these new rules established before the end of June.