Shasta County supervisors to discuss possible extension of Carr Fire recovery ordinance

It’s been nearly five years since the worst wildfire in Shasta County history ravaged the area, destroying homes and leaving eight people dead.

A county disaster recovery ordinance passed in September 2018 to help people recover from the Carr Fire is set to expire May 1, which has some displaced by the devastating wildfire worried that they will have nowhere to go if the county doesn't extend the deadline.

Under the ordinance, the use of RVs, manufactured homes, mobile homes and moveable tiny homes as temporary residences are permissible while the property owner rebuilds.

The Carr Fire, which started in late July 2018, destroyed 817 homes in the unincorporated parts of Shasta County and 266 in Redding.

On Tuesday eveing, Adam Fieseler, assistant director of Resource Management, will provide supervisors with an update on the disaster recovery ordinance. The public meeting starts at 5:30 p.m.

In late February, county officials sent out approximately 1,200 mailers to residents in Keswick, Shasta, French Gulch and the Lower Springs Road area west of Redding that alerted them of the May 1 deadline.

“We sent them where we knew RVs were potentially located,” Resource Management Director Paul Hellman said Monday.

Hellman estimated that his office received about 30 responses from people who were happy to see the ordinance coming to an end and about six from people living in temporary dwellings who said they had no plans to move.

“They were digging in their heels, saying they would continue living this way as long as we need to,” Hellman said.

Originally, the ordinance was scheduled to expire Aug. 9, 2021, but on Aug. 31, 2021, supervisors extended it to May 1, 2023.

Will supervisors extend it again?

Supervisor Tim Garman, whose second district was hit hard by the Carr Fire, asked Hellman’s department to give supervisors an update on Tuesday.

Garman said he’s talked to many people affected by the Carr Fire and about half are eager to see the ordinance end and half want an extension.

More: 'We've been here so long': Couple could've sold lot after fire, decides to rebuild instead

Garman has traveled around his district numerous times with county code enforcement officer Jonny Muller handing out housing assistance information to people still displaced by the Carr Fire.

“There has been a lot of response,” Garman said.

He said he anticipates residents affected by the Carr Fire will come to Tuesday’s meeting and he wants supervisors to hear that.

“I want them to make up their minds off the information that comes there,” Garman said of the possibility of extending the deadline.

Garman understands both sides and declined to say if he would vote to extend the deadline.

“We had three years of COVID, a year of supply issues, now we are stuck and you’re giving us three months to find a place to live,” Garman said of what some residents have told him.

“Then you get the other side, they have had five years, they could have rebuilt their house,” he added.

Both Garman and Hellman suspect that money is a big reason why people displaced by the Carr Fire haven’t rebuilt.

To date, 211 single-family homes destroyed by the Carr Fire have been rebuilt in unincorporated Shasta County and currently 43 building permits have been issued to rebuild, Fieseler said.

Property owners who have permit or apply for a permit before May 1 would not be affected by the deadline, Fieseler said.

In a report to supervisors, Hellman said approximately 80 temporary dwelling permits have been issued to people displaced by the fire.

One of the areas hit hard by the Carr Fire was Keswick west of Redding, where only two homes survived the wildfire.

Last summer, a Record Searchlight story reported the frustration of some residents who complained about junk and trash, motor homes, travel trailers and other vehicles scattered across burned out lots in Keswick.

Hellman said an issue in Keswick is the homes were built on small lots before current septic system standards.

“If the system damaged were to meet current standards, it would be very difficult” because of the small lot, he added.

In that respect, Garman said, Keswick residents have been hit a with double-whammy, but he understands that current septic system standards must be met when you rebuild a house.

“I get it. There’s no other thing we can do, but it still hurts,” he said.

David Benda covers business, development and anything else that comes up for the USA TODAY Network in Redding. He also writes the weekly "Buzz on the Street" column. He’s part of a team of dedicated reporters that investigate wrongdoing, cover breaking news and tell other stories about your community. Reach him on Twitter @DavidBenda_RS or by phone at 1-530-338-8323. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Shasta County takes up whether to extend Carr Fire recovery ordinance