Wildfire Development Permit Area

Living near the great outdoors comes with great responsibility. Wildfires are a reality of living amongst our region’s rural, natural beauty, and it’s our job to ensure we are doing our part to protect our natural environment, people and property from the potential negative impacts of wildfires.

Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPPs) identify many areas within the Regional District of Central Kootenay (RDCK) as having moderate-high to high-extreme wildfire threat/probability. The RDCK is looking at how to help protect our region from wildfire hazards.

Making our homes and properties FireSmart is a great place to start, but what else can we do to help build wildfire resilience in our communities?

A Wildfire Development Permit Area (DPA) is a key tool that can help reduce wildfire impacts, and has been identified as a high priority item in the CWPPs to address wildfire hazards in the RDCK. 

The RDCK began exploring the creation of a Wildfire DPA for its eleven Electoral Areas (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J and K) in 2022. The project consisted of a best management practices review, public and stakeholder engagement, and a final summary report with recommendations for next steps. Click the link below to view the Summary Report:

Wildfire Development Permit Area Summary Report

The recommendations in the Summary Report will be evaluated by RDCK staff and the Board of Directors to determine whether a Wildfire DPA should be implemented in the Electoral Areas.

Community Engagement 

The RDCK sought feedback from community members to better understand their level of support for implementing a Wildfire DPA in their Electoral Area to increase their property’s wildfire resilience. Feedback was collected through a community survey, which was open from August 8th to September 5th, as well as two workshops on August 16th and 17th, 2022. The engagement results are included in the Summary Report.

What is a Wildfire DPA?

A Wildfire DPA is a set of development policies and guidelines that can help build wildfire resilience by ensuring new development in wildfire interface areas are less susceptible to wildfire hazards.

The RDCK is considering creating a Wildfire DPA to:

• Reduce the risks associated with wildfire for new development
• Increase the community’s resilience to wildfire hazards and climate change by reducing wildfire impacts as part of the land development process

For more information, visit our FAQS.

Are you FireSmart?

Following FireSmart principles for your property can help reduce the potential impacts of wildfires to your home and others. Learn more about how you can be FireSmart by clicking here.

Questions?

Contact Corey Scott, RDCK Planner, at 250-352-8162 or via email at cscott@rdck.bc.ca.

 

The content on this page was last updated March 2 2023 at 4:24 AM

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