Page 10 - Sonoma County Gazette - January 2018

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) works hard every day to provide safe and reliable electric service to our customers throughout Northern
and Central California. In October, strong winds impacted our service area resulting in extraordinary wildfires that devastated parts of Napa, Sonoma, Solano, Mendocino and Lake Counties. The fires left numerous dead or dying trees standing along power lines which – if not removed—can pose a threat to public safety. California law requires that dead, dying or diseased trees that have the potential to contact power lines be removed. PG&E is currently in the process of identifying and felling hazard trees along easements, right of ways and on private property that are hazards to public safety.
Work Involved
homeowner remains onsite, renting out extra space.
Contractors for PG&E, whose employees include Registered Professional Foresters (RPFs) or trained arborists, patrol the damaged area and mark fire- damaged trees for felling. Once tree inspections have been performed and hazardous trees have been marked, tree crews begin removal work.
PG&E expects to cut down as many as 25,000 hazard trees in the fire- impacted areas and expects to have work completed in early 2018.
During this hazard tree felling operation, PG&E will make reasonable efforts to notify property owners with information about tree removal efforts. Fire- damaged trees are clearly marked and notices are left at subject properties where separate parcels can be clearly identified. Individual residents are also contacted if located in the area.
PG&E recognizes that felled trees can leave behind a considerable amount of debris that can be difficult for homeowners to manage,
which is why we are offering a free service to move or remove the wood we cut down in fire-impacted areas. Customers must opt-in to this Wildfire Wood Management program by calling 1-800-743-5000.
Through this program, customers can request the removal of wood from qualifying hazard trees PG&E cuts down. PG&E contractors will haul away and dispose of the wood that is greater than 4” in diameter. The wood being removed from fire-impacted areas is generally not commercially viable, but PG&E’s contractors will often turn this woody debris into chips to be used for bio-fuel or mulch.
The Vacation Rental Ordinance can be found at sonomacounty.ca.gov/ PRMD/.
Neighborhoods interested in becoming VREZ can contact the Sonoma County Permit and Resource Management Department at 707-565-1900.
Sonoma Valley’s VREZ Maps can be found on our online version of the report: vacation-rentals-combining-district-map-series.pdf
Learn More: If you have any questions about this work please contact Tara Mortimeyer at (415) 257-3401 or visit pgecommitment.com
for a comprehensive overview of PG&E resources for our impacted customers.
10 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 1/18
VRBO-VREZ cont’d from page 8
But the Fifth District is a whole different animal, particularly in the Lower Russian River area. In fact, the recent moratorium excluded any discussion of the area at all, as it has traditionally been a vacation destination with a focus on transient housing and summer vacation rentals.
Fifth District
“(Former Fifth District Supervisor Efren) Carrillo was steadfast against it for the Lower River,” Gore recalls. “People showed up to stop it.”
The election of Lynda Hopkins to replace Carrillo in 2016 has done nothing to quell the ardor and independence of Russian River denizens, but Hopkins understands the impetus behind VREZ and the affect transient housing can have on neighborhoods.
“There are about a dozen towns and all have their own perspective,” she
said. “It’s a neighborhood by neighborhood issue and the decision
At the Dec. 5 meeting, Hopkins noted with some surprise that, despite the terrible toll taken on residential properties in the aftermath of the fires, there are several rental properties in that part of her district.
is hyper-local.”
She attributes that to the remoteness of a region nowhere near services, jobs or schools for Santa Rosa residents looking for a long-term temporary home while they go through what could be a multi-year rebuilding process.
“Someone who lived in Coffey Park doesn’t want to move to Cazadero and commute if they were working in Santa Rosa,” she said. “One of the challenges
going forward is how we gather the data we need to gather. ... How do we look at something that clearly has no ‘one size fits all’ solution?”
The extension on the moratorium adopted in December allows 21 vacation rental permit applications currently in the pipeline to move forward, halting any new applications while county staff analyzes data and creates a report to bring back to the board.
Additionally, it does not include hosted rentals, where the
Gorin is adamant about finding a vacation rental balance in remaining housing stock, particularly if the county sees an exodus of people unable to deal with the long and arduous task of rebuilding. She is concerned that speculators will scoop up lots on the cheap to build investment properties instead of housing within the means of those left behind.
“My fear is the rebuilding process will take longer than people expect or hope,” Susan said. “A lot are not comfortable with the process and are putting their lots on the market. We need to rebuild the community for the workforce. I’m far less interested in vacation rentals or mansions on the hill. We’re looking to keep those communities intact.”
Moving forward
Wild re Wood Management Program