The City of Santa Rosa is asking for the public’s input on extending all or portions of two ordinances created following three wildfires since 2017 and the COVID-19 pandemic and that are set to expire on Dec. 31.

Since 2017, the City of Santa Rosa has been utilizing two ordinances, also known as the Resilient City ordinances, that have provided streamlined and quicker accessibility to city services to address housing and economic development needs in the immediate aftermath of several local disasters and declared emergencies, including three wildfires and the COVID-19 pandemic. With the ordinances set to expire on Dec. 31, the City is exploring incorporating all or a portion of the measures into the Zoning Code and removing the expiration date.

The ordinances were initially created and approved to speed up the planning process for those impacted by the 2017 Tubbs Fire and later were updated to help those impacted by the Kincaid and Glass Fires, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic. They cover a wide variety of City development including the rebuilding of structures lost to natural disasters, the creation of temporary housing and mobile food vending, and the streamlining of the review of applications for new housing, among others.

The City needs the public’s input on what portions of the ordinances should be continued, what should be changed, and what could be eliminated altogether. Residents are asked to take a survey to give their feedback (encuesta en español). Feedback gathered through this survey and through public comment will be presented to the Planning Commission and City Council later this year.

Go to SRCity.org/RCSurvey to review the current ordinances, find out more information, and take the survey.