Retired Santa Barbara County Fire Marshal Speaks Out Against Painted Cave Housing Development 

In a first, recently retired Santa Barbara County Fire Marshal Rob Hazard spoke out against a housing development last month, countering the findings of county planners and warning of fire risks. 

It unfolded at the last meeting of the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission on December 3, concerning a county-approved development in the unincorporated area of Painted Cave. Commissioners sided with Hazard, prompting another uncommon occurrence: voting 4-1 in favor of an appeal and against county staff’s recommendation. 

Painted Cave residents filed the appeal of the project, which includes two large houses on less than a quarter-acre next to Laurel Springs Ranch. The core of their appeal was the fire risks — backed-up roads during evacuations, buildings in close proximity to each other spreading fire, and, of course, Painted Cave’s state designation as a “Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone.”

Hazard, hired by the appellant’s attorney Marc Chytilo, took issue with the county’s response to the appeal. He retired from County Fire in 2024 after collecting decades of experience, including time on the Los Padres Hot Shot crew. 

As fire marshal, Hazard saw many county projects be denied due to fire risk. He said it was “surreal” to see this project approved, without more stringent reviews and design requirements, when he’s seen the county “play hardball” for projects in communities with lower fire risks. 

“This one caught me off guard… [Painted Cave] has the highest fire risk of any community in Santa Barbara County. It’s just a matter of time before they lose most of the homes in the upper community where this project is going to be built,” he said. “It’s just ironic.”

The area has all the ingredients to cook up a bad fire: steep slopes, dense chaparral, and frequent extreme fire weather conditions, including local Sundowner winds, or strong offshore winds that can drive destructive wildfire events. 

In 1990, a fire did scorch the area, pushed by offshore winds and devastating the Santa Ynez Mountains and killing two people. Then in 2019, the Cave Fire erupted on El Camino Cielo Ridge, scorching thousands of acres and prompting evacuations for Painted Cave.

Recent fire modeling from the Santa Barbara County Fire Safe Council conducted for the area indicates the potential for flame lengths exceeding 25 feet on those steep slopes surrounding the project sites, Hazard noted. And the narrow, one-way roads winding through Painted Cave make evacuations a problem, he said. 

Chytilo and his client, Painted Cave resident Michelle Peterson, filed an appeal of the county’s 2023 approval of the development, citing these risks. When Hazard read the county’s response to the appeal — which seemed to wave a hand at what he deemed significant enough risks to deny the proposals — he accepted Chytilo’s offer to share his insights as a consultant. 

“Many, many of the things they brought up that were related to fire protection and fire risk were just not correct,” Hazard said. “And so I was like, ‘Okay, I have to talk about this.’ There’s just no way you can’t nowadays. I mean, 10,000 homes burned down in Palisades. I’m sure there’s a lot of people that were involved in planning that community back in the day.”

For background, the proposed development neighbors Laurel Springs Ranch, both of which are owned by Edward Czuker. Historically, the ranch was used as a retreat center and has been the site of some sustainable farming, as well as served as an emergency gathering site for Painted Cave residents in the past.  

“The Applicant has demonstrated a long-standing commitment to thoughtful development,” Czuker’s response reads. “The Applicant has gone above and beyond to address feedback and minimize impacts,” since acquiring the parcels in 2013 and hearing the appeals. It adds that Czuker studied the land and invested time and resources to ensure the project aligns with community values and incorporates natural materials and native plants that are fire resistant. 

“Santa Barbara County faces an undeniable need for additional housing, and these projects offer a responsible solution by providing homes for employees of the neighboring historic Laurel Springs Ranch — owned by the Applicant — or for the Applicant’s family members,” it says.

Laurel Springs Ranch is an important part of the community, but the potential for the proposed development to compromise community safety is too great to ignore, Chytilo said.

These two proposed homes are about three times the size of the average house in Painted Cave, and on smaller lots, in a biologically sensitive area, the appellants argued. But most problematically to Hazard, the area is not well-suited to survive a wildfire. 

“It is true to say that all of the permit conditions would be met, like the fire code requirements, the building code requirements, all those things, if they just process this project through ministerially,” Hazard noted. “But all of those codes have an intent behind them.”

For example, Hazard said there would not be enough room for defensible space — a fire buffer and safety zone for fire fighters — around the cramped lots. The state requires at least 100 feet of defensible space around homes, which could not be achieved without the clearing of adjacent parcels, according to Hazard. 

Another example was road access: The driveway meets the requirements, but the county road is “horrible,” Hazard said. Traffic jams on those roads are not uncommon during evacuations. 

“I have firsthand experiences of fire trucks getting stuck up there during the Cave Fire,” Hazard recounted. “The evacuation system and the transportation infrastructure up there has empirically failed on numerous occasions.”

He said that, as far as fire risk, the project, and the area as a whole, “needs a higher level of review.” What if the county did an analysis of how long it takes a fire truck to get up there? he mused. What if they did an analysis of the water system? 

“Maybe there’s a few things that could be done to at least ramp us toward a better infrastructure up there,” he said. “So I think the property owner will still get to build his two houses, but maybe he builds them in a way that they’re a little more safe.”

Planning commissioners agreed with Chytilo and Hazard, expressing real concerns for residents’ safety, and made the motion to deny the project based on those reservations. The county does not deny many projects, but the commission voted 4-1 to uphold the appeal and continued the item to January 28. At that meeting, county staff will present findings for denial of the project, which commissioners are likely to do, Chytilo said. That will open up an appeal to the Board of Supervisors, which the developer will likely pursue. 

Hazard said he hopes this project can “shed a little bit of light” on overlooked problems with county infrastructure, fire risks, and public safety.

“I wasn’t trying to embarrass the county planners or the County Fire staff — they used to be my staff; they were good friends of mine,” he said. “But, I’m a fifth-generation Santa Barbarian. This is my home. I am not leaving here ever, and when things need to be improved, you just have to speak truth to that. Local government seems to get it mostly right, but sometimes it doesn’t.”

When asked if he would provide his services for projects in the future, he said that he is not a “hired gun” and that he would take them on a case-by-case basis. 

“You can’t pay lip service to fire mitigation anymore,” he said. “It has to be all hands on deck.”