here we go … A few degrees warmer than yesterday.

On another note, I am happy to see the F&G wardens patrolling so thoroughly. I am sure they are responsible for citing all the illegal campfires, BUT that doesn’t give them permission to come through my property whenever it is convenient. A month or two ago it was 6 am, this morning it was 8:30 am. I’ve got s call in to their lieutenant. The rules for law enforcement are: fire or life and death. Period. NOT convenience. That doesn’t work for me,

The show is over … The skies are clear and the temperature is creeping up to 70. The fog is high, blanketing both the Willow Creek Watershed and the  Prewitt Watershed. The fog is less than 500 feet below me, but it will help to keep humidity rates high – a good thing in August. From what I can determine, all lightning-caused fires in Big Sur, Carmel Highlands, and Carmel Valley are out.

However, there were a lot of down strikes in our County. I would remind people that we need to continue to be vigilant, especially if temperatures climb. When the lightning strikes hit SLO County last time, the Bridge Fire in Cambria started FIVE DAYS after the lightning stopped. The fire east of Hearst Castle took 8 days to smolder before it broke out. Everyone in the areas of last night’s down strikes need to continue to be observant.

Also, hunting season starts down here tomorrow. A bullet striking a rock has been known to cause a spark which becomes a wildfire. Governor Brown has declared a state of emergency for the entire State of California due to heightened fire dangers and ongoing fires. Let’s all be safe and protective of this land we love.

11:00 pm – A vegetation fire broke out near Treebones and the bottom of Willow Creek around 10:20 or so during that last round of lightning strikes all around here.  BSVFB was first on the scene. LPF 16 was dispatched, as well as Cal Fire units from both San Luis Obispo and Monterey County. Jon Knight was giving Martha Karstens a report when I called her back. Saying there is NO RROS (rapid rate of spread) which is a good thing. Will stay up and report for the next hour, then hopefully, off to bed.

08/06/2015 22:45 LPF-2339
New Wildfire MM 1 11.00 WILLOW CREEK ROAD M . BC11LPF BC12LPF CRW1LPF E319LPF UT17 . . . 35.887 x 121.459

the good news is I have received two short but strong downpours since then.

there are also reports of fires in Carmel Highlands and Carmel Valley, but I have no details.

it started about 10 minutes before 8 pm. The lightning looked as if it came from the sun, which was partially hidden by the clouds. I could see the rain over the ocean, too. Then I noticed a brightening of the sky to my north-northeast, but the thunder was distant … So the lightning must be, too. Over the ocean, there were many strikes of different types. Most were lightning bolts. Some were horizontal. I saw one long-lasting one which seemed to extend over the bottoms of all the clouds.

The lightning over the ocean headed north, and slightly east. It looked like it was going over land, possibly around Monterey Bay, perhaps Santa Cruz.

At 9:41 or so, it really picked up … Thunder was loud and close-really close – South Coast Ridge Rd above Prewitt. The dogs are going nuts. I put two in the closet with the light on and the door shut. A third hides at my feet under my desk. Five minutes later the rain came. It probably won’t stick around, but it’s sound is musical. The symphony becomes predominately the bass drums.

I have a feeling it will be a long night for many of us – especially the dogs.

A red flag warning has been issued for Monterey County due to a low pressure system that will bring the possibility of dry lightning to the area.

Be alert, vigilant, and watchful for any down strikes and smoke. Resources are stretched extremely thin and the Rocky Fire is still raging to our north. Fortunately, at least up here, winds are nil and humidity is 57%.

Todays SLO weather forecast says: “An area of low pressure off the California coast will gradually move eastward across the Central Coast tonight into Friday. This system will bring increasing clouds and a chance
for scattered sprinkles throughout the Central Coast. A possibility of thunderstorms could develop in northern San Luis Obispo County. This system will also produce a chance for dry lightning which will bring increasing fire concerns tonight into Friday.”
“A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now or will shortly. A combination of winds, low relative humidity and warm temperatures can contribute to extreme fire behavior.

Dry thunderstorms are expected to develop over Monterey and San Benito counties late this morning and spreading northward. The thunderstorm threat is expected to become more widespread this afternoon and lasting into the evening and overnight hours.

The warning is for, among other areas, the southern Salinas Valley, Arroyo Seco, Lake San Antonio, Santa Lucia Mountains, Los Padres National Forest, mountains of San Benito and interior Monterey County including Pinnacles National Park, northern Salinas Valley, Hollister valley, Carmel Valley, northern Monterey Bay, southern Monterey Bay and Big Sur Coast.”

Tanker from Paso on way. Other than that, I have no details. Will update when I can.

Just a small spot fire I am told.

there are so many wildfires going on, it is hard too keep track. The Rocky Wildfire is the most serious, at the moment. It has caused the evacuation of thousands of people, and 24 homes have been lost. But there is a new start in Ventura County that has the potential to go large. This one:

Recent Incidents (Prepared 08/02/2015 14:01)

Date Inc # Name Type Location WebComment Resources IC Fuels Acres Lat/Lon
08/02/2015 13:20 LPF-2288the above is the Rocky Fire.
Chorro Wildfire HWy . 3W 7EDW5 BC22LPF BC41LPF BC52LPF CRW8LPF E31LPF 4X4 E331BKF E338LPF4X4 E342LPF 4X E348CNF E352LPF E372LPF E41LPF E46LPF Gila T2IA HEL528LPF PAT51ALPF PAT53LPF Q . . 5 34.582 x 119.358

WHEN WILL PEOPLE LEARN. The whole friggin northern part of the state is on fire, a firefighter DIED on the line yesterday, but idiots continue to have illegal campfires! What does it take? Sorry, my last nerve just snapped.

Recent Incidents (Prepared 08/01/2015 14:06)

Date Inc # Name Type Location WebComment Resources IC Fuels Acres Lat/Lon
08/01/2015 14:00 LPF-2269
New Wildfire NACIMIENTO RD/HWY 1 M . BC12LPF . . . 35.991 x 121.494

08/01/2015 12:20 LPF-2265
New Wildfire plaskett ridge cg .

and there is a hard-to-get-to vegetation fire in Santa Maria I am trying to get info on.

Your recent interpretation memo did not cite to any particular code section, to justify your statement (and the County’s position) that short-term rentals are “prohibited” inside the Coastal Zone. If the County’s position is based on the two code sections cited by Mr. Rodriguez, I think that these sections are patently inadequate to justify the claim of a “prohibition” on short-term rentals. Your memo correctly notes that “long-term” rentals of residential properties are “not regulated,” and that therefore there is no restriction on persons undertaking long-term rentals. Within the Coastal Zone, “short-term” rentals are also “not regulated.” The code sections cited by Mr. Rodriguez treat both long-term and short-term rentals of real property the same. There is no legal basis for the County to say that short term rentals, thus, should be treated differently from long-term rentals, and there is no basis to claim that they are “prohibited” in the Coastal Zone while long-term rentals are not.

In the Inland areas, certainly, short-term rentals are prohibited, unless a permit is obtained. The original idea was that a similar system would apply in the Coastal Zone, but the County, in fact, never followed through. At some point, apparently, the County decided that it could have the benefit of a regulation of short-term rentals in the Coastal Zone without actually taking the trouble to enact an ordinance to regulate them. This is legally unsupportable – and is actually kind of outrageous.

My client is a “group,” and the members of the group that I have talked to, some of them professionals who were involved in the development of the 1997 ordinance, say that the County’s attempt to prohibit short-term rentals in the Coastal Zone is relatively recent. I don’t really know when such enforcement activities commenced, and if I am incorrect about past enforcement practices, I would definitely defer to your experience. Of course, that makes no difference on the legal point. If the County doesn’t have any legal basis to prohibit short-term rentals in the Coastal Zone, a past practice of telling property owners that short-term rentals are prohibited doesn’t provide the County with any authority to continue that practice. The County needs to cite an actual code section that says that short-term rentals in the Coastal Zone are regulated, or it’s clear that they are not (any more than long-term rentals are).

The Monterey County Vacation Rental Alliance has been trying to work, through Supervisor Potter’s office, to help develop an ordinance that could pass muster with the Coastal Commission, that would be fair, and that would regulate short-term rentals in both inland and Coastal areas in an effective way. Until the County has developed such an ordinance, and has obtained Coastal Commission certification, MCVRA is requesting that the County take the following actions: (1) stop telling members of the public that persons entering into a short-term rental of residential property in the Coastal Zone are doing something “illegal;” (2) stop the County’s so-called “enforcement” activities against property owners who are undertaking short-term rentals in the Coastal Zone. If short-term rentals in the Coastal Zone are associated with nuisance conditions, the County can enforce its ordinances against nuisances; if property owners are undertaking short-term rentals but are not complying with the County’s TOT ordinance, the County can prosecute them for that.

What the County cannot do (legally) is to seek to enforce a set of regulations that don’t exist. Short-term rentals in the Coastal Zone are “not regulated.” They are just the same as long-term rentals in that respect. As far as I can tell (and I do ask that the County provide me with a citation to any authority that I may have missed) there is NO basis in the County Code for the County to seek to impose penalties on persons who engage in short-term rentals in the Coastal Zone, simply because somebody in the County has decided that they don’t like short-term rentals. The County needs to operate according to a “rule of law.” In 1977, the County adopted a law on short-term rentals, but they did not take the steps necessary to make that law extend into the Coastal Zone. The County sent their ordinance to the Coastal Commission, and the Commission staff asked the County to consider some changes, and the County just dropped its efforts.

Eighteen years have passed, and the County still doesn’t have an ordinance for properties in the Coastal Zone. Until the County has such an ordinance, please stop pretending that the County can regulate or prohibit short-term rentals in the Coastal Zone without actually doing the work necessary to enact the required regulations!

Best to you.

Gary A. Patton, Attorney at Law
P.O. Box 1038
Santa Cruz, CA 95061
Telephone: 831-332-8546
Email: gapatton@gapattonlaw.com
Website: http://www.gapatton.net