Property owners, voters can protest dissolution of South County Fire District

A Santa Clara County commission will hold a hearing on May 7 to receive written protests regarding a proposal to dissolve the South Santa Clara County Fire Protection District. 

The protest hearing, conducted by the Local Agency Formation Commission of Santa Clara County (LAFCO), will take place at 9:30am at the County Government Center, Room No. 157, 70 West Hedding Street in San Jose. 

To find out if you own land or are a registered voter in the SCFD, or to download a protest form, visit the LAFCO site at https://tinyurl.com/2s46by3a. 

On February 6, LAFCO received an application initiated by SCFD and the Santa Clara County Fire Protection District (CCFD) proposing the reorganization of the two districts that includes dissolution of the SCFD. The application also includes the annexation of SCFD territory into the CCFD; and a Sphere of Influence (SOI) amendment for the CCFD to include the SCFD SOI, says a LAFCO staff report.

The fire district reorganization proposal was previously approved by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. 

SCFD’s boundary encompasses about 288 square miles of unincorporated areas surrounding the cities of Morgan Hill and Gilroy, and extending to the Santa Clara-Santa Cruz County line in the southwest, and the Santa Clara-San Benito County line in the south. The territory includes the unincorporated area of Coyote Valley in the north, and portions of the Diablo range to the east.

“The purpose of the reorganization is to address longstanding structural challenges associated with maintaining an adequate and appropriate level of fire protection for SCFD territories, including addressing SCFD’s structural operating deficit,” says the staff report. 

At a public hearing on April 2, the LAFCO board approved the reorganization proposal, subject to terms that include additional public review and the protest hearing scheduled for May 7. 

The Cal Fire SCU Local 2881 union has advocated against the dissolution of the SCFD. In an April 13 social media post, the union cited a recent vegetation fire as an example of how the current district boundaries ensure that adequate resources are available to quickly respond to incidents in the unincorporated, sometimes remote South County jurisdiction.

Following the dissolution of SCFD, “The agency will be forced to rely heavily on mutual aid from incorporated cities, straining their resources with extended commitment times,” Cal Fire SCU Local 2881 posted on social media. 

Written protests against the reorganization can be filed by any landowner or registered voter within the SCFD territory, according to LAFCO. 

Written protests may be mailed or delivered to the Santa Clara LAFCO Office at 777 North First Street, Suite 410, San Jose, CA 95112. Written protests submitted by mail must be received by LAFCO no later than the conclusion of the protest hearing. Alternatively, written protests may be submitted to the LAFCO Executive Officer at the protest hearing.