SMW Law Firm Warning on Proposed Bill
According to the Shute, Mihaly, and Weinberger LLC (SMW) law firm, proposed legislation (SB 1256, sponsored by Senator Brian Jones), is currently sailing through the CA Senate. SB 1256 is an attempt to use legislation to defeat lawsuits against the approval of new development in high fire hazard areas.
Per SMW, "This bill [SB 1256] would prohibit an action or proceeding to enforce the Subdivision Map Act from being maintained, if certain criteria exist, including that the action or proceeding to enforce the Subdivision Map Act includes substantially similar claims or issues to claims or issues raised in an action or proceeding to enforce CEQA and the defendant in the action or proceeding to enforce the Subdivision Map Act was the defendant in the action or proceeding to enforce CEQA".
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The proposed bill may enable development proposed for inappropriate areas that court rulings, based on administrative records built by community groups and SAFRR, have identified as dangerous to public safety due to non-compliance with the State Minimum Fire Safe Regulations (FSR) and insufficient Fire Protection Plans (FPP).
SB 1256 appears to be focused on the recent lawsuit filed by the Harmony Grove local town council against Harmony Grove Village South (HGVS). This second lawsuit was filed subsequent to the San Diego County Board of Supervisors (SD BOS) 2024 re-approval of a 450-unit project that the Court had previously set aside.
Kevin Barnard, resident plaintiff and Rancho Santa Fe Fire Protection District Board Member said, “The community of Harmony Grove in San Diego County, has yet to rebuild many of the residences destroyed in the major 2014 fire, so the prospect of adding 450 additional homes in a box canyon is unfathomable.”
SB 1256 Letter: Elfin Forest – Harmony Grove Town Council, dated April 30, 2026, with citations and attached expert evacuation-related technical studies
SB 1256 SAFRR Opposition Letter, dated May 1, 2026
Boston University post 2025 LA Fires Study: (Excess Deaths Attributable to the Los Angeles Wildfires from January 5 to February 1, 2025 | Research, Methods, Statistics | JAMA | JAMA Network, published August 6, 2025).