Item No. 2
Town of Atherton
CITY COUNCIL STAFF REPORT – ACTION ITEM
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
GEORGE RODERICKS, CITY MANAGER
FROM: BRITTANY BENDIX, TOWN PLANNER
DATE: FEBRUARY 26, 2024
SUBJECT: BRIEFING ON PROCESS TO UPDATE THE ATHERTON SAFETY
ELEMENT
RECOMMENDATION
Receive a presentation from staff regarding the process to update the Town’s Safety Element.
BACKGROUND
This briefing provides an overview of the Town’s effort to process an update to its Safety Element. This report includes information regarding what a Safety Element is and its purpose, requirements of the California Government Code and state law relative to the update process, the different functions of the element, what the update process includes, and the anticipated timeline for the project.
DISUCUSSION
What is a Safety Element?
The Safety Element of Atherton’s General Plan (Attachment 1) is a State-mandated element that identifies potential natural and human-caused hazards that could affect residents, businesses, and services in the community. The purpose of the Safety Element is to establish a framework that identifies and anticipates these hazards and prepares the community to minimize risks and harm resulting from these hazards.
The Safety Element identifies the natural and human-caused hazards that affect Atherton, describes present and expected future conditions, and sets goals and policies to minimize hazards to safety.
This includes efforts to protect the health and safety of community members, minimize physical harm to the buildings and infrastructure, and reduce damage to local economic systems, community services, and ecosystems.
Safety Element Briefing
February 26, 2024
Purpose of the Safety Element Update
In recent years, the complexity of safety elements has increased due to expanded State requirements. In addition, safety elements are able to rely on improved and updated science, more sophisticated mapping, and an expanded set of best practices and tools for hazard mitigation and resilience. The purpose of this project is to not only address the safety element legal requirements in the California Government Code since the previous Safety Element was adopted in 2019, but also address recent hazards and related issues of concern in Atherton and across the county, respond to community concerns, and create a unified approach to improving resilience countywide.
The Town’s Safety Element Update is part of the Multi-Jurisdictional Safety Element Collaborative Project, which is a partnership of the County of San Mateo and the cities of Belmont, Brisbane, Burlingame, East Palo Alto, Half Moon Bay, Pacifica, and San Bruno. This collaborative effort provides greater efficiency and effectiveness to the safety element outreach and program overall, as well as an cost savings to the Town. Although this is a multi-agency effort, Atherton will receive an updated Safety Element that is tailored to our community and consistent with other General Plan elements and applicable agency plans, enhance eligibility for grant funding, and maintain compliance with State regulations.
A consultant team provides project management and technical assistance to the project.
Community Planning Collaborative is serving as project manager to coordinate and communicate the needs of all agencies through the process. PlaceWorks is leading the technical and subject matter expert team, with support from Atlas Planning Solutions, Climate Resilient Communities, and Nexus Planning & Research.
State Law Requirements for Safety Elements
California Government Code Section 65302(g) contains the requirements for Safety Elements, including that it must be updated upon each revision of the housing element or local hazard mitigation plan, but not less than once every eight years. In recent years, State legislation has updated the Government Code to include additional requirements for flood, wildfire, and climate change adaptation and resilience as follows:
▪ SB 1241 added Section 65302(g)(3) to the California Government Code, requiring jurisdictions in a state responsibility area or very high fire hazard severity zone to provide background, historical context, and goals, policies, and implementation measures to address wildfire risks in a community.
▪ SB 1035, which established Section 65302(g)(6) of the California Government Code, builds on previous legislation and requires local governments to review and update their Safety Element during an update to their Housing Element or Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (LHMP), or no less than every eight years. Any revisions should include updated information related to flood hazards, fire hazards, and climate adaptation and resilience. ▪ SB 379 requires local governments to conduct vulnerability assessments as part of their longrange planning efforts and to prepare resilience and adaptation policies that will protect against harm caused by climate change.
Safety Element Briefing
February 26, 2024
▪ AB 2140 added Sections 8685.9 and 65302.6 of the California Government Code, enabling cities and counties to adopt an LHMP into the Safety Element. ▪ SB 99 established Section 65302(g)(5) of the California Government Code and requires jurisdictions to review and update the Safety Element to include information identifying residential developments in hazard areas that do not have at least two emergency evacuation routes.
▪ AB 747 added Section 65302.15 to the California Government Code (amended by AB 1409), requiring local governments to identify the capacity, safety, and viability of evacuation routes and locations in the Safety Element or LHMP. This work is being done as part of a separate countywide effort and is not part of the Multi-Jurisdictional Safety Element update project.
Safety Element Update Process
The Safety Element Update process includes several steps to ensure that the element includes the most up-to-date information, addresses climate change vulnerability, and integrates community input into the goals, policies, and actions. The Safety Element Update process includes seven primary tasks. [The County of San Mateo and the cities of Atherton, Belmont, Burlingame, East Palo Alto, Half Moon Bay, and San Bruno are participating in all aspects of the Safety Element Update process. Pacifica has chosen to participate in Tasks 1-2 and Brisbane in Tasks 1-3. These two agencies are collecting data and information for their own separate General Plan update process which will include a future safety element update.]
1. Initial Identification & Ideas. Research, review of background materials, and community input will be used to identify each community’s hazards, needs and assets for further analysis.
2. Conduct climate change vulnerability assessments. The vulnerability assessment will analyze how climate-related hazards may affect populations and assets in the participating communities especially as these hazards become more frequent and intense in the future. These assessments will follow the four steps outlined in the California Adaptation Planning Guide:
1) Identify exposure; 2) analyze sensitivity and potential impacts; 3) evaluate adaptive capacity; and 4) conduct vulnerability prioritization. This task also includes conducting an evacuation constraints analysis and providing hazard mapping.
3. Compile background information on hazards. Background information will be updated to discuss the regulatory context that informs the Safety Element, the purpose of the Safety Element and the reason for updating them, and information about each of the key issue areas.
This includes mapping, current and historic conditions and events, and how the issue may change in the future.
4. Prepare goals, objectives, policies, and implementation programs. This step includes identifying regional best practices, reviewing existing plans and requirements, and drafting the goals and policies. The goals, policies, and programs build upon the data collection efforts, vulnerability assessment, and community and stakeholder feedback to detail the specific steps required to implement the Safety Element policies.
5. Compile Draft Safety Element. Once the individual segments of the Safety Element update are ready, the results will be assembled into a draft Safety Element. These documents will incorporate all the content and analyses prepared in prior steps.
Safety Element Briefing
February 26, 2024
6. Conduct environmental review. After the Safety Elements are drafted, a CEQA-compliant environmental analyses will be conducted along with required Native American tribal consultation.
7. Local and State Agency Reviews and Approvals. Jurisdictions that include State Responsibility Areas or Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones must submit their draft Safety Element for Board of Forestry Review at least 90 days prior to adoption. (At this time, Half Moon Bay and San Mateo County will go through the Board of Forestry Review process.) Once agency review is complete, the last step in the process is Public Agency Review and Approval, which includes Study Sessions and approval hearings at Planning Commission and City Council.
Community Engagement and Role of the City Council
Staff is currently in the process of crafting a community outreach plan that would include ongoing briefings to both the Planning Commission and City Council, development of a Town webpage, presentations to the Town’s various community groups (to include ADAPT) and regular updates in the Town’s newsletter and social media platforms. Additional suggestions for engagement efforts are welcomed.
Throughout the process the City Council will have the opportunity to provide feedback during the preparation of goals, objectives, policies, and implementation programs included in the Safety Element. The adoption of the Safety Element update will also be under the purview of the City Council.
Project Schedule
Overall, the project is expected to last for two years, having commenced with collecting background information in August 2023 through the analysis, community engagement and document preparation and adoption process that will extend into June 2025. The timing for the seven primary tasks are as follows, and depicted graphically below:
1. Initial Identification & Ideas: August 2023 to October 2023
2. Compile background information on hazards: August 2023 to January 2024.
3. Conduct climate change vulnerability assessments: December 2023 to June 2024.
4. Prepare goals, objectives, policies, and implementation programs: March 2024 to September 2024.
5. Compile Draft Safety Element: August 2024 to March 2025.
6. Conduct environmental review: August 2024 to May 2025.
7. Local and State Agency Reviews and Approvals: December 2024 to June 2025.
Safety Element Briefing
February 26, 2024
2023 2024 2025
A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J
Task 1
Task 2
Task 3
Task 4
Task 5
Task 6
Task 7
ATTACHMENTS
1. Safety Element of Atherton’s General Plan