AGENDA REPORT
Meeting Date: December 9, 2025
Item Number:
To: Honorable Mayor & City Council
From: Gregory W. Barton, Fire Chief
Subject: RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BEVERLY
HILLS APPROVING THE HAZARD MITIGATION ACTION PLAN
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt the resolution to approve the updated Hazard Mitigation Action Plan.
INTRODUCTION
In 2004, the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, which provides the basis for federal assistance to state and local governments impacted by a disaster, was updated to place a new emphasis on local mitigation planning. Hazard Mitigation, also known as prevention before the occurrence of a disaster, is now considered to be the first step in preparing for emergencies, rather than the final step in recovery. FEMA required state and local governments to develop hazard mitigation plans.
In the City’s first plan and this subsequent edition, the plan’s mission was focused on promoting sound public policy and programs designed to protect the public, critical facilities, infrastructure, private and public property and the environment from natural and manmade hazards. This was achieved by developing plans with implementation strategies to guide the City towards creating and maintaining a safer, more sustainable community. The development of these plans was a collaborative staff and community effort.
This report provides an overview of the main components of the City’s Hazard Mitigation Plan.
Attachments: 1. Resolution
2. Draft Hazard Mitigation Action Plan - FEMA Submittal Draft
DISCUSSION
MISSION STATEMENT AND PLAN GOALS
The City of Beverly Hills’ Hazard Mitigation Plan’s mission serves to promote sound public policy designed to protect citizens, critical facilities, infrastructure, private and public property and the environment from natural and manmade hazards. This will be achieved by developing and implementing this plan that will guide the City towards creating and building a safer, more sustainable community.
The following are the plan goals:
To Protect Life, Property, Environment
• Implement activities that assist in protecting lives by making homes, businesses, infrastructure, critical facilities, and other property more resistant to hazards. • Reduce losses and repetitive damage for chronic hazard events while promoting insurance coverage for catastrophic hazards.
• Encourage preventative measures for existing and new development in areas vulnerable to hazards.
Public Awareness
• Develop and implement education and outreach programs to increase public awareness of the risks associated with hazards.
• Develop and implement education and outreach programs to increase public awareness of the mitigation measures associated with hazards.
• Provide information on tools, partnership opportunities, and funding resources to assist in implementing mitigation activities.
• Ensure equitable access to hazard mitigation education, outreach programs, and emergency information through inclusive and multilingual communication strategies.
Partnerships and Implementation
• Strengthen communication and coordinate participation among and within public agencies, citizens, non-profit organizations, business, and industry to gain a vested interest in implementation.
• Encourage leadership within public and private sector organizations to prioritize and implement local, county, and regional hazard mitigation activities. • Integrate the Safety Element of the General Plan into the Local Hazard Mitigation Action Plan.
Emergency Management
• Establish policy to ensure mitigation projects for critical facilities, services, and infrastructure.
• Update current ordinances, make recommendations for City guidelines, codes, and permitting process and establish new ordinances that support mitigation. • Strengthen emergency operations by increasing collaboration and coordination among departments, public agencies, non-profit organizations, business, and industry. • Coordinate and integrate hazard mitigation activities, where appropriate, with emergency operations plans and procedures.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE PLAN
The development of this plan has been a collaborative effort between staff and the community.
The planning process has been facilitated by the City’s Office of Emergency Management, Resilience and Recovery with participation from all City departments. In addition, updated FEMA guidance required planning participation from a variety of external partners, including neighboring jurisdictions, Los Angeles County Emergency Management, utility providers, Beverly Hills Unified School District, and local nonprofit/nongovernmental organizations. Feedback from all planning participants was integrated into the plan.
Each iteration of the Hazard Mitigation Plan is updated to reflect new mitigation strategies as well as to reflect new data related to hazards within the City. New hazards integrated into the Hazard Mitigation Plan include considerations for disease, pandemic and public safety power shutoffs.
These updates were to reflect the City’s experience with the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, along with increased risk for power outages associated with severe weather events. During the Hazard Mitigation Plan update, the planning process was paused while the City and public safety agencies responded to the 2025 Los Angeles Wildfires. When the planning process was reengaged, the most recent available data and revised wildfire risk maps were integrated into the Hazard Mitigation Plan. Additionally, climate change impacts and analysis have been added to all hazards called out in the plan.
Updated Cal OES and FEMA guidelines required consideration for socially vulnerable populations. These are defined as individuals with access and functional needs who require additional support to prepare, respond and recover during an emergency. Socially vulnerable populations identified in Beverly Hills include persons aged 65 or older, persons under the federal poverty threshold, multi-unit households, persons with limited English proficiency, and tourists or visitors.
COMMUNITY PROCESS
Public participation was a key component of the strategic planning process. In compliance with FEMA requirements, the internal City staff and external stakeholders met over the course of five meetings to provide feedback during the Hazard Mitigation Plan update process. A total of fiftyfour (54) stakeholders were engaged. Additionally, members of the public had the opportunity to participate in an online survey and review web content to provide feedback on the Hazard Mitigation Plan. City staff were supported by a consultant to host a pop-up booth at the Let’s Stay Safe Emergency Preparedness Fair on Saturday, September 29, 2024, between 2:00 PM and 5:00 PM. This booth engaged members of the public on the Hazard Mitigation Plan, along with providing interactive activities to provide feedback.
MITIGATION STRATEGIES
The mitigation strategies are a list of activities in which City departments and citizens can be engaged to reduce risk. Departments developed these strategies based on department goals, data collection, research and the public participation process. The updated Hazard Mitigation Plan identifies fifty (50) mitigation actions to reduce risk and vulnerability to the sixteen (16) identified natural and human-caused hazards. From the previous iteration of the Hazard Mitigation Plan, a total of eleven (11) mitigation actions were completed.
Mitigation actions include a comprehensive range of projects, emphasizing both new and existing infrastructure. Mitigation action types also include efforts for new plans and regulations, natural systems protection, and education and awareness programs.
PLAN ADOPTION
Plan implementation and evaluation is shared among all of the Hazard Mitigation Steering Committee Members. The Steering Committee is comprised of the Fire Chief, the Police Chief, Director of the Office of Emergency Management, Resilience and Recovery, Community Development, Community Services, Finance, Human Resources, Information Technology, Public Works Services, and the City Attorney’s Office. The Project Coordinators are comprised of subject matter experts from each department who contributed to the drafting of the Plan. According to federal requirements, the Plan will be evaluated on an annual basis to determine the effectiveness of programs, and to reflect program changes. Copies of the plan, once approved by all parties, will be made available to all stakeholders.
The adoption of the Hazard Mitigation Action Plan is exempt from CEQA review pursuant to State CEQA Guidelines Section 15306(Information Collection) as well as the “common sense” exception when it can be seen with certainty that the action at hand has no possibility of having a physical impact on the environment per CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3). However, appropriate CEQA review would be undertaken for any future implementation actions that could result in physical impacts on the environment.
Previously, the Hazard Mitigation Plan was adopted as a standalone plan and then subsequently adopted as part of the Safety Element of the General Plan. Staff recommend that the current update of the Hazard Mitigation Plan be adopted in a similar fashion to allow for immediate potential eligibility of FEMA grant funding. Additionally, staff is studying the potential of future amendments to this plan due to recent studies completed of the City’s High Fire Hazard Zone and updated Flood Inundation maps.
FISCAL IMPACT
Funding for this project has been allocated to the Fire Department Emergency Management Division’s normal operational budget. A consultant was hired to assist with community and stakeholder outreach, document production, and Cal OES/FEMA approvals, with agreement #328-24, not to exceed $85,810.00. Due to the changes in FEMA policy during 2023 and 2025, the consultant also provided technical expertise to strategically update the Hazard Mitigation Plan in response to new plan requirements. City staff participated in planned update meetings and conducted deliverable coordination and review. For each mitigation strategy listed in the plan, careful consideration was given to the reasonable costs of implementation.
Gregory W. Barton,
Fire Chief
Approved By
Attachment 1
B0785-0001\3190648v4.doc 1
RESOLUTION NO. 25-R- ___________
RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BEVERLY HILLS
APPROVING THE HAZARD MITIGATION ACTION PLAN
Whereas, the federal Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (“Mitigation Act”) (P.L. 106-390; 44 C.F.R. Part 201) requires that local governments develop and submit local natural hazard mitigation plans to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (“FEMA”) as a condition of receiving FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funds;
Whereas the City of Beverly Hills (the “City”) approved its current plan, entitled the Hazard Mitigation Action Plan, on January 8, 2019;
Whereas Sections 201.3(d)(2) & 201.6(d)(3) of Title 44 of the Code of Federal Regulations requires that the City review and update its current Hazard Mitigation Action Plan and submit said plan to FEMA for approval within five (5) years from FEMA’s approval of such plan in order to continue to be eligible for FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant program funds; Whereas Cal OES reviewed, and FEMA subsequently approved the current iteration of the City’s Hazard Mitigation Action Plan on November 14, 2025.; Whereas, the City’s Office of Emergency Management, in conjunction with the Steering Committee comprised of members of various City departments, has reviewed and updated the Hazard Mitigation Action Plan, which the public and all Commissioners have been provided an opportunity to comment on during its drafting and prior to its approval by the City Council.
Whereas, the Hazard Mitigation Action Plan has been environmentally reviewed pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), CEQA Guidelines (California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Sections 15000 et seq.) (hereafter the “Guidelines”), and the City’s Docusign Envelope ID: 6FDDDC6C-624E-4734-903F-BE5BE6F9B1DE B0785-0001\3190648v4.doc 2
environmental guidelines, and a Class 6 Categorical Exemption has been issued in accordance with the requirements of Section 15306 of the Guidelines; and Now, therefore the City Council of Beverly Hills hereby resolves as follows:
Section 1. The City Council hereby adopts the Hazard Mitigation Action Plan, which was presented to the City Council on December 9, 2025 at a regular duly noticed City Council meeting.
Section 2. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this resolution and shall cause this resolution and his certification to be entered into the Book of Resolutions of the Council of this City.
ADOPTED:
SHARONA R. NAZARIAN, PSYD
Mayor of the City of
Beverly Hills, California
ATTEST:
(SEAL)
HUMA AHMED
City Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM: APPROVED AS TO CONTENT:
LAURENCE S.WIENER NANCY HUNT-COFFEY
City Attorney City Manager
GREGORY BARTON
Fire Chief
Docusign Envelope ID: 6FDDDC6C-624E-4734-903F-BE5BE6F9B1DE Certificate Of Completion
Envelope Id: 6FDDDC6C-624E-4734-903F-BE5BE6F9B1DE Status: Completed Subject: Complete with Docusign: FINAL Resolution Approving Hazard Mitigation Action Plan 2025.pdf Source Envelope:
Document Pages: 2 Signatures: 2 Envelope Originator:
Certificate Pages: 2 Initials: 0 Karen Gutierrez
AutoNav: Enabled
EnvelopeId Stamping: Enabled
Time Zone: (UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)
455 N. Rexford Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
[email protected]
IP Address: 198.245.189.162
Record Tracking
Status: Original
11/26/2025 2:38:17 PM
Holder: Karen Gutierrez
[email protected]
Location: DocuSign
Signer Events Signature Timestamp
Laurence Wiener
[email protected]
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Signature Adoption: Pre-selected Style
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Sent: 11/26/2025 2:46:18 PM
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Signed: 11/29/2025 1:25:08 PM
Electronic Record and Signature Disclosure:
Not Offered via Docusign
Gregory Barton
[email protected]
Fire Chief
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Signed using mobile
Sent: 11/29/2025 1:25:09 PM
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Signed: 11/30/2025 12:07:29 AM
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Not Offered via Docusign
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Shani Parker
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Sent: 11/26/2025 2:46:18 PM
Electronic Record and Signature Disclosure:
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Envelope Sent Hashed/Encrypted 11/26/2025 2:46:18 PM
Certified Delivered Security Checked 11/30/2025 12:07:17 AM Signing Complete Security Checked 11/30/2025 12:07:29 AM Completed Security Checked 11/30/2025 12:07:29 AM
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Attachment 2
LOCAL HAZARD
MITIGATION PLAN
FEMA SUBMITTAL DRAFT
SEPTEMBER 2025
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PLACEEHOLDER APPENDIX
City Council Approval Resolution