RESOLUTION NO. PC-2026-23
A RESOLUTION OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF COSTA
MESA, CALIFORNIA, RECOMMENDING THAT THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF COSTA MESA ADOPT THE GENERAL PLAN AMENDMENT, INCLUDING THE SAFETY ELEMENT UPDATE (PCTY-25-0002) AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE POLICY UPDATE (PCTY-26-0002)
THE PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY' OF COSTA MESA, CALIFORNIA FINDS AND DECLARES AS FOLLOWS:
WHEREAS, the City of Costa Mesa is processing amendments to the Costa Mesa General Plan to comply with state law requirements applicable to the Safety Element and environmental justice policies, including Government Code Sections 65300 through 65303.4; and
WHEREAS, California law requires every city to adopt a general plan, which must include specified mandatory elements, and may include additional optional elements, in furtherance of State policy to provide a comprehensive, long-term plan for the physical development and use of property within the City's jurisdiction; and WHEREAS, pursuant to Government Code Section 65350 et. seq., the Safety Element update and Environmental Justice Policy amendments constitutes a General Plan Amendment; and
WHEREAS, the Safety Element establishes policies to protect the community from natural and human-caused hazards and improving emergency preparedness and resilience, and California has adopted new legislation requiring local governments to incorporate climate adaptation and updated hazard information into their General Plans including Senate Bill 379 which requires cities to evaluate how climate change may affect future hazards, and Senate Bill 1035 which requires cities to review and revise their Safety Elements using updated flood and fire hazard information as it becomes available; and WHEREAS, the City adopted a Local Hazard Mitigation Plan on November 4, 2022, following a comprehensive evaluation of hazards, vulnerability assessment, emergency preparedness capabilities, and hazard mitigation strategies, and contains the City's most current hazard assessments and mitigation planning, by amending the Safety Element to incorporate the Local Hazard Mitigation Plan ensures that the General Plan reflects the most up-to-date technical information and maintains consistency among the City's long- Resolution No. PC-2026-23 Page 1 of 371
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range planning and emergency management documents bringing it into compliance with state law; and
WHEREAS, Government Code Section 65302(h), enacted through Senate Bill 1000, requires cities to incorporate Environmental Justice goals, policies, and objectives into the General Plan upon the adoption or substantial revision of two or more General Plan elements; because the City previously updated its Housing Element and is now updating its Safety Element, the City is required to identify and incorporate environmental justice policies throughout the General Plan; and WHEREAS, the City identified numerous existing General Plan policies that support Environmental Justice objectives and developed targeted revisions to existing policies and several new policies to address areas where additional policy direction was needed to satisfy state requirements; and
WHEREAS, on July 1, 2026 through August 4, 2026, the draft Safety Element update and Environmental Justice Policy were made available for public review and comment; and
WHEREAS, at its regular meeting on July 27, 2026, the Planning Commission held a study session to receive an introductory presentation on the Safety Element update and Environmental Justice Policy and after public comment the Planning Commission received and filed the report and provided feedback on the documents; and WHEREAS, on August 10, 2026, the Planning Commission held a duly noticed public hearing at which all interested persons had the opportunity to speak for and against the proposed amendments;
WHEREAS, pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the state CEQA Guidelines, the proposed Safety Element update and Environmental Justice policies are exempt from CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3) (Common Sense Exemption), as it can be seen with certainty that adoption of these policy documents will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable significant effect on the environment. The proposed documents establish goals, policies, and implementation strategies related to hazard mitigation, climate adaptation, greenhouse gas reduction, emergency preparedness, and community resilience, but do not authorize or approve any specific development or physical improvements.
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NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Costa Mesa Planning Commission, in its independent judgment and affer fully considering all testimony and evidence presented at the public, hearing hereby recommends as follows:
SECTION 1 : That the City Council find that the proposed Safety Element update and Environmental Justice Policy update are exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061 (b)(3).
SECTION 2: That the City Council adopt the General Plan Amendment included within Exhibit A, which reflects both the Safety Element update and the Environmental Justice Policy update.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Costa Mesa Planning Commission does hereby find and determine that adoption of this Resolution is expressly predicated upon the activity as described in the staff report, and compliance of all applicable federal, state, and local laws.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that if any section, division, sentence, clause, phrase or portion of this reso(ution, or the document in the record in support of this resolution, are for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions.
PASSED AND ADOPTED this 10th day of August, 2026.
J
Costa
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STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF ORANGE )ss
CITY' OF COSTA MESA )
1, Carrie Tai, Secretary to the Planning Commission of the City of Costa Mesa, do hereby certify that the foregoing Resolution No. PC-2026-23 was passed and adopted at a regular meeting of the City of Costa Mesa Planning Commission held on August 10, 2026, by the following votes:
AYES: Harlan, Zich, Andrade, Klepack, Martinez
NOES: Dickson
ABSENT: Rojas
ABSTAIN: None
C"ffiidetary
Costa Mesa Planning Commission
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EXHIBIT A
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