Item #06
Date: January 18, 2022
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Kathy Pease, Contract Planner
Jim Schaad, City Manager
Subject: Public Review and Adoption of the General Plan Safety Element Recommendation:
Pass a Motion to 1) hold a public hearing to review the General Plan Safety Element, 2) adopt Resolution 2022- XX, and 3) adopt the 2021 Safety Element Update.
Rationale for Recommendation:
The Planning and Historic Preservation Commission unanimously recommended that the City Council adopt the City of Marysville updated General Plan Safety Element.
Background:
The General Plan serves as a foundation in making land use decisions based on goals and policies related to land use, transportation routes, population growth and distribution, development, open space, resource preservation, safety issues and other related physical, social and economic development factors. In addition to serving as a basis for local decision making, the General Plan provides the community with an opportunity to participate in the planning and decision-making process. The Safety Element is one of the state’s required nine General Plan elements. The Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR) updated the General Plan Guidelines in 2017, which contains significant changes including the need to update the Safety Element at the time the Housing Element is updated. For this reason, the City hired the consulting firm PlaceWorks to prepare an updated safety element in conjunction with the recently adopted Housing Element work. There is no statutory deadline for adoption of the Safety Element, so it was not required to be on the same agenda as the Housing Element.
The purpose of the Safety Element is to address community risks and provide policy guidance at a high level. The Safety Element conveys the City’s goals, policies, and actions to minimize the hazards to safety in and around Marysville. It identifies the natural and human-caused hazards that affect existing and future development and provides guidelines for protecting residents, employees, visitors, and other community members from injury. It describes present and expected future conditions and sets policies and standards for improved public safety. The Safety Element also seeks to minimize physical Item #06
harm to the buildings and infrastructure in and around Marysville to reduce damage to local economic systems, community services, and ecosystems.
The document goals include:
• Protecting the community from risks associated with a variety of hazards, including seismic activity, landslides, flooding, and wildfire, as required by the California Government Code. • Map and assess the risk associated with flood hazards, develop policies to minimize the flood risk to new development and essential public facilities, and establish effective working relationships among agencies with flood protection responsibilities, as required by California Government Code Section 65302(g)(2).
• Map and assess the risk associated with wildfire hazards, develop policies to reduce the wildfire risk to new land uses and essential facilities, ensure there is adequate road and water infrastructure to respond to wildfire emergencies, and establish cooperative relationships between wildfire protection agencies, as required by California Government Code Section 65302(g)(3).
• Assessing the risks associated with climate impacts on local assets, populations, and resources.
• Note existing and planned development in at-risk areas and identify agencies responsible for providing public health and safety and environmental protection. Develop goals, policies, and objectives to reduce the risks associated with climate change impacts, including locating new public facilities outside of at-risk areas, providing adequate infrastructure in at-risk areas, and supporting natural infrastructure for climate adaptation, as required by California Government Code Section 65302(g)(4). • Identify residential developments in any hazard area identified that do not have at least two emergency evacuation routes, as required by California Government Code Section 65302(g)(5).
Discussion & Analysis
The City’s existing 1985 General Plan includes the Community Safety and Seismic Safety Element. For simplicity it is recommended that the element be renamed the Safety Element. As part of the adoption of the Safety Element, new goals and policies would be adopted. The Safety Element provides information so that the City and community are equipped to respond to potential natural and manmade hazards.
Vulnerability Assessment
Under California law, the Safety Element is required to include a vulnerability assessment that looks at how people, buildings, infrastructure, and other key community assets may be. The Vulnerability Assessment was conducted in spring of 2021, to analyze Marysville’s susceptibility to climate-related hazards. This informational document was prepared to assess how nine different climate-related hazards (agricultural and ecosystem pests, air quality, drought, extreme heat, flooding, human health hazards, landslides, severe weather, and wildfire) may affect 67 different population groups and community assets. Community assets include things like hospitals, fire stations, utility infrastructure, etc. Each population or asset received a score of V1 (minimal vulnerability) to V5 (severe vulnerability) for each hazard. The Vulnerability Assessment indicates that Marysville’s populations and assets are Item #06
most vulnerable to flooding, extreme heat, severe weather, and wildfire. This information is intended to aid the City in planning evacuation routes and/or plan for how to address future hazards.
New/Amended Goals and Policies
The proposed Safety Element would replace the existing Community and Seismic Safety Element and includes new updated or amended goals and policies to meet current requirements and updated information. PlaceWorks met with City staff including safety and Public Works personnel to vet the policies in May 2021.
Outreach
The State Government Code Section 65302.7 requires that the Central Valley Flood Control District be allowed to review of the document at least 90-days before the Safety Element is adopted by the City Council. As required by state law the City provided a copy of the Safety Element to the Central Valley Flood Protect District for review in July 2021. No comments have been received to date on the document.
The Safety Element was reviewed by the Planning and Historic Preservation Commission at their meetings of September 22, 2021 and November 10, 2021 meetings. Several Commissioners and one member of the public provided red-lined comments which were incorporated into the most recent draft by PlaceWorks. A revised copy was posted to the City’s website on October 29, 2021, and a redlined version was also distributed by email on that date to the Planning Commission, to provide additional time for review than would be afforded with the packet distribution. The revisions were incorporated into the most recent draft and included clarifying information, additional information regarding existing conditions in Marysville and suggestions for additional policies.
Environmental Review
The proposed project is an update to the existing Safety Element. Changes include updates to background information, mapping, and policies to comply with State law. The proposed project would ensure compliance with SB 1241 (Government Code 65302(g)(3)), SB 379 (Government Code 65302(g)(4)), and SB 99 (Government Code 65302(g)(5)). As a policy document there is no direct impact as no physical change to the environment will occur. The policy changes included in the proposed Safety Element are limited to complying with State law; ensuring adequate evacuation routes; and helping increase the climate change resiliency of the population, built environment, economy, and natural environment within the City. As with the existing Safety Element, these policy changes do not result in the approval of any development project. Moreover, the Safety Element does not change the existing land use pattern of the City and can be seen with certainty to not result in a significant change to the environment. Indirect impacts resulting from future development would be addressed in the adopted development standards and municipal code. As such, the City has determined that the proposed 2021 Safety Element does not have the potential to cause significant impacts on the environment. Therefore, the Project is exempt from CEQA: CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3).
Attachments:
1. 2021 Safety Element Update
2. Resolution 2022-XX