TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Philippe Eskandar, City Manager
BY: Isidro Figueroa, Community Development Director
Alexis Huerta, Management Analyst
DATE: May 14, 2025
SUBJECT: APPROVAL OF AMENDMENT NO. 1 OF PROFESSIONAL
SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH MOBIUS PLANNING LLC
FOR THE SAN MARINO SAFETY ELEMENT UPDATE
STRATEGIC PLAN CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS
Efficient, Responsive, and Effective City Services
Engaged and Connected Residents
Fiscally Responsible and Transparent City Government
Safe Community
BACKGROUND
Following the recent certification of the City’s Housing Element on February 24, 2025, the Safety Element is required to be updated to comply with State law. This update will address natural hazards, climate adaptation, and emergency preparedness while ensuring consistency with the City’s General Plan and Housing Element. Updating the Safety Element ensures the City remains in compliance with these requirements and aligns long-term planning efforts with state regulations.
Initial work on the Safety Element update began in 2021 under the City’s thenhousing consultant, 4Leaf, Inc. The Safety Element was last updated in 2003.
On July 12, 2023, the City Council approved a professional services agreement with Mobius Planning LLC (Mobius), attached hereto as Exhibit B, to assist staff in preparing the City’s Housing Element. The support and guidance provided by Mobius were critical to achieving substantial compliance with State Housing Element Law.
Gretchen Shepherd Romey, Mayor
Tony Chou, Vice Mayor
Hunter Chang, Council Member
John Chou, Council Member
Calvin Lo, Council Member
The 2021-2029 Housing Element was certified by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) on February 24, 2025.
Mobius’ experience with the City in their preparation of the Housing Element makes them uniquely qualified to assist City staff in the preparation of the Safety Element. As a result of the firm’s direct experience and familiarity developed through their work on the Housing Element, selecting Mobius positions the City to complete the Safety Element expeditiously, supported by their strong understanding of local conditions and planning objectives.
DISCUSSION
Safety Elements are governed by California Government Code Section 65302(g). Its primary purpose is to identify and address potential risks to the community posed by natural and human-caused hazards such as earthquakes, wildfires, flooding, and climate change, and to establish goals, policies, and implementation measures to reduce those risks. The mandated requirements of the Safety Element under this State law include the following:
• Protecting against significant risks related to seismic and geographic hazards such as earthquakes, tsunamis, dam failure, landslides, subsidence, flooding, and fires.
• Including maps of known seismic and other geologic hazards. • Identify and evaluate the capacity, safety, and viability of evacuation routes during emergencies such as wildfires or floods.
• Identifying areas subject to flooding and wildfires.
• Assessing the community's vulnerability to climate change. • Including adaptation and resilience goals, policies, objectives, and implementation measures.
Because State law requires consistency among all elements of the General Plan, updating the Safety Element following the certification of the Housing Element is both necessary and required. The Housing Element identifies areas for future residential development, which must be evaluated for exposure to hazards such as wildfires, flooding, and earthquakes. Ensuring consistency means that these new housing policies and opportunity sites are supported by appropriate safety and hazard mitigation strategies.
Updating the Safety Element ensures compliance with State law and reinforces the City’s commitment to protecting residents, property, and critical infrastructure from the growing risks associated with natural disasters and climate change. This ensures that future development is not only compliant with state law but also planned in a way that protects residents and infrastructure from known risks, strengthening the City’s overall resilience.
Following the certification of the Housing Element, staff solicited proposals for the Safety Element update to multiple consulting firms including Harris & Associates, Rincon Consultants Inc., Earth Consultants International, and Dyett & Bhatia. Staff received two proposals: one from Mobius and one from Rincon Consultants, Inc. Rincon’s proposal included a total project cost not to exceed $154,891.
After reviewing both proposals, staff recommends proceeding with Mobius.
Mobius offers the best combination of quality and price with a total project cost of $80,000, providing high-quality services at a significantly lower cost compared to Rincon's proposal of $154,891. Given their successful work on the City’s recently certified Housing Element, Mobius is uniquely qualified to prepare the Safety Element update. Their familiarity with the City’s planning framework, local conditions, and priorities ensures a seamless and coordinated approach to ensure consistency between the Housing and Safety Elements, as required by State law. Mobius has already built a strong working relationship with the community and City staff and demonstrated a clear understanding of San Marino’s goals and priorities set forth by the City Council, making them the most qualified consultant to lead this next phase of the General Plan update.
FISCAL IMPACT & PROCUREMENT REVIEW
A budget amendment to the FY 2024-25 operating budget is not required as the 2024-2025 budget included $45,000 Community Development Department Other Contract Services account #101-14-4150-0000 allocated for the preparation of the General Plan update. The funding needed to complete the amendment to the agreement will be included for consideration during the FY 2025-26 budget adoption process.
The Finance Director has reviewed this report and concluded that this agreement is in the best interest of the City.
LEGAL REVIEW
The City Attorney's office has reviewed and approved as to form.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the City Council approve Amendment No. 1, direct the City Attorney to prepare the amendment, and authorize the City Manager to execute the amendment. If Council concurs, the appropriate motion would be:
“I move to approve Amendment No. 1 in the not to exceed amount of $80,000 with Mobius Planning LLC for the Safety Element update, direct the City Attorney to prepare Amendment No. 1 consistent with the scope outlined in the staff report, and authorize the City Manager to execute said amendment.”
ATTACHMENTS
1. Exhibit A - Proposed Amendment No. 1
2. Exhibit B - Professional Services Agreement with Mobius Planning LLC dated July 12, 2023.
3. Exhibit C - Scope of Work & Fee Schedule