Safety Element Update

Community meetings and workshops will be scheduled throughout the process to receive input from residents. The preliminary project timeline below indicates when community engagement will be incorporated into the process. The public will also have opportunities to review and comment on the document when it is reviewed by Planning Commission and City Council. Members of the public are encouraged to participate in those important discussions.

New state laws require local governments to update their safety elements alongside their housing element updates and require them to include climate adaptation and resilience strategies in the update. California Government Code Section 65302(g) describes required background information and provides policy and program guidance for safety element updates.

• SB 379: Incorporation of climate change adaptation and resilience, prepare vulnerability assessments to identify the risks from climate change hazards, and develop adaptation and resilience goals, policies, and implementation actions to increase community adaptation and build resilience. (§65302(g)(4))
• SB 1035: Builds off SB 379 and requires review and update portions of the safety element upon each revision of the housing element or local hazard mitigation plan (LHMP), but not less than once every 8 years. (§65302(c))
• SB 99: Identify evacuation-constrained areas specifically residential developments in hazard areas that do not have at minimum two evacuation routes. (§ 65302(g)(5))
• SB 1241: Increased requirements for flood and wildfire sections where responsible agencies are identified for protection against these hazards and refining policies to minimize risk for new buildings and essential facilities. (§65302(g)(1-3))
• AB 747: Requires jurisdictions to identify evacuation routes and their capacity. safety, and viability under a range of emergency scenarios. *This work is being done as part of a separate effort and is not part of the Multi-jurisdictional Safety Element project. (§65302.15)
•  AB 2140: Incorporation of the LHMP. (§8685.9, §65302.6))

For many of these communities, there is a significant amount of overlap in the types of hazard conditions they must address, as well as common service providers, natural resources, and infrastructure. A multijurisdictional Safety Element update process builds on the accomplishments of hazard reduction programs and accomplishments in other jurisdictions, including the recently updated Mulltijurisdictional Local Hazard Mitigation Plan, and efforts launched by OneShoreline, and Sea Change San Mateo County. 

The current Safety Element as well as the Local Hazard Mitigation Plan is implemented by several City departments.

• The Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is responsible for implementing those sections of the Safety Element that integrate portions of the Emergency Operations Plan.
• The Planning Division within the Community Development Department is responsible for implementing the land use portions of the Safety Element.
• The Building Division within the Community Development Department administers and revises the Building Code to maximize the resilience of new and existing structures.
• The Fire Department develops and implements regulations like mandated brush clearance.
• The Safety Element update involves representatives from across these departments to help integrate programs from other plans and review policies for conformity with their programs and responsibilities.

The Safety Element must be consistent with the General Plan, including the Housing Element. The Safety Element lays the groundwork for citywide hazard planning and programming and identifies measure to minimize impacts of environmental hazards. When considering recommendations to meet the San Bruno’s Housing Needs Allocation, measures to develop housing safely will be considered.

Consistent with state guidance on incorporating climate adaptation strategies and implementation measures into safety elements, a vulnerability assessment will be prepared to determine public safety risks from climate change, including flooding, wildfire, drought, extreme heat, sea level rise, and storm activity. The assessment will be shared with the public and discussed during our public outreach.