By Khalida Sarwari
After nearly 26 years, the safety element of Saratoga’s General Plan has finally been updated to include the implementation of new processes as well as the development of new exhibits that demonstrate current practices and conditions in the city.
The Saratoga City Council voted 5-0 on Feb. 20 to adopt the revised element, which also reflects changes in existing regulatory requirements.
“I think we’ve done a good job,” said councilman Manny Cappello. “It’s a tremendous effort and it makes me more comfortable knowing we have this framework in place.”
The element pertains to natural and human activity-related hazards in Saratoga, along with the measures to address them through advance planning and preparation before they become serious problems. The document addresses geologic, seismic, flood and fire hazards, as well as hazards created by human activity such as hazardous materials and waste.
The revised element features an update of existing maps and new maps such as a geologic map, a fault location map and earthquake fault zones. The element includes updated exhibits of liquefaction areas, FEMA flood zones, fire hazard zones and evacuation routes. The document also incorporates references to relevant maps in the text of the element and includes the city’s local hazard mitigation plan to bring the element into compliance with current law.
Councilman Chuck Page, who has noted that the three main problematic areas for Saratoga are the San Andreas Fault, landslides and fire hazard areas, praised the updated document.
“I think that this document is a working document,” he said. “What we’ve got here is a great basis to move forward.”
The adoption of the element is the culmination of 800 hours of work by RBF Consulting, according to Aaron Pfannenstiel, a project manager at the firm.
“We put a lot of time and effort into this, and we’re happy to see it through,” he told the council, following his presentation on Feb. 20.
RBF has been working on the project since the city awarded the firm a contract last May. In that time, the firm has worked with a team of city staff, as well as staff from the Santa Clara County Fire Department and the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office, to prepare the update.
The update has been made possible by a $175,000 Disaster Recovery Initiative grant from the state’s Community Development Block Grant program that the city received in 2011. The city paid RBF about $94,000 for the project and used the remainder of the grant funds to pay Cotton, Shires and Associates, Inc. to prepare an updated, comprehensive ground movement potential map.
The safety element, which was last updated in 1987, is one of seven elements in the city’s General Plan, a document that every city is required by law to have and one that sets the goals and policies for that city, as well as guides the future of the city’s development.
Of the seven, which i nclude land use, circulation, housing, conservation, open space and noise, housing is the only element that cities are required to update at least every seven years. Because the process of updating each of the elements is costly, cities will typically choose one to prioritize every year. The last update of any of the elements that Saratoga did was of its circulation plan in 2010.
The new safety element will be posted on the city’s website at http://saratoga.granicus.com. The community development department will also update printed copies of the General Plan to include the new element.
The safety element of Saratoga’s General Plan gets an update
