Title
Safety and Noise Element Update - Public Hearing and Recommendation for Adoption to City Council. This project is categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3), as the project does not have the potential to have a significant effect on the environment.
Body
To: Honorable President and
Members of the Planning Board
From: Andrew Thomas, Assistant Community Development Director and
Kathleen Livermore, Planner
Re: Safety and Noise Element Update - Public Hearing and Recommendation for Adoption to City Council. This project is categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3), as the project does not have the potential to have a significant effect on the environment.
BACKGROUND
California law (Government Code Sections 65300-65303.4) requires seven General Plan Elements, including a Safety Element and a Noise Element. The purpose of a Safety Element is to minimize the risks of loss of life, personal injury, serious illness, property damage, and environmental degradation resulting from fires, floods, earthquakes, landslides and other hazards. The purpose of a Noise Element is to limit the exposure of the community to excessive noise levels.
The City of Alameda Safety and Noise Elements were last updated in 1991. In 1991, the Alameda Naval Air Station was still in full operation, which included the Alameda Naval Air Station Airport; the Alameda Beltline railroad was still in operation; and the risks related to climate change and sea level rise were not as well understood as they are today.
Staff has prepared an update to the 1991 Safety and Noise Elements to bring the elements into conformance with the December 2015 Draft Local Hazard Mitigation Plan for the City of Alameda and address current health, safety and noise risks. The Draft Local Hazard Mitigation Plan and federal best practices require the Safety Element update.
In December of 2015, the City of Alameda submitted for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) review, a Local Hazard Mitigation Plan. The Plan goes into great depth about local hazards and resources and outlines specific steps the City and its residents can take to mitigate against losses from future hazards. A Hazard Mitigation Plan identifies the hazards a community faces, assesses vulnerabilities to the hazards, and identifies specific actions to reduce the risk. As required by the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000, the Local Hazard Mitigation Plan is required to achieve eligibility and potentially secure mitigation funding through FEMA Flood Mitigation Assistance, Pre-Disaster Mitigation, Hazard Mitigation Grant Programs, and additional State recovery funding after disasters.
FEMA best practices include the review of a city’s Safety Element for compliance, consistency and integration with the latest Local Hazard Mitigation Plan. The Local Mitigation Plan Review Guide, October 1, 2011, and the Plan Integration: Linking Local Planning Efforts, July 2015, both provide guidance from FEMA. The Safety Element must be updated for compliance, consistency and integration with the Local Hazard Mitigation Plan. The Local Hazard Mitigation Plan included a commitment to update the Safety Element by December of 2016. (The City of Alameda Local Hazard Mitigation Plan is available for download at: <https://alamedaca.gov/sites/default/files/department-files/2016-07-21/localhazardmitigationplan061716final.pdf>)
In preparing this draft Safety and Noise Element, staff streamlined the document to reflect the format of the 2008 update of the Transportation Element. Time sensitive material was removed to avoid data that would soon become obsolete. Information from Bay Conservation Development Commission, Metropolitan Transportation Commission, CalTrans and the Alameda County Flood Control and Water Conservation District is presented and the Element provides policies to address the slow-moving, but very real, threat of sea level rise. Information from recent City of Alameda environmental documents was incorporated into the policies. Finally, other recently completed Safety Elements were reviewed for incorporation of innovative policies and best practices from around the state. These included safety elements from the cities of San Leandro, Hayward, Berkeley, Fremont, San Jose, San Francisco, South San Francisco, Novato, Fresno and San Diego.
DISCUSSION
On September 12, 2016, the Planning Board held a Study Session to discuss staff’s September 1, 2016 draft Safety and Noise Element of the General Plan. Planning Board members provided comments to staff for clarification and improvement purposes.
The attached October 1, 2016 draft Safety and Noise Element includes a series of changes.
• The policies were reorganized to show the broad perspective of state and regional policies first, the public educational opportunities in citywide policies second, and the policies that relate to individual development projects last. Some policies were consolidated to minimize redundancies.
• Added specific introductory text in the Seismic and Geologic Hazards and Flooding sections to better characterize the hazards and provide more detail.
• Added introductory text identifying noise sources and impacts from San Francisco International Airport, in addition to Oakland International Airport, and added introductory text regarding the negative impacts of various noise sources to the memory, learning acquisition, test scores and physical health of children.
• Added additional policies from the 2016 Hazard Mitigation Plan to ensure consistency between the two documents.
• Clarified the policy related to tsunami inundation in low-lying shoreline properties, including the maritime communities and marinas.
• Added policy requiring the appropriate level of hazardous material site clearance for residential, commercial or industrial uses from the appropriate federal, state and local agencies and Acts.
• Added policy recommending testing of properties for radon gas.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The purpose of the Safety and Noise Element update is identify objectives and policies to reduce the potential risks associated with various hazards and to limit exposure of the community to excessive noise levels. These objectives and policies would not have the potential to have a significant effect on the environment. Therefore, this project is categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3), as the project does not have the potential to have a significant effect on the environment.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the Planning Board hold a public hearing and approve draft Resolution recommending that the City Council adopt the new Safety and Noise Element.
Respectfully submitted,
Andrew Thomas, Assistant Community Development Director, and
Kathleen Livermore, Planner
Exhibit: 1. Draft Safety and Noise Element
2. 1991 Health and Safety Element
3. 1991 Airport Environs Element
4. Draft Resolution