ITEM 10-B
COUNCIL MEETING: February 14, 1995 Santa Monica, California
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: City Staff
SUBJECT: Recommendation to Adopt a Resolution Certifying the
Final Environmental Impact Report; Adopt a Resolution
Approving the Adoption of the Safety Element and
Amending the Public Safety and Seismic Safety Elements
of the General Plan; Adopt a Resolution Making Findings
Necessary to Approve the Safety Element and Adopt a
Resolution Adopting a Mitigation Monitoring Program for
the Safety Element.
INTRODUCTION
This report transmits to the City Council the Draft Safety
Element and Environmental Impact Report (EIR). The recommended
Safety Element, a component of the General Plan, updates the
City's 1975 Safety Element and 1975 Seismic Safety Element and
conforms to State Government Section 65302 (g) which requires
that the Safety Element and the Seismic Safety Element be
combined into one document. The EIR analyzes the environmental
effects of the policies contained in the Safety Element.
The Draft Safety Element and Draft EIR were forwarded to the
Planning Commission and discussed at public hearings on April 20
and July 20, 1994. This staff report presents a summary of the
major issues contained in the Safety Element.
It is the recommendation of staff that the City Council hold a
public hearing to consider the Safety Element and EIR, adopt a
Resolution certifying the Final Environmental Impact Report,
adopt a Resolution approving the adoption of the Safety Element
and amending the Public Safety and Seismic Safety Elements of the
General Plan, adopt a Resolution making the findings necessary to
approve the Safety Element and adopt a Resolution approving a
mitigation monitoring program for the Safety Element.
BACKGROUND
In 1986, the State of California adopted Section 65302(g) which
requires that each local government maintain a comprehensive
Safety Element that addresses a variety of natural and man-made
hazards and contains goals and polices aimed at reducing the
risks associated with these hazards. The fundamental objective of
the Safety Element is to "reduce death, injuries, property damage
and economic and social imbalance from hazards"; however, other
social, economic, political and aesthetic factors must be
considered and balanced with these safety needs. Additional
guidelines and standards can be introduced through the City's
Municipal Code.
The Safety Element serves the following functions in working to
achieve its objectives:
o Provides an accurate and up-to-date assessment of
natural and human-related hazards in the City, including (but
not limited to) earthquakes, landslides, subsidence/settlement,
inundation, fire, and release of hazardous materials;
o Provides a framework by which safety considerations are
introduced into the land use planning process;
o Recommends project review and permitting processes for
identification and mitigation of hazards for new development;
o Provides policies directed at identifying and reducing
hazards in existing development; and
o Strengthens earthquake, inundation, fire and hazardous
materials preparedness planning and post-disaster reconstruction
policies particular to the City.
The Safety Element document is divided into two documents: the
Technical Background Report and the Safety Element. The Technical
Background Report examines the different natural and human-
related hazards that may affect the health and safety of the
people in Santa Monica -- 1) Seismic hazards; 2) Geologic
hazards; 3) Tsunami, Dam Inundation and Shoreline Erosion
hazards; 4) Fire hazards; and 5) Hazardous materials. The Safety
Element contains the safety planning issues, goals and objectives
which respond to the findings as identified in the Technical
Background Report.
ANALYSIS
Technical Background Report
The findings of the Technical Background Report, upon which the
Safety Element bases its policy and action recommendations, can
be summarized as follows:
o The City is at risk from strong ground motion from a
number of nearby seismically active faults. Potential damage to
new and most existing development will be slight to moderate;
however, localized severe damage to vulnerable buildings may
occur. Given the risk, critical facilities must be designed and
maintained with a greater safety margin than that of conventional
development.
o A major earthquake on the Newport-Inglewood, Santa
Monica or Malibu Coast faults has the potential for setting into
motion multiple events, including injuries, crowd control
problems, blocked roads, hazardous materials releases, isolated
damage, and fires. A major earthquake on the Newport-Inglewood
fault is a probable worst-case scenario for the City and must be
considered in the ongoing development of the Emergency Response
Plan.
o A truly worse case scenario would be a major ground
rupturing earthquake on the Santa Monica fault. All utility
lines crossing the fault would be ruptured and hundreds of
structures destroyed. Fire suppression access north of the fault
would be severely restricted, as would water flow to the main
portions of the City since most reservoirs are located within the
elevated areas north of the fault.
o Shallow ground water within 50 feet of the ground
surface reportedly occurs along the beach and near the northern
industrial corridor and Marine Park area of Santa Monica. This
ground water condition, coupled with unconsolidated youthful
sediment, makes these areas susceptible to liquefaction during
moderate to strong earthquakes.
o Surficial instability will continue to pose constraints
to new development and enlargement of existing development in
proximity to the bluff areas beneath or adjacent to Palisades
Park.
o Failure of the Riviera and Stone Canyon reservoirs may
flood portions of the City.
o Due to the extensive storm drain system, flooding due
to heavy periods of rainfall is not expected to impact the City.
However, storm-induced beach erosion will continue to impact the
coastal areas of the City.
o Wild fire hazards are considered non-existent, however,
structural fires will continue to be a danger in the City.
o Hazardous materials releases in or near the City may
result in widespread impact to the population and environment.
However, response plans and evacuation procedures required under
California law are currently in place at facilities within the
City that handle extremely hazardous and hazardous materials.
o Rupture of the crude oil pipeline extending through the
City as a result of seismic activity could result in a large
hazardous material release effecting local populations or the
environment.
o Abandoned landfills within the City pose additional
hazardous waste concerns as well as settlement/subsistence
hazards.
o Tsunami inundation poses a hazard to low lying, coastal
environments within the City.
The January 17, 1994 Northridge Earthquake is referenced in the
Safety Element. Field investigations indicated an unexpected
damage pattern in the northern portion of the City which followed
the east-west trend of the Santa Monica fault. The goals and
policies of the Safety Element are still very appropriate given
the information obtained from the Northridge Earthquake. As new
information becomes available and is reviewed by the City, and as
an internal analysis of response and recovery experiences
continues, the City will continue to enhance the emergency
response plan and hazard mitigation programs throughout the City.
Safety Element
Safety planning issues are addressed in the Safety Element
section. These issues arise from the findings of the Technical
Background Report within the areas identified above. Given the
expected growth patterns and environmental setting of the City,
safety and planning issues center on hazard mitigation, reduction
and management which can be effectively deployed in connection
with upgrading existing development and encouraging safe
development practices. As a result, safety planning issues are
framed in terms of building code standards for new development
projects and retrofitting existing vulnerable buildings.
The Safety Element divides the natural and human-related hazards
into five categories for study purposes: 1) Seismic hazards; 2)
Geologic hazards; 3) Inundation hazards; 4) Fire hazards; and 5)
Hazardous materials. The Element also includes a discussion on
Disaster preparedness. A summary of the significant actions of
the Element are outlined in Exhibit 1.
Seismic Hazards
Hazard management goals and policies are implemented primarily
through code compliance and special development regulations. The
building and fire codes, hazard reduction regulations and special
development regulations may apply on a city-wide and/or on a
site-specific basis if potential hazard impacts are more
localized and the scope of risk is more concentrated.
Hazard reduction programs are already in place in Santa Monica
which require the seismic upgrading of unreinforced masonry and
other potentially hazardous structures. It is known that certain
types of building types, in addition to unreinforced masonry
buildings, are vulnerable during earthquakes. These building
types include soft/weak story structures, pre-1976 tilt-up
concrete buildings, steel-frame buildings and pre-cast/reinforced
poured in place concrete/non-ductile buildings. In response to
this, the City Council adopted Ordinance #1748 which requires the
seismic retrofitting of these types of structures. The Safety
Element further recommends that the City promote the
strengthening of planned utility lines and lifeline utilities to
minimize damage and injury from seismic and geologic hazards. In
areas of potential seismic or geological hazards, the document
recommends that the City require geological and geotechnical
investigations as part of the environmental and development
review process.
The Safety Element also includes policies that strengthen the
project permit and review process in order to ensure that proper
actions are taken to mitigate the impact of seismic hazards,
encourage structural and nonstructural seismic design and
construction practices that minimize earthquake damage in
critical facilities and prevent the total collapse of any
structure designed for human occupancy. The City would consider
the establishment of a Hazard Management Zone(s) that identifies
areas susceptible to faulting, liquefaction, settlement and slope
instability. The Zone or Zones that would be established would
be based upon the Technical Background Report of the Safety
Element and be updated as new information becomes available.
The final aspect of the Safety Element which discusses seismic
hazards suggests educational and training programs for members of
the community on matters of earthquake preparedness and response
as well as seismic hazard identification.
Geologic Hazards
The geologic hazards of greatest concern to the City include
coastal slope instability and erosion, differential settlement
related to uncertain fills, and subsidence related to ground
water withdrawal. Large coastal bluff failures along Palisades
Park have occurred. Clay mining operations since the early
1900's in the central portion of the City resulted in excavations
which were backfilled with uncompacted fills (in some cases
utilized as landfill) which may result in differential settlement
and hazardous waste and explosive gas hazards. Finally, Santa
Monica currently receives approximately 50 percent of its water
from ground water sources beneath the City. Subsidence and salt
water intrusion problems resulting from similar ground water
withdrawal have occurred along coastal areas south of the City.
No such problems exist in Santa Monica to date although the
potential obviously exists.
The policies of the Safety Element which address these potential
problems concentrate on the environmental and development review
process. It is recommended that geologic and geotechnical
investigations and design considerations for grading and building
permits be required in areas of potential slope instability and
differential settlement.
Inundation Hazards
Inundation hazards are associated with reservoirs within or in
close proximity to the City, tsunami or storm-generated waves and
storm-related flooding. Two reservoirs, the Stone Canyon and
Riviera Reservoirs located north of the City, pose potential dam
failure and subsequent inundation resulting from earthquakes and
extremely heavy rainfall. In addition, the City owns three 5-
million gallon reservoirs -- Arcadia, Mount Olivette and San
Vicente reservoirs -- which pose localized inundation hazards due
to seiching (shaking and overtopping) during an earthquake. The
low-lying coastal areas of the City are susceptible to tsunami
inundation resulting from large distant earthquakes or an
earthquake or landslide within Santa Monica Bay. Finally, the
Safety Element must assess the impact of a 100-year and 500-year
flood; however, due to the extensive storm drain system within
the City, the National Flood Insurance Program has classified the
flood hazard potential in the City as non-existent.
The Safety Element recommends that the City apply a minimum level
of acceptable risk during the project review phase for
development and new construction, and for proposals for
substantial improvements and redevelopment in dam or tsunami
inundation areas. It recommends that the City disapprove projects
that cannot mitigate the hazard to the satisfaction of the
Building and Safety Division or other responsible agency. The
document suggests guidelines for mitigating these hazards, such
as requiring that the ground floor of any building proposed for
human occupancy be constructed one foot above the projected
inundation depth, requiring special precautions in buildings
storing and utilizing hazardous materials, and proposing possible
flood proofing measures.
Fire Hazards
In Santa Monica, urban fire hazards pose a considerably greater
impact than brush fire hazards. The urban environment is
developed with a range of structures from wood-frame residential
to high-rise commercial buildings with an industrial corridor in
the central portion of the City. The vast majority of all
structure fires involve residential and commercial buildings,
however, the potential for fires in industrial districts produces
the threat of hazardous materials incidences.
In general, the policies of the Safety Element involve
strengthening review and code enforcement programs that already
exist in the City. The policies recommend enforcement of the
Uniform Building Code and Uniform Fire Code and the Santa Monica
Municipal Code which requires installation of sprinkler systems
in any existing building found to provide inadequate access for
fire fighting equipment or apparatus. It is also recommended that
all City departments work together to improve fire fighting
infrastructure through the replacement and/or relocation of old
cast-iron pipelines and inadequate water mains and the
installation of redundant emergency pipelines where necessary.
Finally, the Safety Element recommends the strengthening of
interjurisdictional fire response agreements.
Hazardous Materials
Over 600 businesses use, store or manufacture hazardous or
extremely hazardous materials in some amount in the City. The
Fire Department has identified those businesses that pose a
significant risk to the community due to the volume or type of
hazardous material involved. Pre-fire plans have been developed
for these businesses and are maintained in the Fire Department
Communications Center and on each fire fighting apparatus.
The Safety Element suggests that the threats to public health and
safety from hazardous materials, especially the potential for
multiple releases caused by earthquakes, is minimized best
through the strengthening of local code enforcement actions.
These actions would include strict adherence to the Uniform Fire
Code. Further, the document encourages the continuation and
strengthening of the City's Hazardous Materials Disclosure
Program (HMDP).
The Safety Element recommends that the City amend the Municipal
Code by defining permitted on-site quantities of hazardous
materials, uses and storage requirements in each of the City's
commercial and industrial zones to address risk to adjacent
residential areas, the immobile populations, and constraints
posed by seismic, geologic or inundation hazards. Finally, the
document suggests interjurisdictional coordination and
cooperation in dealing with hazardous materials transportation
issues.
Disaster Preparedness
In addition to the policies that deal with the risks associated
with the hazards as discussed above, the document makes
recommendations on disaster preparedness. These policy
recommendations augment those contained in the City's Multi-
Hazard Functional Plan (MHFP). Many of the actions recommended
are ongoing within the City such as the installation of a
geographic information system (GIS) and the training of City
employees. As a result of the City's response to the Northridge
Earthquake, the Element recommends that the City consider on-
going training and education for City employees, the business
community and the resident community for disaster awareness and
preparation and the establishment of a safe location for
conducting post-disaster emergency operations, rescue and
communication.
Safety Element Environmental Impact Report
The Safety Element EIR analyzes the environmental impacts of
adopting a new Safety Element for the Santa Monica General Plan.
The EIR focuses on the long-range benefits to City residents from
improved safety versus the short-term impacts of implementing
Element programs such as utility relocation and the upgrading and
reconstruction of unsafe structures. The EIR concludes that the
implementation of Safety Element programs will consume negligible
amounts of natural resources for construction. The short-term
impacts as identified in the EIR can be mitigated to a level of
insignificance. Long term changes will be beneficial due to the
increased level of safety and protection provided to the public.
PLANNING COMMISSION RECOMMENDATIONS AND STAFF UPDATES AND CHANGES
The Planning Commission held its first public hearing on the
Safety Element and Draft EIR on April 20, 1994 where the
Commissioners had a number of comments regarding the document.
Staff addressed those comments in the document and discussed the
issues at the second public hearing before the Commission on July
20, 1994. The Planning Commission recommended that an
Implementation Schedule be included in the document in order to
propose a timeline for the implementation of the policies. An
Implementation Schedule has been incorporated into the Safety
Element.
BUDGET/FINANCIAL IMPACTS
The adoption of the Safety Element will not have a financial
impact; however, implementation of the policies will have costs
associated with them. The Safety Element includes a proposed
Implementation Schedule for the policies of the document. Many of
the recommended policies of the Safety Element are on-going
within the City and will not require additional funding for
implementation. The remainder of the policies are recommended to
be implemented over the next five year period. Each City
department responsible for the implementation of a particular
policy will propose necessary funding during the appropriate
annual budget process.
RECOMMENDATION
It is the recommendation of staff that the City Council take the
following actions:
o conduct a public hearing to review the Safety Element
and EIR;
o Adopt a Resolution certifying the Final Environmental
Impact Report (Attachment D);
o Adopt a Resolution approving the adoption of the Safety
Element and amending the Public Safety and Seismic
Safety Elements of the General Plan (Attachment E);
o Adopt a Resolution making the findings necessary to
approve the Safety Element (Attachment F); and
o Adopt a Resolution adopting a mitigation monitoring
program for the Safety Element (Attachment G).
Prepared By: Suzanne Frick, Director of PCD
Karen Ginsberg, Planning Manager
Paul Foley, Associate Planner
Planning and Community Development Department
Policy and Planning Analysis Division
Exhibits:
1 -- Summary of Significant Safety Element Actions
Attachments:
A -- Proposed Safety Element
B -- Proposed Safety Element Technical Background
Report
C -- Final Environmental Impact Report
D -- Resolution Certifying the FEIR
E -- Resolution approving Adoption of the Safety
Element and Amending the Public Safety and Seismic
Safety Elements of the General Plan
F -- Resolution Making Findings Necessary to Approve
the Safety Element
G -- Resolution Adopting a Mitigation Monitoring
Program
EXHIBIT 1
SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT SAFETY ELEMENT ACTIONS
Seismic Hazards
o Continue to encourage the structural and non-structural
assessment and mitigation of potentially hazardous buildings
including unreinforced masonry buildings, soft/weak story
structures, and tilt-up concrete buildings (Ordinance #1748
adopted June 1994).
o Identify and mitigate nonstructural and structural
hazards in City owned buildings, especially critical facilities
(Ordinance #1737 adopted April 1994).
o Review and enforce seismic design provisions and
identify and prevent structural and nonstructural seismic design
flaws in projects involving dependent, essential, high-risk,
high-occupancy or major commercial projects requiring City
approval. Methods to accomplish this include establishing
training programs for plan checkers and building inspectors or
retaining a State-certified structural engineer (Ordinance
#1748).
o Planned lifeline utilities should be designed, located
and upgraded where necessary to ensure operation during an
emergency. (water and sewer utilities have back-up power to
critical facilities and the water system has proper shut-off
valves).
o Consider the Establishment of a Hazard Management Zone
or Zones that identify areas susceptible to faulting,
liquefaction, settlement and slope instability.
o Support future study on the Santa Monica fault system
to further define its location and recurrence interval and
provide public access to current information.
o Make available pamphlets, brochures, and in-house
expertise to educate homeowners and occupants on earthquake
preparedness.
Inundation Hazards
o Study risks and possible protection measures, in
association with the Los Angeles County Department of Public
Works, in the areas of dam, tsunami, and shoreline inundation.
Fire Hazards
o Continue to enforce fire safety in high-rise buildings,
including provisions for automatic sprinkler systems and
emergency utility systems.
o Support aggressive code enforcement programs in areas
of potential multiple-fire incidents, accelerated fire growth, or
in areas of unacceptable risk including residential areas, or in
dependent, essential or high-occupancy facilities (Uniform Fire
Codes are updated every three years).
o Enforce existing provisions of the Municipal Code that
require installation of sprinkler systems in buildings found to
provide inadequate access for fire fighting equipment and require
emergency standby electrical power for fire warning systems and
emergency water pumps.
Hazardous Materials
o Enforce strict controls on the use, storage and
transportation of toxic, explosive and other hazardous and
extremely hazardous materials to prevent unauthorized discharge.
Disaster Preparedness
o Continue to refine and improve the Multi-Hazard
Functional Plan and maintain mutual aid agreements with the
Federal, State and Local agencies and the private sector for
post-disaster actions.
o Provide on-going disaster preparedness and hazard
awareness training to all City employees, businesses and the
community.
o Evaluate and provide additional emergency power
generation capabilities at all City owned critical facilities
which would allow these facilities to be functional for a minimum
period of 72 hours.
o Establish an organized emergency management system and
location for conducting and coordinating post-disaster rescue,
recovery and reconstruction activities (efforts are on-going
within the City).