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What ideas do you have about policies and programs for the draft Safety Element?

6 registered ideas

1) Fire hazards are best mitigated by studying the local risks and developing a reasonable risk assessment and working with homeowners. Based on current guidelines, establishing a Clean and Green 30 foot perimeter, and 100 feet of reasonable defensible space is the modern CalFire solution. Based on the Loma Fire, thousands of acres in a dry season can be hit by wild fire in hours. This can place citizens and state workers at risk. Defensible space is the best safety option but requires hard work and tremendous effort. Rewarding that effort by working with those homeowners who are responsible and listening to concerns is the best option. 2) Earthquake retrofit needs to be promoted, through low cost permitting and those with experience in the building department. This is not a planning issue, but a building issue. In an earthquake, the earthquake will damage infrastructure in minutes, and liquidate the Earthquake insurance pool very quickly. Earthquake retrofit is the solution but again is hard work. Installing Simpson ties and solid plywood reinforcement with headers is the appropriate solution. This is not a theoretical issue but is common sense. This takes hard work, as the Simpson ties have to be individually nailed, and you are working hard to prepare for the outlier scenario. Having said that, every home standing is a community asset, and every damaged home becomes a community liability, so the city wants to protect assets and prevent liability. There are years to prepare for an earthquake, so focusing on home improvement is the key. Maintaining pedestrian and bike-friendly streets and SIDEWALKS on a regular schedule. Fix street lighting: new lamps may be energy friendly but are too high above the canopies to light the sidewalks. Since sidewalks are in appalling shape, it is hazardous to walk at night. The current trash versus recyclable materials guidelines can be somewhat confusing and take up a lot of kitchen space that is needed for other things. I think that instead of requiring individual residents sort items for discard into several categories, thus requiring the City to have several trucks passing through each neighborhood each week, the City should change to Single Stream recycling and waste disposal. I have seen this work very well in other places. For example, it is available in Cortlandt Manor, NY (near Peekskill, NY) and the residents like it. All items to be discarded are placed into a single container which is collected weekly and sorted at a central facility. This could save the City the cost of running three trucks each week, decrease air pollution, general neighborhood irritation from the noise and three instead of one truck cluttering up narrow streets. the intersection of Churchill and Paly is very dangerous for the pedestrians (mostly students) since there is no traffic light or stop sign. And when school ends every day, it is very hard for cars to get on to Churchill east bound from Paly parking lot. Suggestion: put a 2-way stop sigh at that intersection. Or during the time when school ends every day, restrict that cars can only turn right from Paly parking lot onto the Churchill west bound, and add a right turn lane on Churchill so cars can turn right onto El Camino without waiting in the single lane (there is plenty of space at the corner of Churchill and El Camino to add a right turn lane). One of the hazardous materials overlooked or ignored by the government, including Palo Alto's police and City Council, is the toxic brew stirred up by leaf blowers. Our noses are insulted by the combustion products of a gasoline powered leaf blowers, our ears are assaulted by the screeching whine of the blowers, and our eyes are irritated and watering from the dust and debris blown about. There is no reason for gasoline powered blowers in residential neighborhoods. In addition, they have been against the law for many years now. Electric blowers are bad enough, they kick up a cloud of dust, debris, fecal matter, spores, pollen, etc. and have an annoying sound. Perhaps it is time to emphasize enforcement and in addition to fining the gardeners, levy a fine against the home owner whose yard is blown by a gasoline powered blower. The fine should be increased for each subsequent violation. This should quickly put an end to gasoline powered blowers, or else provide the city with another revenue stream. POLICY N-52 needs to more closely consider future sea level rise and plan/zone accordingly.

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Select one of the goals below to read an annotated version of the existing Safety Element and provide your ideas and comments.  

Hazardous Materials Thumbnail Solid Waste Thumbnail Natural Hazards Thumbnail Community Safety Thumbnail

Infrastructure Thumbnail

GOALS

Goal N-6 Hazardous Materials: An Environment Free of the Damaging Effects of Biological and Chemical Hazardous Materials.
Goal N-7 Solid Waste: Reduced Volumes of Solid Waste; Solid Waste Disposed in an Environmentally Safe, Efficient, Manner.
Goal N-10 Natural Hazards: Protection of Life and Property from Natural Hazards, including Earthquake, Landslide, Flooding and Fire. 
New Goal Community Safety And Emergency Management: Develop And Coordinate A Plan For Fire, Police Protection And Effective Emergency Preparedness And Response.
New Goal Infrastructure: Infrastructure That Is Prudently Managed And Maintained To Protect Public Health, Resident Safety And The Natural Environment. 


ABOUT THIS ELEMENT

The Safety Element fulfills State requirements for the required Safety Element.  The State requires this Element to identify hazards and hazard abatement provisions to guide local land use decisions as it relates to natural and material risks; include general hazard and risk reduction strategies complementary with those of the Local Hazard Mitigation Plan, including from exposure to natural hazards like earthquakes and fires, and policies pertaining to hazardous materials and emergency response priorities, as well as avoiding hazards associated with potential new development and reducing risk in the urban, developed areas of Palo Alto. This Element will describe these topics through a list of goals, policies, and programs, in addition to maps and figures that help describe these topics visually. 

A significant focus of the Safety Element is to translate the city’s values and vision for the future into a document that provides for the protection of life and property from natural hazards, an inventory and plan for minimizing risks from these hazards, recognizes the guidelines established by the California Geological Survey of the Department of Conservation, and the Office of Emergency Services.  In Palo Alto, the existing Element supports the community’s objectives for protection from natural hazards and hazardous materials through the following main policy themes.  These themes will be carried forward to guide future land use decisions, including:

  • Maintaining an Environment Free of the Damaging Effects of Biological and Chemical Hazardous Materials.
  • Reducing the amount of Solid Waste, and in an Environmentally Safe, Efficient, Manner.
  • Protecting Palo Altoans from Natural Hazards, including Earthquake, Landslide, Flooding and Fire.

Click here to view the current Natural Environment Element.

Click here to view the Planning and Transportation Commission’s recommended changes.

Existing conditions reports related to the Safety Element can be viewed using these links:
Geology, Soils, and Seismicity
Hazardous Materials
Utilities and Service Systems

What follows is a digital, annotated version of the existing Natural Environment Element as it pertains to the new Safety Element, with questions intended to highlight potential changes that the Citizens Advisory Committee will consider.


HAZARDOUS MATERIALS

Residents of any urbanized area encounter various potentially hazardous materials each day, ranging from common household substances to highly regulated fuels and industrial compounds. What can Palo Alto do to ensure that the risk from these materials is reduced and their impacts limited?

GOAL N-6: An Environment Free of the Damaging Effects of Biological and Chemical Hazardous Materials


POLICY N-30: Minimize the use of toxic and hazardous materials. Encourage the use of alternative materials and practices that are environmentally benign.

PROGRAM N-46: Provide information to all user groups about:
Commonly used hazardous materials;
environmentally friendly alternatives; and
safe recycling and disposal methods.

PROGRAM N-47: Continue City permitting procedures for commercial and industrial storage, use, and handling of hazardous materials.

PROGRAM N-48: Continue sponsoring a regular household hazardous waste collection event.

PROGRAM N-49: Study the relative costs, advantages, and disadvantages of joining the regional household hazardous waste program operated by the Santa Clara County Department of Environmental Health.

PROGRAM N-50: Continue the program that allows small quantity generators to dispose of hazardous waste at cost.

POLICY N-31: Continue working with appropriate agencies to clean up hazardous waste sites and contaminated groundwater.

POLICY N-32: Support public agency policies, regulations, legislation, and programs that implement the Santa Clara County Hazardous Waste Management Plan.

POLICY N-33: Protect City authority for the approval or denial of proposed commercial hazardous waste treatment, storage, or disposal facilities in the City. Continue to support the concept of “fair share” agreements between counties in the siting of such facilities

Back to the goals.


SOLID WASTE

Solid waste is produced by all sectors of the community, and Palo Alto has historically been a leader at reducing, reusing, and recycling. Are there specific programs or initiatives that Palo Alto should pursue to ensure that residents, businesses and the City itself reduce the amount of solid waste produced, and enforce responsible waste disposal?

GOAL N-7: Reduced Volumes of Solid Waste; Solid Waste Disposed in an Environmentally Safe, Efficient, Manner.


POLICY N-34: Reduce the amount of solid waste disposed in the City’s landfill by reducing the amount of waste generated and promoting the cost-effective reuse of materials that would otherwise be placed in a landfill.

PROGRAM N-51: Regularly review the landfill fee structure to ensure that it encourages a reduction in solid waste disposal.

PROGRAM N-52: Improve City composting practices and continue promoting the household composting program.

PROGRAM N-53: Continue to develop cost-effective source separation programs for recyclable solid waste materials for residential and commercial customers.

PROGRAM N-54: Continue to develop long-term solid waste management programs that include safe and environmentally sound disposal methods such as the SMaRT Station©.

POLICY N-35: Reduce solid waste generation through salvage and reuse of building materials, including architecturally and historically significant materials.

PROGRAM N-55: Maintain and expand the use of the Recycling Center at the City’s refuse disposal area.

POLICY N-36: Encourage the use of reusable, returnable, recyclable, and repairable goods through incentives, educational displays and activities, and City purchasing policies and practices.

POLICY N-37: Ensure the environmentally sound disposal of solid waste.

POLICY N-38: Support state and federal legislation encouraging the use of recyclable goods

Back to the goals.


NATURAL HAZARDS

Given its location, Palo Alto is particularly vulnerable to earthquakes and flooding, both from existing conditions and from future sea level rise. Other natural hazards like fire and drought are also concerns. What City policies and programs should be prioritized to reduce the threat of these hazards?

GOAL N-10: Protection of Life and Property From Natural Hazards, Including Earthquake, Landslide, Flooding, and Fire.


General Safety Measures

POLICY N-49: Focus efforts to reduce exposure to natural hazards on those areas where the greatest risks exist.

POLICY N-50: Implement public safety improvements, such as access roads and other infrastructure, in a manner that is sensitive to the environment.

Seismic and Other Geologic Hazards

POLICY N-51: Minimize exposure to geologic hazards, including slope stability, subsidence, and expansive soils, and to seismic hazards including groundshaking, fault rupture, liquefaction, and landsliding.

PROGRAM N-69: Strictly enforce Uniform Building Code seismic safety restrictions.

PROGRAM N-70: Continue to provide incentives for seismic retrofits of structures in the University Avenue/ Downtown area.

PROGRAM N-71: Allow development rights achieved through seismic upgrading of specified sites to be transferred to designated eligible receiver sites. 

PROGRAM N-72: Revise the Zoning and Subdivision Ordinances to recognize seismic, geologic, and soil related hazards.

PROGRAM N-73: Require preparation of a report from an engineering geologist that reviews geologic, soils, and engineering reports for developments in hazard areas. Establish appropriate fees to cover the cost of this review.

PROGRAM N-74: Review and update, as appropriate, City code requirements for excavation, grading, and filling to ensure that they conform to currently accepted standards. Recover the cost of this work through grading permit fees.

Flood Hazards

POLICY N-52: Minimize exposure to flood hazards by adequately reviewing proposed development in flood prone areas.

PROGRAM N-75: Establish a standardized process for evaluating the impacts of development on the storm drainage system.

PROGRAM N-76: Implement the requirements of FEMA relating to construction in Special Flood Hazard Areas as illustrated on the Flood Insurance Rate Maps.

Fire Hazards

POLICY N-53: Minimize exposure to wildland and urban fire hazards through rapid emergency response, proactive code enforcement, public education programs, use of modern fire prevention measures, and adequate emergency management preparation.

PROGRAM N-77: Regularly review and update the Palo Alto Foothills Fire Management Plan and the fire emergency evacuation provisions in the City’s Emergency Management Plan.

PROGRAM N-78: Provide public education on fire safety, including evacuation routes and guide- lines for clearance of landscaping and other hazards around structures.

PROGRAM N-79: Minimize fire hazards by implementing low density zoning in wildland fire hazard areas.

POLICY N-54: Provide emergency fire and medical services consistent with the response time standards set forth in the Fire Department’s annual budget.

PROGRAM N-80: Evaluate measures for consolidation of services with other jurisdictions and automatic or mutual aid agreements with other jurisdictions to improve efficiencies.

Back to the goals.


COMMUNITY SAFETY AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

Effective emergency management requires both a responsive public sector and resident preparedness. What can the City do to ensure that both the City and its residents are fully prepared for emergency events?

NEW GOAL: Develop And Coordinate A Plan For Fire, Police Protection And Effective Emergency Preparedness And Response.


POLICY N-55: Minimize exposure to all hazards through emergency management planning.

PROGRAM N-81: Regularly update and distribute the City of Palo Alto Emergency Management Plan, including the earthquake, flood, and fire emergency evacuation plans. Consult with the Palo Alto Unified School District in updating the Plan.

PROGRAM N-82: Initiate public education programs that strongly encourage that each house- hold in the City is prepared to be self-sufficient for 72 hours after a major earthquake. Update and distribute the City’s earthquake preparedness guide, “Living with Our Faults."

Back to the goals.


INFRASTRUCTURE

Public infrastructure in Palo Alto tends to represent streets, pedestrian and bike paths, and buildings such as fire stations. However, much of the City’s vital infrastructure systems, including the pipes that carry our water, sewage, and storm water, is hidden from view. These vital systems have received increased attention recently as the need for maintenance and upgrades becomes more pressing. The existing Comp Plan doesn’t address this topic in detail, so the Comp Plan Update seeks to establish an overall vision for the long term safety and reliability of all City infrastructure. Can you suggest an overarching policy for inclusion in the Update? What specific issues are most crucial to address?

NEW GOAL: Infrastructure that is prudently managed and maintained to protect public health, resident safety and the natural environment. 


You may also use this space for general comments.

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Residents of any urbanized area encounter various potentially hazardous materials each day, ranging from common household substances to highly regulated fuels and industrial compounds.  What can Palo Alto do to ensure that the risk from these materials is reduced and their impacts limited?  

Hazardous Materials Thumbnail

Hazardous Materials

Residents of any urbanized area encounter various potentially hazardous materials each day, ranging from common household substances to highly regulated fuels and industrial compounds. What can Palo Alto do to ensure that the risk from these materials is reduced and their impacts limited? 

Solid waste is produced by all sectors of the community, and Palo Alto has historically been a leader at reducing, reusing, and recycling. Are there specific programs or initiatives that Palo Alto should pursue to ensure that residents, businesses and the City itself reduce the amount of solid waste produced, and enforce responsible waste disposal?

Solid Waste Thumbnail

Solid Waste

Solid waste is produced by all sectors of the community, and Palo Alto has historically been a leader at reducing, reusing, and recycling. Are there specific programs or initiatives that Palo Alto should pursue to ensure that residents, businesses and the City itself reduce the amount of solid waste produced, and enforce responsible waste disposal?

Given its location, Palo Alto is particularly vulnerable to earthquakes and flooding, both from existing conditions and from future sea level rise. Other natural hazards like fire and drought are also concerns. What City policies and programs should be prioritized to reduce the threat of these hazards?

Natural Hazards thumbnail

Natural Hazards

Given its location, Palo Alto is particularly vulnerable to earthquakes and flooding, both from existing conditions and from future sea level rise. Other natural hazards like fire and drought are also concerns. What City policies and programs should be prioritized to reduce the threat of these hazards? 

Effective emergency management requires both a responsive public sector and resident preparedness. What can the City do to ensure that both the City and its residents are fully prepared for emergency events?

Emergency Safety thumbnail

Community Safety and Emergency Management

Effective emergency management requires both a responsive public sector and resident preparedness. What can the City do to ensure that both the City and its residents are fully prepared for emergency events? 

Public infrastructure in Palo Alto tends to represent streets, pedestrian and bike paths, and buildings such as fire stations. However, much of the City’s vital infrastructure systems, including the pipes that carry our water, sewage, and storm water, is hidden from view. These vital systems have received increased attention recently as the need for maintenance and upgrades becomes more pressing. The existing Comp Plan doesn’t address this topic in detail, so the Comp Plan Update seeks to establish an overall vision for the long term safety and reliability of all City infrastructure. Can you suggest an overarching policy for inclusion in the Update? What specific issues are most crucial to address?

Infrastructure thumbnail

Infrastructure

Public infrastructure in Palo Alto tends to represent streets, pedestrian and bike paths, and buildings such as fire stations. However, much of the City’s vital infrastructure systems, including the pipes that carry our water, sewage, and storm water, is hidden from view. These vital systems have received increased attention recently as the need for maintenance and upgrades becomes more pressing. The existing Comp Plan doesn’t address this topic in detail, so the Comp Plan Update seeks to establish an overall vision for the long term safety and reliability of all City infrastructure. Can you suggest an overarching policy for inclusion in the Update?  What specific issues are most crucial to address?

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