1314Resolution No. 1314 -1- Safety Element
RESOLUTION NO. 1314
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
ROLLING HILLS AMENDING THE SAFETY ELEMENT OF
THE GENERAL PLAN TO INCORPORATE THE CITY’S
LOCAL HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN IN ACCORDANCE
WITH ASSEMBLY BILL 2140
THE CITY COUNCIL DOES HEREBY FIND, RESOLVE, AND ORDER AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Recitals
A. On January 4, 1957, the City of Rolling Hills (“City”) was established as a
duly organized municipal corporation of the State of California.
B. The City adopted its current General Plan on June 25, 1990. The General
Plan establishes goals, objectives, and strategies to achieve the community’s vision for
its future.
C. Section 65302(g) of the California Government Code requires that the
General Plan include a “Safety Element” for the protection of the community from any
unreasonable risks associated with the effects of seismically-induced surface rupture,
ground shaking, grand failure, tsunami, seiche, and dam failure; slope instability leading
to mudslides and landslides; subsidence and other geologic hazards; flooding, and
wildland and urban fire. In accordance with state law, the City’s General Plan includes a
Safety Element.
D. On March 28, 2022, the City Council adopted an update to the Safety
Element (“Safety Element Update”) to comply with recent legislation and effectuate
revisions contemplated by funding awarded to the City from the Governor’s Office of
Emergency Services (“CalOES”).
E. Pursuant to the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act
(“CEQA”), Public Resources Code Sections 21000 et seq. and the State CEQA
Guidelines, California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Sections 15000 et seq., the City
prepared an initial study in connection with the Safety Element Update, which determined
that there was no substantial evidence that adoption of the Safety Element Update may
have a significant effect on the environment. Accordingly, the City prepared a negative
declaration (“Negative Declaration”), which was adopted by the City Council on March 28,
2022 in conjunction with the adoption of the Safety Element Update.
F. The City Council’s adoption of the Safety Element Update and
corresponding Negative Declaration were effectuated through City Council Resolution
No. 1291, which is attached hereto as Exhibit “A” and incorporated herein by reference.
G. On March 30, 2022, City staff sent a copy of the adopted Safety Element
Update to CalOES for review. CalOES review and approval of the Safety Element Update
Resolution No. 1314 -2- Safety Element
is necessary for the City to receive grant funding under CalOES’s “Hazard Mitigation
Grant Program.”
H. On September 2, 2022, CalOES informed the City that it would not award
funding under the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program until the City’s Safety Element
satisfied the requirements of Assembly Bill 2140 (“AB 2140”). To do so, CalOES advised
that: (i) the Safety Element must include language stating that the City’s Local Hazard
Mitigation Plan (“LHMP”) is part of the Safety Element; (ii) the Safety Element must direct
readers to the location of the LHMP (e.g., via a website link); and (iii) the City Council
resolution updating the Safety Element should confirm that the LHMP is adopted into the
Safety Element.
I. City staff prepared an update to the Safety Element to incorporate CalOES’s
requested AB 2140 revisions (hereafter the “AB 2140 Safety Element Update”). On
September 28, 2022, CalOES staff notified City staff that its draft AB 2140 Safety Element
Update complied with AB 2140.
J. On October 18, 2022, the Planning Commission held a duly noticed public
hearing on the AB 2140 Safety Element Update. Thereafter, the Planning Commission
adopted Resolution No. 2022-19 recommending that the City Council adopt the AB 2140
Safety Element Update.
K. On October 24, 2022, the City Council held a public hearing to consider
adopting the AB 2140 Safety Element Update.
Section 2. Findings. Based upon the facts contained in this Resolution, those
contained in the staff report and other components of the legislative record, the City
Council finds that:
A. The recitals set forth above are true and correct and are hereby
incorporated into this Resolution as though fully set forth herein.
B. The AB 2140 Safety Element Update does not constitute a “project” subject
to CEQA as it simply amends the Safety Element to clarify that the LHMP is part of the
Safety Element (which it already speaks to) and direct readers to the website address
whereon the LHMP may be accessed. These amendments will not result in any
construction, development, or any other activity that has a potential for resulting in either
a direct, or reasonably foreseeable indirect, physical change in the environment.
Accordingly, approval of the AB 2140 Safety Element Update is not subject to CEQA.
(State CEQA Guidelines, §§ 15060, subd. (c)(2)-(3), 15378(a), (b)(5).) Moreover, even if
the Safety Element Update did qualify as a project subject to CEQA, it would be exempt
under CEQA’s common sense exemption, which provides that CEQA applies only to
projects that have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. Here,
it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may
have a significant effect on the environment. (State CEQA Guidelines, § 15061, subd.
(b)(3).) Finally, even if the AB 2140 Safety Element Update were a non-exempt project
subject to CEQA, no further environmental review is necessary under Public Resources
Code section 21166 and State CEQA Guidelines section 15162 because the potential
Resolution No. 1314 -3- Safety Element
environmental impacts of the updated Safety Element were adequately disclosed and
evaluated in the Negative Declaration adopted by the City Council in Resolution No. 1291,
attached hereto as Exhibit “A.”
C. The Safety Element—as amended by the AB 2140 Safety Element
Update—is consistent with the other elements of the General Plan, including the Land
Use Element, Circulation Element, and Open Space and Conservation Element as set
forth below:
Land Use Element Goal 3: Accommodate development that is sensitive to the
natural environment and accounts for environmental hazards.
The Safety Element is consistent with this goal in that it addresses the natural
environmental and accounts for environmental hazards.
Circulation Element Goal 2: Provide a circulation system that contributes to
residents’ quality of life and minimizes impacts on the environment.
The Safety Element is consistent with this goal in that it plans for escape routes
that utilize the existing circulation system in the event of an emergency.
Open Space and Conservation Element Goal 1: Conserve and enhance the City’s
natural resources, facilitating development in a manner which reflects the
characteristics, sensitivities and constraints of these resources.
The Safety Element is consistent with this goal in that it considers safety factors
and hazard constraints in facilitating development.
D. The safety goals, objectives, and policies stated in the Safety Element—as
amended by the AB 2140 Safety Element Update—are appropriate for the City of Rolling
Hills. The Safety Element will aid the City’s efforts for the protection of the community and
is in the public interest.
E. The City’s Federal Emergency Management Agency-approved Local
Hazard Mitigation Plan is adopted into the Safety Element of the General Plan.
Section 3. The City Council of the City of Rolling Hills hereby amends the Safety
Element as set forth in Exhibit “B,” attached hereto and incorporated herein by reference.
PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED THIS 24th DAY OF OCTOBER 2022.
_______________________________
JAMES BLACK, MD
MAYOR
ATTEST:
___________________________________
CHRISTIAN HORVATH, CITY CLERK
Resolution No. 1314 -4- Safety Element
I certify that the foregoing Resolution No. 1314 entitled:
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
ROLLING HILLS RE-ADOPTING THE SAFETY ELEMENT
UPDATE
was approved and adopted at a regular meeting of the City Council on October 24,
2022, by the following roll call vote:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTAIN:
and in compliance with the laws of California was posted at the following:
Administrative Offices
____________________________________
CHRISTIAN HORVATH, CITY CLERK