The city of La Cañada Flintridge is currently in the process of updating its Local Hazard Mitigation Plan to turn in on June 1 for initial review to the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.
“This plan guides the city’s safety measures and ensures that we qualify for federal disaster funds after a disaster or emergency,” Emergency Coordinator Jared Hartel said at an October Public Safety Commission meeting.
The 2019 plan includes information and resources to assist LCF residents, organizations and others in planning for natural and human-made hazards.
“The primary objective of the hazard mitigation plan is to reduce the negative impacts of future disasters on La Cañada Flintridge to save lives and reduce injuries, minimize damage to buildings and infrastructure — especially critical facilities — and minimize economic losses,” reads the 2019 plan.
The plan is updated every five years and important for many reasons, Hartel told the Outlook Valley Sun.
“It keeps us abreast of the city’s current vulnerabilities and where we are in mitigation efforts,” he said.
The plan provides long- and short-term policies, programs, projects and other activities that may assist in reducing risk and preventing loss from future disastrous events.
“The mitigation strategies address multiple hazard issues, as well as specific activities for drought, earthquake, extreme heat, flood, windstorm, landslide, wildfire, and human-made hazards,” reads the 2019 plan.
The city is currently looking at various hazards to add to the updated plan like cybersecurity, civil unrest, public health crisis, terrorism, sites in the city and climate change, to name a few.
Since the current plan is scheduled to expire in July 2024, the city is asking residents to submit their input on the 2019 plan and add any other topics that should be included.
“The city will conduct meetings and workshops involving stakeholders, including the public, as part of the process,” reads the agenda item for the Public Safety Commission meeting on Oct. 23. “Community engagement is an integral part of a comprehensive update to define goals and action items for the plan.”
After the survey closes on Dec. 31, comments will be reviewed by the city’s Local Hazard Mitigation Planning and Development Team, which includes appointed city employees who will write the update. The city will then hold a public review meeting for residents to attend and offer more comments.
Community stakeholders, who are part of the Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Advisory Committee were scheduled to meet on Nov. 15 to discuss the plan and “go over ways we can address mitigation efforts in the city, so that we can build resiliency against various disasters,” said Hartel.
To learn more about the Local Hazard Mitigation Plan update and provide feedback, visit cityoflcf.org/city-of-la-canada-flintridge-local-hazard-mitigation-plan-update/.
First published in the November 16 print issue of the Outlook Valley Sun.
