A Safety Element is a component of the Town’s General Plan. A General Plan is a blueprint or framework for achieving a community’s long-term vision for managing its future. It serves as an aspirational document that includes policies, goals, and objecitves to meet that vision.

Every city in California is required to adopt a General Plan and that plan must include elements (or chapters) on the following topics:

• Conservation
• Housing
• Land Use
• Noise
• Open Space
• Safety
• Transportation
• Environmental Justice is also required for towns which have disadvantaged communities defined as a low-income area that is disproportionately affected by environmental pollution and other hazards that can lead to negative health effects, exposure, or environmental degradation. (This does not apply to Portola Valley.)

The goal of the Safety Element is to reduce the potential short and long-term risk of death, injuries, property damage, and economic and social dislocation resulting from fires, floods, droughts, earthquakes, landslides, climate change, and other identified hazards.

 October 26, 2022 - Joint Meeting of Wildfire Preparedness, Emergency Preparedness, Sustainability, and Geologic Safety Committees on Safety Element. 

• Recording
• Presentation Slides

May 19, 2022 - Sustainability Committee Meeting. 

• Excerpt of Sustainability Committee Meeting

May 11, 2022 - Special Geologic Safety Committee Meeting. 

• Recording

Geologic Safety Committee Comments – April 13, 2023

Comments from January 14-20 

Sustainability Committee Comments - January 19, 2023

Emergency Preparedness Committee Comments – January 5, 2023

Wildfire Preparedness Committee Comments – January 3, 2023

Responses to Town Advisory Body/Committee Questions on the Draft Element

Comments from November 22 - December 5

Comments from November 14 - 21

Comment from October 27- November 13

Comments from October 20 - 26

Recent State law changes now require municipalities to update their Safety Element in conjunction with their Housing Element, which occurs on an eight year cycle. For more information on the Housing Element update, please click here.

On August 11, 2021, the Town Council considered the approach to the Safety Element Update and selected a lead consultant to assist the Town. The agenda, staff report and minutes are available on the Town's website. Select Safety Element work to support the Housing Element update (particularly hazard mapping) has been underway since late 2021.

In August, the Town Council accepted an evacuation study that studied the capacity of the existing road system in an evacuation under a variety of scenarios. The Emergency Preparedness Committee will present their recommendations for prioritizing the study’s mitigations on October 26. Any such recommendations will be incorporated into the draft Safety Element as programs to be implemented over the next 8 years.

The Town is well served by its existing committees to support an update to the Safety Element. The Emergency Preparedness, Geologic Safety, Wildfire Preparedness, and Sustainability Committees are all expected to hold public meetings to discuss updates to the Safety Element. Members of the public are encouraged to participate in those important discussions.

Community-Wide Outreach: A community meeting or open house will be scheduled
to receive input from residents. A schedule has not been confirmed but it is anticipated
in early 2023 after the committees have completed their review.

Planning Commission: The public will be encouraged to provide comments when
the Planning Commission reviews the draft Safety Element. The Planning Commission will receive the comments from the Committees for their review and consideration.

The Draft Safety Element was released on October 10, 2022. Committee meetings will be held in fall to winter of 2022-2023 to discuss the draft, according to each committee’s preference and schedule. The tentative date for comments to be submitted is January 13, 2023. However, this may be extended if committees request additional time. The Planning Commission and Town Council will consider the Safety Element after the Committees complete their review, with the schedule to be determined. 

 The Town is updating both its Housing and Safety elements concurrently. In order to support the Housing Element update process, portions of the Safety Element update began in late 2021. You can review those materials here. 

1. Safety Element work to support Housing Element
2. Staff report from the Feb 23, 2022 Town Council meeting ( Page 44) 
3. August 21, 2001 report on the Safety Element 
4. Subconsultant list
5. Responses to Town Advisory Body/Committee Questions on the Draft Element