Safety Element Update

The Safety Element of Burlingame’s General Plan is a State-mandated element that identifies potential natural and human-caused hazards that could affect residents, businesses, and services in the community.  The goal of the Safety Element is to identify and anticipate potential hazards and prepare a framework for the community to minimize risks and harm resulting from these hazards.

What is the purpose of a Safety Element?
The purpose of the Safety Element is to establish a framework that identifies and anticipates these hazards and prepares the community to minimize risks and harm resulting from these hazards.  The Safety Element identifies the natural and human-caused hazards that affect Burlingame, describes present and expected future conditions, and sets goals and policies to minimize hazards to safety. This includes efforts to protect the health and safety of community members, minimize physical harm to the buildings and infrastructure, and reduce damage to local economic systems, community services, and ecosystems.

Why is Burlingame updating the Safety Element?
In recent years, the complexity of safety elements has increased due to expanded State requirements. In addition, safety elements are able to rely on improved and updated science, more sophisticated mapping, and an expanded set of best practices and tools for hazard mitigation and resilience. The purpose of this project is to not only address the safety element legal requirements in the California Government Code since the previous Safety Element (referred to as “Community Safety” in the 2019 General Plan Update; see www.envisionburlingame.org/element/community-safety) but also address recent hazards and related issues of concern in Burlingame and across the county, respond to community concerns, and create a unified approach to improving resilience countywide.

This update, also called Peninsula Resilience Planning (PREP), will be conducted in collaboration with several jurisdictions in San Mateo County including Atherton, Belmont, Brisbane, East Palo Alto, Half Moon Bay, San Bruno, and San Mateo County. Staff will be working closely with project managers from Community Planning Collaborative (formerly Baird + Driskel Planning) and PlaceWorks.

To learn more about the project, process, and updates please visit the websites below.

Project website: https://prepsmc.com/   
City of Burlingame Project Page: https://prepsmc.com/burlingame/

Upcoming Outreach Events:

Please check back for updates.