Safety Element

Community Development Agency
three images, one of  flooded Highway 37 with a car floating in the water, one of an aerial view of the rising tide at Stinson Beach and one of Marin County firefighters fighting a wildfire.

Marin County is updating the Safety Element of the Countywide Plan.

The update is happening in coordination with the Housing Element Update and scheduled for hearings with the Board of Supervisors in late 2022 and early 2023. This site provides background on why the Safety Element is being updated, links to how you can participate, and frequently asked questions (preguntas frecuentes / Những Câu Hỏi Thường Gặp) with links to resources and information.

California State law requires that local governments prepare and adopt a general plan, which is a blueprint for meeting the community’s long-term vision for the future. Marin County’s general plan is called the Countywide Plan. The safety element is one of the nine State-mandated elements of the general plan. General plan elements are generally composed of background and technical information, goals and policies, and implementation programs describing action items for the future. Recent State of California legislation requires that safety elements be reviewed and updated as necessary alongside the Housing Element 2023 – 2031 update.

The main components of the Safety Element update are:

  1. A vulnerability assessment that integrates updated background information and mapping;
  2. Amendments to goals, policies, objectives, and implementation measures, especially as they relate to climate change resiliency; and
  3. Alignment of programs from other County planning documents.

On January 24, 2023, the Marin County Board of Supervisors voted to adopt the 2023-2031 Marin County Housing Element, Safety Element, and Environmental Impact Report, along with related Countywide Plan and Development Code amendments. Next steps include submittal of the Housing Element to the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) for final review and certification.

El 24 de enero de 2023, la Junta de Supervisores del Condado de Marin votó a favor de la adopción del Elemento de Vivienda del Condado de Marin 2023-2031, el Elemento de Seguridad y el Informe de Impacto Ambiental, junto con las enmiendas relacionadas al Plan de Todo el Condado y al Código de Desarrollo. Los próximos etapas incluyen la presentación del Elemento de Vivienda al Departamento Estatal de Vivienda y Desarrollo Comunitario (HCD) para su revisión final y certificación.

If you have additional questions or comments, send us an email at safetyelement@marincounty.org

Safety Element Documents.

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1-5-23 Planning Commission Meeting Materials

Draft Safety Element / Proyecto de elemento de seguridad

View and download a copy of the Revised Draft Safety Element / Proyecto de elemento de seguridad - 01.05.2023
View and download a copy of the  Revised Draft Safety Element / Proyecto de elemento de seguridad - 09.27.2022

View and download a copy of the  Draft Safety Element / Proyecto de elemento de seguridad - 06.01.2022

Comments and suggestions received from the community are available as a table of public comments, or as all letters received . The draft Safety Element was also sent to the State Department of Forestry for review and approval on June 2, 2022.

Safety Element Vulnerability Assessment

The Safety Element update will focus on new state requirements to plan for climate change resiliency. One such requirement is to prepare an analysis of the County’s vulnerabilities to the impacts of climate change, called a Vulnerability Assessment. Safety Elements are generally required to address a range of hazards. Only some of them are made worse by or are new as a result of climate change. Those hazards are the focus of this VA and include, drought, extreme heat, flooding, landslides and subsidence, sea level rise, severe weather, and wildfire.

Healthy Communities

Housing and Safety Elements 2023-2031

 

icon of different housing types (house, apartment)

Housing Element

 

Healthy Communities

Countywide Plan