Duarte city staff presented the first draft of the city’s Local Hazard Mitigation Plan and opened a public comment period that runs through Sept. 28, the staff presentation said.

Jason, city staff, described the draft as the culmination of more than a year of work with local stakeholders and consultants and said the draft is the final step before submission to the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). "This is the last step before we submit this to OES and FEMA," Jason told the commission.

Staff said the plan is primarily a mitigation document to make the city eligible for disaster funding and is not a response plan. The plan, staff said, focuses on proactive projects and programs — such as defensible-space work, land-use planning measures and small infrastructure projects — that can reduce hazard risks. Staff noted the document is updated every five years and that this is roughly the project’s final 10 percent of work before state and federal review and eventual city-council adoption, pending approvals.

The presentation summarized outreach completed to date, including August 2024 public outreach, five planning-team meetings that included city staff and local emergency managers, and a profile of prioritized hazards. Staff earlier noted that previous iterations had included a hazardous-nuclear-materials approach related to operations at City of Hope but that those matters were removed because they are regulated by authorities outside the city’s jurisdiction.

Commissioners asked whether Duarte faces unique hazards compared with other cities. Jason said the plan once contained a local approach tied to the City of Hope matter but that the plan removed that approach because the regulatory authority lies elsewhere. During discussion staff used the area above Valley View School as an example: the roughly 34-acre site, staff said, contains a blue-line stream, an identified fault, is in a very-high fire zone and has potential flood and mudslide issues; the plan flags such factors to ensure future project-level reviews address them.

Staff described typical mitigation projects that could be eligible for grant funding if the plan is approved by Cal OES and FEMA, including auxiliary water tanks for firefighting and smaller flood-control measures such as check dams. Jason said the goal is to demonstrate the city has considered its hazard profile and completed robust public outreach so the city can access disaster and mitigation funding when an eligible local emergency is declared.

The draft plan is available for review on the city’s landing page; staff said physical copies are available at Duarte City Hall, the Public Safety office and the Duarte Library. A QR code on the city page links directly to the draft and to the comment form. Staff told commissioners the state and federal review may take several months and that the city hopes to return the plan for adoption in early 2026.

No action was taken at the meeting; staff asked commissioners and the public to submit written comments during the open comment period.