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Planning Commission recommends council amend Solvang general plan safety element to incorporate local hazard mitigation plan
Summary
The Solvang Planning Commission voted 5-0 June 2 to recommend the City Council amend the general plan safety element to explicitly adopt the city—s Local Hazard Mitigation Plan and to update the fire severity map to the Cal Fire hazard map; staff said the change is needed to comply with AB 2140 and federal mitigation funding requirements.
The Solvang Planning Commission on June 2 voted 5-0 to adopt Planning Commission Resolution 25-03, recommending the City Council amend the safety element of the Solvang General Plan to explicitly adopt the city—s Local Hazard Mitigation Plan and to update the plan—s fire severity map to match recently introduced Cal Fire mapping.
Planning Manager Rafael Castillo presented the item, saying the Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (LHMP) was adopted in 2023 and the safety element was updated as part of the city—s 2024 general plan. Castillo said the proposed amendment adds a new policy (SAF 1.1) that explicitly adopts the LHMP into the general plan and replaces figure SAF‑8 with the Cal Fire fire severity map introduced by the City Council at first reading the prior week.
Castillo said the text change responds to a state review and to the Federal Disaster Mitigation Act—s requirements for hazard mitigation planning. He told the commission that state law AB 2140 requires specified language in local safety elements and that the state Office of Emergency Services had identified missing language in the city—s current document. "Rather than reading between the lines, we were being very explicit," Castillo said.
City staff also told the commission that the general plan amendment is exempt from environmental review under CEQA section 15061(b)(3), because it only adds a reference to the LHMP and does not change land use or development patterns. Staff said the LHMP contains goals, objectives and policies for emergency response and hazard mitigation rather than project-level actions.
Vice Chair Adler asked whether a printed copy of the LHMP would be added to the official records; Rafael Castillo said the URL is included in staff materials for easy public access and that staff will add the link and related documents to the city website and official records. Castillo said the state prefers the LHMP be easily accessible as part of meeting AB 2140 requirements.
During the vote a commissioner noted a clerical duplication in the tribal notification language in the draft resolution. The commission amended the approval to remove the duplicate tribal notification reference before adopting Resolution 25-03. The motion passed 5-0.
The commission—s action is a recommendation only; if the council approves the amendment it will be incorporated into the Solvang General Plan and the public record, and the updated fire severity map will be aligned with the municipal code pending council action.
The staff report and presentation identified the LHMP (adopted 2023), AB 2140, the Federal Disaster Mitigation Act, and the Cal Fire fire severity mapping as the legal and technical background for the amendment. The item will next go to the City Council for final action.
