Council adopts Coyote Management and Response Plan, affirms CEQA exemption
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Summary
Council approved a city Coyote Management and Response Plan and a CEQA exemption, and directed staff to procure on-call trapping services that comply with plan conditions. The plan creates a tiered incident response matrix, public education materials and a reporting dashboard managed by the police department.
The Redondo Beach City Council adopted a Coyote Management and Response Plan and made a CEQA exemption finding, directing staff to procure on-call trapping services to be used only under the plan's specified conditions.
The plan offers a four-part approach that emphasizes public safety, deterrence and coexistence while complying with federal and state wildlife regulations. Assistant to the City Manager Jane Chung summarized the plan, saying, "The city of Redondo Beach's plan provides a structured proactive approach to coexisting with urban coyotes while prioritizing public safety." The presentation noted a recent uptick in sightings and the city's first known coyote den in 2024.
Why this matters: The plan standardizes how the city will triage coyote incidents, creates a public reporting dashboard, clarifies when trapping or euthanasia may be used in compliance with California Department of Fish and Wildlife rules, and establishes provisions for public education and deterrence to reduce interactions with people and pets.
The plan sets a color-coded response matrix tied to incident severity: green for sightings, yellow for following/stalking behaviors, orange for aggressive behavior or pet injury, and red for attacks on people. Police Chief Joe Hoffman described new tracking steps: "We created a special call in our CAD system so we could track all the coyote sightings or any sort of other coyote incident," and staff have posted a coyote portal and map on the police department website.
Michael Baker International reviewed the draft plan and concluded it is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act under sections 15061(b)(3) and 15308; Council also adopted the CEQA exemption finding as part of the action. Jane Chung told council that, if trapping becomes necessary, the city will consult California Department of Fish and Wildlife and use certified trappers; staff estimated an average cost of about $1,500 per coyote for trapping services.
Council member comments emphasized public education and data tracking; Chief Hoffman said the new database will allow staff to report quarterly and to monitor spatial and temporal patterns. The council approved the resolution by voice vote; staff will return with a procurement contract for on-call, as-needed trapping services that comply with the plan's conditions.