Rancho Santa Margarita council adopts minor update to general plan safety element

The Rancho Santa Margarita City Council unanimously adopted a resolution to approve a minor update to the city—s general plan safety element (GPA 26-001) after a staff presentation and no public testimony.

City planning staff (Miss Cuda) told the council the update primarily incorporates the 2025 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan by reference and implements a few technical edits requested by the California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection, including replacing an outdated reference to the Holy Jim fire with the more recent airport fire and updating a code citation to the latest triennial building-code cycle. Miss Cuda said the Board of Forestry also asked the city to incorporate the recently adopted local responsibility area fire-hazard severity zone maps by reference.

The council opened the required public hearing; no members of the public addressed the item. Mayor Beal then moved to adopt the resolution as presented, a motion seconded by Council member Figueroa. The motion carried unanimously.

The staff packet includes a detailed Board of Forestry review showing the safety element meets the elements of the Government Code, and a supplemental purple packet corrected a public-hearing date in one recital. Planning staff said the edits are "very minor" and intended to ensure the document aligns with state requirements and recent local hazard planning updates.

Next steps: the update takes effect as the city—s adopted safety element amendment; staff will incorporate the revised pages into the online general plan document and the packet materials. The council did not add additional direction or amendments during adoption.