A city (or county) is not an accident but the result of coherent visions and aims

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(v)  
Local, state, and federal agencies with responsibility for fire protection, including special districts and local 
office of emergency services.
(B)  A set of goals, policies, and objectives based on the information identified pursuant to subparagraph (A) for 
  the protection of the community from the unreasonable risk of wildfire.
(C)  A set of feasible implementation measures designed to carry out the goals, policies, and objectives based on the 
  information identified pursuant to subparagraph (B) including, but not limited to, all of the following:
(i)  
Avoiding or minimizing the wildfire hazards associated with new uses of land.
(ii)  Locating, when feasible, new essential public facilities outside of high fire risk areas, including, but not limited 
to, hospitals and health care facilities, emergency shelters, emergency command centers, and emergency 
communications facilities, or identifying construction methods or other methods to minimize damage if these 
facilities are located in a state responsibility area or very high fire hazard severity zone.
(iii) Designing adequate infrastructure if a new development is located in a state responsibility area or in a very high 
fire hazard severity zone, including safe access for emergency response vehicles, visible street signs, and water 
supplies for structural fire suppression. 
(iv) Working cooperatively with public agencies with responsibility for fire protection.
(D) If a city or county has adopted a fire safety plan or document separate from the general plan, an attachment of, or 
reference to, a city or county’s adopted fire safety plan or document that fulfills commensurate goals and objectives and 
contains information required pursuant to this paragraph.
In response, many local governments are choosing to strengthen water management and drought prevention efforts by adding 
a separate water element to their general plan, but drought preparedness strategies could also be incorporated into the safety 
element as part of fire or flood hazard mitigation tactics. Structural and nonstructural flood management methods that enhance 
water storage and groundwater recharge work to mitigate drought impacts, and promoting greater water efficiency through 
land use and development policies can minimize capital damage from droughts as well as fires. As opposed to solely relying on 
local hazard mitigation plans, existing urban and agricultural water management plans, or expecting state or federal disaster 
aid after severe drought impacts, local governments can use the general plan as a tool to encourage water conservation policies, 
drought-tolerant parks and landscaping, water audits, and dual plumbing with recycled water. For more resources on how local 
governments can plan for droughts, see:
• 
California’s 2010 State Drought Contingency Plan
• 
OPR’s 2014 Local Government Drought Toolkit
• 
2011 Climate Change Handbook for Regional Water Planning

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• 
California’s 2009 State Water Plan for integrated water management 
• 
Local Government Commission’s guidebook for regional water sustainability
Aside from local fire plans and hazard mitigation plans, the general plan’s safety element can provide a framework for inserting 
fire protection and prevention policy requirements in zoning, subdivision, and strategic fire defense ordinances. To safeguard 
the increasing “wildland-urban interface, ” communities with 
State Responsibility Area (SRA)
 or 
Very High Fire Hazard Severity 
Zone Local Responsibility Area (LRA)
 must update their safety element following the next revision of the housing element on 
or after January 1, 2014 to address the risk of wildland fire. In order to develop viable plans for fire protection, wildfire risk 
reduction, evacuation needs, and consistency between general plan elements and other local plans, the safety element shall 
incorporate information such as fire hazard maps and assessments, implementation goals and actionable policies, as well as 
any appropriate references to local fire safety plans.
As a guiding resource, OPR’s 
Fire Hazard Planning Technical Advisory
 includes a detailed discussion about how to incorporate 
and comply with the fire hazard requirements in a general plan. 
Other Considerations
Additional Requirements
The safety element must also address additional, interrelated considerations in the context of fire and geological hazards. 
These include evacuation routes, military installations, peakload water supply requirements, and minimum road widths and 
clearances around structures. The relationships between these considerations interplays throughout the required contents of the 
safety element, and should be analyzed in the context of safety and disasters, including climate change, drought, fire, flood, or 
seismic activity, as appropriate.

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OPR Recommended Policies
These policies are an example of recommended policies adopted by varying jurisdictions, to be modified and used as appropriate. 
A full list of recommended policies for flood risk, fire risk, and climate change can be found in the guidance and technical 
advisories referenced throughout this chapter.
Sample Policy
Example of Application
Relationship to Other Elements
[City/county] shall promote the strengthening of planned 
utilities, the retrofit and rehabilitation of existing weak 
structures and lifeline utilities, and the relocation or 
strengthening of certain critical facilities to increase public 
safety and minimize potential damage from seismic and 
geologic hazards.
City of Rancho  
Cucamonga
Circulation, climate change, equitable and resilient 
communities
[City/county] shall site critical public facilities—including 
hospital and healthcare facilities, emergency shelters, 
police and fire stations, and emergency communications 
facilities—outside of the tsunami evacuation zone and 
100-year flood plains.
Pacifica
Environmental justice, equitable and resilient communi-
ties, healthy communities
[City/county] shall identify and establish specific travel 
routes for the transport of hazardous materials and 
wastes, with key considerations being capacity to safely 
accommodate additional truck traffic, avoidance of 
residential areas, and use of interstate or state divided 
highways as preferred routes.
City of Rialto
Circulation, environmental justice, noise, healthy com-
munities
[City/county] shall work to achieve consistency between 
general plan land use and related policies and the Airport 
Comprehensive Land Use Plan, as is appropriate for the 
community. Measures may include restrictions on permit-
ted land uses and development criteria, including height 
restrictions.
Redwood City
Land use, circulation

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