Multi-jurisdictional hazard mitigation planning can be an effective process to build partnerships between communities that face common hazard risks, leading to shared solutions. It can also help build a foundation to shift priorities as risks and vulnerabilities change. Hazard mitigation plans are prepared and adopted by communities with the primary purpose of identifying, assessing, and reducing the long-term risk to life and property from hazard events. Effective mitigation planning can break the cycle of disaster damage, reconstruction, and repetitive losses.
Hazard mitigation plans can address a range of natural and human-caused hazards. Plans can be developed for a single community or as a multi-jurisdictional plan that includes multiple communities across a county. The current Santa Clara County (SCC) Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan (MJHMP) was approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on February of 2024. Mitigation plans have a 5-year lifecycle and as such the Santa Clara County MJHMP expires in February of 2029. The SCC Office of Emergency Management applied for Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) funding to hire a consultant to facilitate the plan update process.
The 2024 MJHMP was authored concurrently with the Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) and the Safety Element update of the General Plan in accordance with Assembly Bill No. 2140. Passed in 2006, this legislation allows California counties and cities to adopt their current, FEMA-approved local mitigation plans (LHMPs) into the Safety Element for their General Plans. This adoption makes the county or city eligible to be considered for part or all its local-share costs on eligible Public Assistance funding to be provided by the state through the California Disaster Assistance Act (CDAA).
Broad public participation in the planning process helped ensure that diverse points of view about the OA’s needs were considered and addressed. Additionally, the plan documents how the public had an opportunity to be involved in the planning process, including underserved communities and vulnerable populations within the planning area.
The planning team developed a robust public outreach process, to reach as many Santa Clara County community members and stakeholders including those with Access and Functional Needs, through the following activities:
- Development of a public outreach plan approved by the Core Planning Team.
- Partner with planners updating the Safety Element and Community Wildfire Protection Plan planning processes to expand public outreach efforts including several virtual and in person community meetings.
- Development and advertisement of a public survey posted on the SCCOEM’s webpage to collect pertinent information from residents and the business community.
- Publication of the survey in Santa Clara County’s most spoken languages: English, Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, and Vietnamese.
- Use of social media, such as Nextdoor, Facebook, and Twitter to publicize the survey.
- Public comment period.
The Santa Clara County Multijurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan 2024 Update was developed with the participation of the following planning partners:
- City of Campbell
- City of Cupertino
- City of Gilroy
- City of Los Altos
- City of Milpitas
- City of Morgan Hill
- City of Mountain View
- City of Palo Alto
- City of San Jose
- City of Santa Clara
- City of Saratoga
- City of Sunnyvale
- County of Santa Clara
- Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District
- Santa Clara County Fire District (SCCFD)
- Town of Los Altos Hills
- Town of Los Gatos
Local Hazard Mitigation Plans (LHMP)
