2005 Pleasanton Plan 2025 5. PUBLIC SAFETY ELEMENT TABLE OF CONTENTS page page PURPOSE ......................................................................................... 5-1 RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER ELEMENTS ......................................... 5-33 RISKS OF HAZARDS ........................................................................ 5-1 Land Use Element ................................................................. 5-33 GEOLOGY AND SEISMICITY ......................................................... 5-1 Circulation Element .............................................................. 5-33 Public Facilities and Community Programs Element ....... 5-33 Geologic Setting Element ...................................................... 5-1 Conservation and Open Space Element .......................... 5-33 Seismic/Earthquake Setting .................................................... 5-2 Water Element ....................................................................... 5-34 Earthquake Fault Zones ........................................................... 5-8 Air Quality Element ............................................................... 5-34 Geologic Hazards .................................................................. 5-12 Noise Element ........................................................................ 5-34 FIRE AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE ............................................ 5-13 GOALS, POLICIES, AND PROGRAMS ........................................ 5-35 Urban Fire Hazards ................................................................. 5-14 Wildfire Hazards ...................................................................... 5-14 Tables Fire Hazard Protection .......................................................... 5-15 Table 5-1 Earthquake Magnitude and Intensity ............................ 5-6 Fire Prevention ........................................................................ 5-17 Table 5-2 Fire Stations in and Near Pleasanton .......................... 5-15 Emergency Medical Response ............................................ 5-18 Table 5-3 Critical Facilities ................................................................. 5-28 FLOODING AND INUNDATION ................................................... 5-18 Table 5-4 Private and Public Utilities Emergency Resources ............................................................................ 5-30 Flood Hazard Zones ............................................................... 5-18 Table 5-5 Comparison of Crime Rates per 100,000 Flood-Protection Efforts ......................................................... 5-19 Population ............................................................................ 5-31 Dam Failure Inundation ........................................................ 5-19 Table 5-6 Part I Crimes, 5-Year Summary by Type ......................... 5-32 HAZARDOUS MATERIALS ............................................................. 5-22 Figures Regulatory Agencies ............................................................. 5-24 Figure 5-1 Landslide Zones .................................................................. 5-3 Alameda County Hazardous Waste Management Plan . 5-24 Figure 5-2 Regional Faults and Earthquake Epicenters ............... 5-5 AVIATION HAZARDS .................................................................... 5-25 Figure 5-3 Relative Intensity of Ground-Shaking ............................ 5-7 Figure 5-4 Liquefaction Susceptibility ............................................... 5-9 Airports ..................................................................................... 5-25 Figure 5-5 Alquist-Priolo Earthquake Fault Zones .......................... 5-11 Heliport .................................................................................... 5-27 Figure 5-6 Special Fire Protection Areas and Fire Response EMERGENCY MITIGATION AND OPERATIONS .......................... 5-27 Travel Times ....................................................................... 5-16 Figure 5-7 Flood Hazard Zones .......................................................... 5-20 POLICE SERVICES ........................................................................ 5-30 Figure 5-8 Del Valle Dam Inundation Area .................................... 5-21 Police Protection .................................................................... 5-32 Figure 5-9 Private and Public Utilities Emergency Resources ............................................................................ 5-23 Figure 5-10 Livermore Airport Referral and Protection Areas ....... 5-26 Figure 5-11 Critical Facilities ................................................................. 5-29 Adopted 07 21 09; Amended 02 05 13 5-ii 5. PUBLIC SAFETY ELEMENT PURPOSE The purpose of the Public Safety Element – a required element of the General Plan – is to provide information, policies, and programs directed toward reducing the potential for human injury and loss of life, and to minimize property damage and economic and social disruption due to natural and human-made hazards. RISKS OF HAZARDS All urban areas in California are subject to a variety of naturally- occurring hazards as well as hazards caused by human activities. Risks to life and property within the Planning Area are most commonly posed by geology (earthquakes; landslides; fire; flood; aviation, train and auto accidents; and the accidental discharge of hazardous materials. None of these hazards can be avoided entirely Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Station Number 4 or mitigated completely. However, potentially devastating impacts The Amador Valley is a depression in this rock formation which presented by such hazards can be reduced through the joins the San Ramon Valley to the north with the Livermore Valley recognition of the safety risks and the application of safety to the east. The geologic conditions which have formed the standards designed to protect life and property to the greatest topography surrounding Pleasanton are the result of a global pattern feasible extent. of moving continental plates which have shaped the earth’s outer The Public Safety Element contains policies and programs which surface over hundreds of millions of years. establish safety criteria for evaluating new developments and which The underlying geology of sedimentary rock in the Pleasanton establish standards for the City’s emergency response services and Ridge and the Southeast Hills, the thick deposits of unconsolidated programs to protect life and property. sediment on the Valley floor, and areas of older landslide deposits GEOLOGY AND SEISMICITY are factors, which along with the proximity of several earthquake faults, create a geologic setting susceptible to a number of geologic Geologic Setting hazards. This Element briefly describes these hazards. The Pleasanton Planning Area is located within the Amador Valley, which is part of the Coast Range geologic province of California. The potential extent and severity of any geologic hazard varies The Coast Range province is a large area of folded and faulted rocks throughout the Planning Area depending upon the underlying situated along the western edge of the North American continent. geology, topography, surface soil type, groundwater table, and Adopted 07 21 09; Amended 02 05 13 5-1 2005 Pleasanton Plan 2025 5. Public Safety Element seismicity.1 Certain portions of the Planning Area are more at risk landslides and areas of mostly landslide, few landslide, or no to particular geologic hazards than others, and the geologic landslide deposits. The areas of no landslide deposits are mainly characteristics of a specific area will result in different responses to level and generally do not contain past or current landslide debris. seismic activity. Two non-earthquake related geologic hazards exist in the Planning Area: landslides (not related to seismic shaking) and expansive soils. Landslides Landsliding is a natural process of relatively rapid downslope movement of soil, rock, and rock debris as a mass. The rate of landsliding is affected by the type and extent of vegetation, the slope angle, the degree of water saturation, the strength of the rocks, and the mass and thickness of the deposit. Some of the natural causes of this instability are earthquakes, weak materials, stream and coastal erosion, and heavy rainfall. In addition, certain human activities tend to make the earth materials less stable and increase the chances of ground failure. Activities contributing to instability include extensive irrigation, poor drainage or groundwater withdrawal, Open space and hillside development in Pleasanton removal of stabilizing vegetation and over steepening of slopes by Expansive Soils undercutting them or overloading them with artificial fill. Expansive soils are surface deposits rich in clays that expand when Landslides can involve both the simple sloughing downslope of a wet and shrink when dried. Expansive soils are potentially present small-sized surficial landmass for a distance of several inches or at or near the surface in areas in northern Pleasanton and along the massive earth movements of many feet. Landslides may occur at northeastern flank of Pleasanton Ridge. A moderate potential exists any time but are more likely during the rainy season, when soils are for their presence throughout the remainder of the Planning Area, saturated with water and their cohesive abilities are more likely to and site-specific studies are required to determine