Town of Sharon Hazard Mitigation Plan
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TOWN OF SHARON HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN 2017 UPDATE PREPARED FOR: TOWN OF SHARON 90 SOUTH MAIN STREET SHARON, MASSACHUSETTS 02067DRAFT PREPARED BY: METROPOLITAN AREA PLANNING COUNCIL 60 TEMPLE PLACE BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02111 TEL 617.933.0700 WWW.MAPC.ORG ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS & CREDITS This plan was prepared for the Town of Sharon by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) under the direction of the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). The plan was funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM) Grant Program. MAPC Officers President, Keith Bergman, Town of Littleton Vice President, Erin Wortman, Town of Stoneham Secretary, Sandra Hackman, Town of Bedford Treasurer, Taber Keally, Town of Milton Executive Director, Marc Draisen, MAPC Thanks for the assistance of the following individuals: MAPC Staff Credits Project Manager: Martin Pillsbury Lead Project Planner: Emma Schnur Mapping/GIS Services: Eliza Wallace, Ryan Melendez Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency Director: Kurt Schwartz Department of Conservation and Recreation Commissioner: Carol I. Sanchez Sharon Local Hazard Mitigation Planning Team James Wright, Chair Fire Department Beverly Anderson Health Department Lauren Barnes Town Administrator/Selectmen Linda Berger Recreation Department April Forsman Engineering/GIS Division John Ford PoliceDRAFT Department Eric Hooper Department of Public Works Tilden Kaufman Police Department Richard Murphy Fire Department Mike Polimer Civil Defense Department Public Meeting Participants and Community Stakeholders Special thanks to the public meeting participants and community stakeholders who provided feedback. TOWN OF SHARON – HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN – 2017 UPDATE I TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS & CREDITS .................................................................. I LIST OF TABLES & FIGURES ............................................................................ III SECTION 1: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................ 1 SECTION 2: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................... 6 SECTION 3: PLANNING PROCESS & PUBLIC PARTICIPATION ..................... 11 SECTION 4: RISK ASSESSMENT ..................................................................... 16 SECTION 5: HAZARD MITIGATION GOALS .................................................. 57 SECTION 6: EXISTING MITIGATION MEASURES ........................................... 58 SECTON 7: MITIGATION MEASURES FROM 2009 PLAN .............................. 64 SECTION 8: HAZARD MITIGATION STRATEGY............................................. 67 SECTION 9: PLAN ADOPTION & MAINTENANCE ......................................... 75 SECTION 10: LIST OF REFERENCES ............................................................... 77 APPENDICES - Refer to separate document file for the appendices. DRAFT TOWN OF SHARON – HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN – 2017 UPDATE II of 82 LIST OF TABLES & FIGURES TABLES Table 1: Plan Review and Update Process ................................................................................................................... 3 Table 2: Previous Federal/State Disaster Declarations ............................................................................................. 6 Table 3: FEMA-Funded Mitigation Projects ................................................................................................................... 8 Table 4: Sharon Characteristics ...................................................................................................................................... 9 Table 5: Hazard Risks Summary .................................................................................................................................. 16 Table 6: Norfolk County Flood Events, 1996 to 2016 ............................................................................................ 18 Table 7: Other Locally Identified Areas of Flooding ............................................................................................... 20 Table 8: Hurricane Records for Massachusetts, 1938 to 2012 ............................................................................. 23 Table 9: Saffir/Simpson Scale ..................................................................................................................................... 24 Table 10: Enhanced Fujita Scale .................................................................................................................................. 25 Table 11: Tornado Records for Norfolk County ....................................................................................................... 25 Table 12: Nor’easter Events for Massachusetts, 1978 to 2011 ............................................................................ 26 Table 13: Norfolk County Thunderstorm Events, 1995 to 2016 ............................................................................ 27 Table 14: NESIS Categories ......................................................................................................................................... 30 Table 15: Severe Winter Storm Records for Massachusetts .................................................................................. 30 Table 16: Heavy Snow Events and Impacts in Norfolk County, 1996 to 2014 .................................................. 31 Table 17: Hail Size Comparisons ................................................................................................................................ 32 Table 18: Norfolk County Ice Storm Events, 1965 to 2014 ................................................................................... 33 Table 19: Richter Scale and Effects ............................................................................................................................ 34 Table 20: Historical Earthquakes in Massachusetts or Surrounding Area ............................................................ 34 Table 21: Landslide Volume and Velocity ................................................................................................................. 37 Table 22: Norfolk County Extreme Cold and Wind Chill Occurrences ................................................................ 41 Table 23: Norfolk County Extreme Heat Occurrences ............................................................................................ 42 Table 24: Chronology of Major Droughts in Massachusetts ................................................................................... 45 Table 25: Town of Sharon, MA 2005 Land Use ....................................................................................................... 45 Table 26: Summary of Sharon Developments, 2010-2017 ................................................................................... 48 Table 27: Future Development Sites in Hazard Areas ............................................................................................ 48 Table 28: Critical Facilities and Relationship to Hazard Areas ............................................................................. 50 Table 29: Estimated Damages from Hurricanes ....................................................................................................... 54 Table 30: Estimated Damages fromDRAFT Earthquakes .................................................................................................... 55 Table 31: Estimated Damages from Flooding ........................................................................................................... 56 Table 32: Existing Natural Hazard Mitigation Measures in Sharon ..................................................................... 61 Table 33: Table 28 Mitigation Measures from the 2010 Plan .............................................................................. 65 Table 34: Potential Mitigation Measures for a Hazard Mitigation Strategy ..................................................... 70 Table 35: Potential Hazard Mitigation Measures .................................................................................................... 73 FIGURES Figure 1: Existing Features: Critical Facilities, Development Sites, Open Space, & Local Hazard Areas ....... 5 Figure 2: Six-Step Planning Process ............................................................................................................................ 11 Figure 3: State of Massachusetts Earthquake Probability Map ............................................................................ 36 Figure 4: Massachusetts Wildfires, 2001 to 2009 ................................................................................................... 39 TOWN OF SHARON – HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN – 2017 UPDATE III of 82 Figure 5: Wind Chill Temperature Index and Frostbit Risk ..................................................................................... 40 Figure 6: Heat Index Chart ........................................................................................................................................... 41 Figure 7: Statewide Drought Levels using SPI Thresholds, 1850 to 2012 ........................................................... 44 DRAFT TOWN OF SHARON – HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN – 2017 UPDATE IV of 82 SECTION 1: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Hazard Mitigation planning is a proactive effort to identify actions that can be taken to reduce