Chapter V. ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS
Chapter V. ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS City of Banning General Plan GEOTECHNICAL ELEMENT PURPOSE The Geotechnical Element intends to provide information regarding the geological and seismic conditions and hazards affecting the City of Banning, its Sphere-of-Influence (SOI), and the expanded General Plan planning area. A series of goals, policies, and programs are set forth in the Geotechnical Element focused at providing protection for the general health and welfare of the community and reducing potential impacts, such as loss of life and property damage, associated with seismic and geologic hazards. The Element, including maps and other supporting document will serve as a source of foundational information concerning regional geotechnical hazards, which are significantly essential to establishing future land use policies and decisions. BACKGROUND The physical characteristics of the planning area and the safety of the community are examined in the Geotechnical Element. The Element itself is closely related to a number of other elements of a General Plan, such as Land Use, Circulation, Housing, Economic/Fiscal, Public Buildings and Facilities, Emergency Preparedness, Water, Sewer and Utilities. It is also directly related with the many issues addressed in the Flooding/Hydrology and Police and Fire Protection Elements. Under the California Government Code and Public Resources Code, a General Plan must include an element that addresses seismic safety issues. In compliance to Government Code Section 65302(g), the General Plan must address the need to protect the community from unreasonable risks that could result from seismically induced hazards, such as surface rupture, groundshaking, ground failure, seiching, dam failure, subsidence, and other known harmful geologic risks.
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