Town Council: Limit planning surveys to locals
Acton affected by LA County’s regional safety element update
ACTON — The Acton Town Council says three surveys related to the Los Angeles County Department of Regional Planning’s Safety Element update should be restricted to residents of unincorporated communities who are subject to the Safety Element because it will apply only to those communities.
The county’s Adaptive Capacity Assessment will be used to evaluate the ability of communities to adapt to climate change impacts and to strengthen future response and recovery efforts. The assessment is part of the department’s update of the Safety Element of the county’s General Plan.
“The purpose of the safety element is to reduce the potential short- and long-term risks of death, injuries, property damage, and economic and social dislocation resulting from fires, floods, droughts, earthquakes, landslides, climate change and other hazards,” according to a description on the Climate Action website.
The climate-induced hazard surveys cover wildfire, extreme heat and floods. The surveys take about seven minutes to complete. They are available in English, Spanish and Chinese. To take the surveys visit http://planning.lacounty.gov/site/climate/survey/
“We understand each community is unique. Our goal is to empower communities and to invite you to be collaborators in this process,” the department said.
The Town Council, in a nine-page letter to the Department of Regional Planning, expressed concern with the surveys regarding their efficacy and applicability to rural mountain communities like Acton because anyone, even people who live outside of California, can respond.
“The ATC is troubled by this arrangement: because the ACA and the survey results will directly influence the goals and policies that will be adopted in the Safety Element update process, and because the Safety Element only applies to unincorporated areas, we believe
that only unincorporated residents of Los Angeles County should participate in the surveys and be consulted in the ACA,” the letter said.
The Town Council believes the county should solicit input only from unincorporated residents who are subject to the Safety Element because only they should have the opportunity to shape and influence its goal and policies.
“After all, the City of Los Angeles does not consult the unincorporated residents of Acton regarding the goals and policies that are adopted in their Safety Element; likewise, city residents should not be consulted on matters that pertain exclusively to unincorporated areas,” the letter said.
Although respondents are asked to enter their ZIP code, the Town Council believes it will not matter because there is no way to confirm the ZIP code information.
“Moreover, the ATC doubts that DRP will ignore any of the survey responses it receives regardless of where the respondents claim to live; accordingly, we are concerned that the Safety Element update process will be unduly and inappropriately influenced as a result of flaws in the county-wide and uncontrolled ACA and survey activities,” the letter said.