General Plan Update Review Committee Draft Elements Part 2 For ...

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VFD follows the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) response time standard, aiming to respond to 95 percent of calls within 5 minutes. (Top) VFD staffs five paramedic engine companies, one truck company and a Battalion Chief daily, from five fire station locations. Additional stations are likely to be required to serve the growing city. (Bottom) 8-16 VISALIA GENERAL PLAN UPDATE The Tulare County Sheriff’s Department provides police protection services and investigates crimes in unincorporated areas of the County, including rural and semirural areas within the Planning Area. The Department is headquartered on the County administrative campus in Visalia. As Visalia grows, the Police Department will need to work closely with the Sheriff’s Office. Fire Services Visalia Fire Department The Visalia Fire Department (VFD) provides fire and life safety services for residents located within the city limits while the Tulare County Fire Department provides additional services for unincorporated areas within the Planning Area. VFD staffs five paramedic engine companies, one truck company and a Battalion Chief daily, from five fire station locations. The engines and truck are staffed with three personnel, giving the VFD a daily minimum staffing of 19. All apparatus are staffed with a paramedic at all times. The locations of fire stations are illustrated in Figure 8-4, along with 1.5 mile radii from fire stations demonstrating fire coverage for Visalia residents. FIRE RESPONSE STANDARD AND ISO RATING The Insurance Service Office (ISO)—a private organization that surveys fire departments in cities and towns across the United States—awarded the Visalia Fire Department a Class 4 rating (1 being highest and 10 being lowest). This rating considers a community’s fire defense capacity versus fire potential, and then uses the score to set property insurance premiums for homeowners and commercial property owners. VFD follows the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) response time standard, aiming to respond to 95 percent of calls within 5 minutes, including one minute of “turnout” and four minutes of driving. Currently, the Department has an average response time of 5 minutes 37 seconds. Areas of southwest Visalia and smaller areas in the northwest and northeast cannot reasonably be served within the Department’s target response time. These needs would become more acute if growth were to occur in the northwest, northeast, and southwest. The Department notes that increasing population has historically been accompanied by an increasing number of service calls, and there will be a need to increase staffing. The Department currently has 0.48 responders per 1,000 residents, compared to the NFPA standard of 1 per 1,000. FIRE PREVENTION Fire prevention is an important part of the Fire Department’s work. The Department conducts weed abatement, does public education programs in schools and other venues, and checks all development plans during the review process. The Fire Department’s focus is on making sure that proposed projects will be adequately served by water, and accessible to emergency vehicles. The Department enforces the City’s Hydrant Ordinance, which determines minimum spacing for fire hydrants. Street dimensions are scrutinized to ensure that space will be preserved for ladder trucks to be stabilized, and for emergency vehicles to turn around. Basic requirements in the City’s subdivision ordinance include 52-foot minimum right-of-way widths and a 53-foot turning radius for cul-de-sacs.
EMERGENCY RESPONSE In 2008, the Department responded to over 10,000 alarms and calls. The great majority of these calls (94 percent) were not fire-related, with two-thirds of calls being for emergency medical or rescue services. Hazardous conditions, such as gas or oil spills and downed power lines, were the next most frequent source of alarms, at 11 percent. MUTUAL AND AUTOMATIC AID The City of Visalia actively participates in the California Master Mutual Aid Plan. Formal mutual aid agreements have been written between the City and surrounding jurisdictions. A broad automatic aid agreement encompassing 59 square miles surrounding Visalia exists between Tulare County and the City. Tulare County Fire Department The Tulare County Fire Department (TCFD) provides fire and emergency medical services in unincorporated areas. The Department’s Emergency Fire Communications Center, or Fire Com, provides dispatch services for the County Fire Department along with seven other rural fire districts, handling an average of 14,000 incidents annually. 6 The County Fire Department is also engaged in fire prevention work. This includes inspecting buildings and enforcing fire safety codes, conducting plan review for new buildings and fire protection systems, and interpreting fire safety codes during the design phase of new buildings. It also includes ongoing public education programs. TCFD has six battalion chiefs, 72 fire captains and lieutenants, and 400 reserve fire fighters. 6 Tulare County Fire Department, accessed at http://www.co.tulare. ca.us/government/fire/default.asp, 2010. The Department operates 28 fire stations including one in the Planning Area (Fire Station 1) on South Lovers Lane. Emergency Planning The California Emergency Services Act (Government Code Section 8550-8668) requires each city to prepare and maintain an Emergency Plan for natural, manmade, or war-caused emergencies that result in conditions of disaster or in extreme peril to life. The Visalia Emergency Operations Plan was updated and adopted in 2011. The Plan includes planning and response scenarios for seismic hazards, extreme weather conditions, landslides, dam failure and other flooding, wildland fires, hazardous materials incidents, transportation emergencies, civil disturbance, and terrorist attacks. It is meant to work in conjunction with the Tulare County Emergency Operations Plan and the State Emergency Plan. The Emergency Council of the Tulare County Operational Area meets for regional coordination purposes at least four times per year. In addition, the City Fire Department has specific procedures for hazardous materials emergency response. Evacuation Routes and Potential Shelter Sites The City has designated several evacuation routes through Visalia to be used in case of catastrophic emergencies. The extent and the severity of a disaster will determine which routes and which direction people must take in order to escape or avoid the afflicted areas. Kaweah Delta Health Care District provides emergency health care services. DRAFT ELEMENTS For General Plan Update Review Committee Visalia will continue to upgrade preparedness strategies and techniques in all departments so as to be prepared when disaster, either natural or manmade, occurs. AUGUST 2012 8-17
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For General Plan UPdate Committee r
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General Plan Update Review Committe
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TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 Introduction ..
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5 Parks, Schools, Community Facilit
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Figure 4-2e: Gateway Boulevard (6-L
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Table 4-7: Future Intersection LOS
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4 CIRCULATION The Circulation Eleme
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• Traffic controls are incorporat
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10 160 acres 40 Freeway Existing Ar
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Existing conditions for roadway seg
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Table 4-3: Existing Intersection LO
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Table 4-4: Existing Roadway Segment
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travel lane, and bike lane widths;
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Table 4-5: Planned Roadway Improvem
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Figure 4-2b shows a “green corrid
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Future Traffic Conditions The TCAG
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Source: Omni-Means, 2012 DRAFT ELEM
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Table 4-8: Future Roadway LOS (2030
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Local Systems Visalia Transit Visal
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Visalia City Coach Routes Visalia T
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All KART bus routes begin and end a
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esources, improved air quality and
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Pedestrian Circulation Walking is t
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T-P-45 Require that collector stree
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• Establish specific standards fo
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T-P-61 *Encourage high-security off
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4.9 AVIATION Visalia owns and opera
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6 OPEN SPACE AND CONSERVATION The O
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OSC-O-4 Create and maintain open sp
Page 65 and 66: expected to prevent further degrada
Page 67 and 68: Objectives OSC-O-6 Protect water re
Page 69 and 70: Figure 6-2: Typical Residential Sec
Page 71 and 72: 6.3 LAND RESOURCES This section con
Page 73 and 74: Farmland Type 160 acres 10 40 Prime
Page 75 and 76: activities, and agricultural practi
Page 77 and 78: Mineral Resources The most economic
Page 79 and 80: Special Status Plant Species Specia
Page 81 and 82: Objectives OSC-O-10 Protect and enh
Page 83 and 84: Archaeological Resources A records
Page 85 and 86: 7 AIR QUALITY & GREENHOUSE GASES 7.
Page 87 and 88: State and national health-based amb
Page 89 and 90: Table 7-1: State and National Crite
Page 91 and 92: Toxic Air Contaminants The ambient
Page 93 and 94: State and regional agencies identif
Page 95 and 96: Global Climate Change Global climat
Page 97 and 98: 2010. If California were considered
Page 99 and 100: Objectives AQ-O-3 *Reduce emissions
Page 101 and 102: 8 SAFETY AND NOISE The purpose of t
Page 103 and 104: Huron Avenal 46 Kerman 269 145 33 S
Page 105 and 106: Objectives S-O-1 Minimize risks of
Page 107 and 108: Flooding Risks 10 160 acres 40 } 99
Page 109 and 110: Laws and Regulations Federal and St
Page 111 and 112: ing underground storage tanks which
Page 113 and 114: Fire Threat 10 160 acres 40 Moderat
Page 115: S-P-30 Assist in solving the incend
Page 119 and 120: S-P-39 *Continue to work with weath
Page 121 and 122: Noise Generation in Visalia A commu
Page 123 and 124: craft and rail transportation. Nois
Page 125 and 126: other businesses, including a used
Page 127 and 128: The Noise Ordinance may remain prim
Page 129 and 130: N-P-5 Continue to enforce applicabl
Page 131 and 132: GLOSSARY 100-Year Flood. That flood
Page 133 and 134: Connectivity. The quality of street
Page 135 and 136: dation, competition, or disease. Th
Page 137 and 138: Groundwater Recharge. The natural p
Page 139 and 140: Maximum Contaminant Level. Are stan
Page 141 and 142: of Federal Regulations, Section 17.
Page 143 and 144: Transportation Demand Management. M
Page 145 and 146: cfs: Cubic feet per second CGS: Cal
Page 147: TAZ: Traffic Analysis Zone TCAG: Tu
Page 150 and 151: Table A-1: Contaminated Sites ID Si
Page 152 and 153: Table B-1: Existing Traffic Noise C
Page 154 and 155: B-4 Table B-1: Existing Traffic Noi
Page 160 and 161: B-10 VISALIA GENERAL PLAN UPDATE Th
Page 162: D Y E T T & B H ATIA Urban and Regi
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