Resilient SLO to address climate change concerns in San Luis Obispo safety plans

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. - Climate change is at the forefront of many national and state policy discussions. The city of San Luis Obispo is also discussing the effects of climate change in city planning.

Resilient SLO is an initiative to build strategies for limiting the impacts of climate change.

The city is asking residents to fill out a survey about citizen concerns. Anyone who lives or works in San Luis Obispo can contribute.

The city plans to implement feedback into the city's General Plan Safety Element. They say it's essential to mitigate hazards caused or made worse by climate change.

"Flooding, wildland fires are things that we can reasonably expect more of in the future," said Michael Codron, director of community development in San Luis Obispo. "This is something that we need to work today to be prepared in the future so that we can be a resilient community, bounce back from any natural disasters that occur."

With record wildfires around California, San Luis Obispo has been facing serious air quality concerns.

Most of San Luis Obispo is in a moderate hazard area for wildfires. The city says its building codes help to reduce the damage caused by fire embers floating into the area.

They hope Resilient SLO will shed light on more hazard concerns. The deadline to complete the survey is October 11 at 12:00 am.