Goal ES-3

Goal ES-3:

Colma Creek is an ecological corridor that supports community resilience and livability. 

Intent:

To meet a series of overlapping objectives that reduce flooding, protect against sea level rise, increase shoreline access and active mobility, improve water quality, and restore biodiversity in the city. 

Policy ES-3.1: Enhance Colma Creek as an ecological corridor.

Enhance Colma Creek as an ecological corridor, restoring creek ecologies and creating transitional habitat zones to build resilience and ecosystem services.

  • Action ES-3.1.1: Implement Colma Creek interpretive signage.

    In coordination with the Flood and Resiliency District and other partners, incorporate interpretive signage that educate community members and visitors about the history and the unique biological resources around Colma Creek.

Policy ES-3.2: Co-locate park and open space patches along Colma Creek.

Co-locate park and open space features along Colma Creek to create opportunities for green infrastructure and patches for natural habitat.

Policy ES-3.3: Maintain development standards along Colma Creek to support habitat.

Maintain development standards and guidelines for new construction within 80 feet that support urban ecology and ecosystem resilience. Provide project applicants with a process for exemptions and/or offsets under limited circumstances. Standards include: 

  • Requiring no net new impervious areas.
  • Maintaining (or increasing) building setbacks to support habitat areas.
  • Encouraging new construction to construct bioswales or similar features to treat runoff before it enters the creek:
  • Using a planting palette consisting of native species and species that provide valuable resources for native wildlife.
Policy ES-3.4: Implement stormwater management throughout the Colma Creek watershed.

Continue to implement stormwater management practices across the Colma Creek watershed, such as the Orange Memorial Park Stormwater Capture Project to improve water quality and increase trash capture. 

Policy ES-3.5: Maintain stormwater management partnerships.

Continue to develop public and private partnerships with agencies, developers, and non-profits to fund Colma Creek transformation.

For related policies and implementation actions related to Colma Creek ecology and resilience, see Goal CR-3.