Burlingame to allow electrification exceptions

Assistant City Attorney Scott Spansail said the exemption allows the three developers who have already taken significant steps in their projects to continue forward. All submitted a building permit or complete planning application prior to Jan. 1 2023. The three applicable projects are located at 620 Airport Blvd., 1499 Old Bayshore Highway and 1300 Bayshore Highway. They are all research and development projects that will be located on the city’s Bayfront. The development at 620 Airport Blvd. will be constructed as two nine-story buildings totaling 483,380 square feet of research and development space. The project at 1300 Bayshore Blvd. will consist of three 11-story buildings totaling 1.46 million square feet of office and life science space with 5,000 square foot ground-level restaurant. The project at 1499 Bayshore Blvd. consists of one seven-story and one eight-story building totaling 475,790 square feet of research and development and office space.

Additionally, future developers will be able to apply for exceptions for any portion of the reach code requirement that makes a project infeasible, for future projects.

“A building official would determine whether the exception should be granted due to the infeasibility,” said Spansail, who added the exception would only pertain to the aspects that make the project unfeasible and would require the rest of the project to be within compliance.

The City Council updated its energy reach codes in November. The codes require full electrification for all new residential and commercial buildings and large remodels when the building has an additional 50% in mass. It also removes indoor and outdoor gas cooking ranges and fireplaces for future construction projects beginning in 2023. The energy code update requires charging stations for electric vehicles in hotels while requiring EV-ready outlets in newly constructed single and multifamily homes.

Spansail said the purpose of the new amendments are meant to clean up the items that were inadvertently left out of the first ordinance.

City staff believe the addition of these two items will allow for a more complete and equitable application of the city’s new reach code, according to a staff report.

In 2020, the city adopted reach codes that required new commercial and multifamily residential developments to use electric appliances for heating, cooling and cooking, with some exceptions including single-family homes; and install electric vehicle infrastructure and solar power. However, the state’s new building code encourages new developments to opt for all-electric designs and high-efficiency heat pumps for space and water heating, according to a previous staff report.

To come up with the updated codes, the city worked with Peninsula Clean Energy — a local joint powers authority providing energy for San Mateo County and the city of Los Banos, founded in 2016 — to offer lower and more sustainable energy. While PCE provides the electricity, Pacific Gas and Electric does the billing and also maintains the infrastructure.

The City Council passed the ordinance 4-0-1, with Councilmember Emily Beach recused because of a conflict of interest with one of the developments. The council will return for a second reading of the ordinance before it is published and implemented.