San Carlos to move away from gas use

“We’re taking the right steps and I just try to remember it’s not always about the costs of things. It’s about doing the right thing for the future of our residents,” said Councilman Adam Rak during Monday’s virtual City Council meeting.

Despite initially pushing to quickly adopt reach codes last year following similar code adoptions in Menlo Park, San Mateo, Redwood City and Foster City, the council opted to gather community feedback which influenced the final proposal presented Monday.

Some exceptions proposed by both city staff and the council were also threaded into the ordinance. Single-family homes, including attached accessory dwelling units, will be permitted to have gas cooking appliances and fireplaces. Electric hookups are required, however. Following council discussion, exemptions for multiunit dwellings and detached ADUs were removed.

Similarly, the council also removed exceptions for office break rooms, opting to specify the exception only applies to facilities with staff cafeterias similar to catering kitchens. Restaurants and other commercial kitchens serving food to the public are also exempt from the codes.

Scientific laboratories will also be exempt from the reach codes if a third-party agency verifies that all-electric plans would not be equally cost effective and feasible. An exception for public agency emergency centers was removed following recommendations by staff.

Councilmembers also opted to not include a staff recommended amendment that would end the single-family home exemption in a year. Councilman Ron Collins suggested the council instead review the matter in a year.

Additional electric vehicle charging station requirements were also passed through the ordinance requiring all new developments, including single-family homes, to incorporate EV charging wiring.

Multifamily 100% affordable developments will be exempt from costs above $400 per unit. Mechanical garages, a rising addition in new multiunit developments, will be exempt from the EV requirements but will be required to be prewired for EV capabilities, following a recommendation by Councilman John Dugan.

An appeals process, suggested by McDowell, also gained unanimous approval. She raised concerns some residents would have special circumstances limiting their ability to comply with the ordinances.

“I think that whenever we make such a broad and overarching policy that we think about the unintended consequences and try to provide maybe a little bit of relief especially for those with disabilities,” said McDowell.

Next, city staff will submit the proposed codes to the California Building Standards Commission and California Energy Commission for approval. The ordinances will take effect in 15 to 60 days, contingent on approval from the Energy Commission.

Staff will begin discussions with developers in the planning process about the new changes. Proposals that have already received planning entitlements are exempt from the ordinance. Under council direction, the city will also work to educate the community on incentive programs offered through Peninsula Clean Energy, the county’s electricity provider.

In other business, the council held off on making a final decision about whether to allow two life science development proposals for the east side to move ahead in the planning process. The council has halted planning reviews in the Innovation District while a study is conducted to better understand what changes the community would like to see.

Both developers, Black Mountain Properties and MBH Architects on behalf of MBC BioLabs, called on the council to allow the projects to move ahead. Black Mountain Properties seeks to develop a more than 208,000-square-foot life science building with a 2,500-square-foot amenity building at 888 Bransten Road. MBH Architects has proposed a 108,143-square-foot science lab at 1030 Brittan Ave.

The council will revisit the matter later in the summer when staff feel the East Side Innovation District Vision Plan, being conducted by the consultant agency, Perkins&Will, has gathered enough community consensus.

sierra@smdailyjournal.com

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