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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 2021.09.14 @600 MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY OF SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO GENERAL PLAN UPDATE COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE Meeting held at: Teleconference meeting Tuesday, September 14, 2021 6:00 p.m. Call to Order Meeting called to order at 6:03 p.m. Roll Call COMMITTEE PRESENT: Rehman Baig (7:01 pm), Roderick Bovee, Robert Cavalieri, Sophie Martin, Julie Ann Murphy, Sam Shihadeh, John Skerry, Steven Yee (7:00 pm), Bill Zemke COMMITTEE ABSENT: Kristy Camacho, Nick Maiden, Patricia Murray ALTERNATE PRESENT: Steve Firpo Public Comment None. Consent Calendar 1. Approval of the Meeting Minutes of August 10, 2021 Committee Member John Skerry moved and Committee Member Steve Firpo seconded a motion to approve the meeting minutes of August 10, 2021 as submitted. The motion passed with Committee Member Bill Zemke abstain. New Business 2. Discuss Greenhouse Gas/Climate Action Plan Measures Sami Taylor reviewed climate projections and impact for South San Francisco as well as California legislation. She noted that a Climate Action plan is a path for reducing the community’s greenhouse gas emissions (GG) and increases resiliency. Sami Taylor reviewed greenhouse gas emission projections. She reviewed the State’s GHG targets, SB 32 which a 40% reduction by 2030. The City’s target is carbon neutrality by 2045. Sami Taylor reviewed strategies and measures to review GHG target reductions in clean energy, building, transportation, solid waste, water and sequestration as follows: • Building measures include; clean energy retrofit, electric panel upgrades and electrification plan to retrofit homes to all electric. • Transportation measures include; electric vehicle charging requirements and publicly accessible electric vehicle charging, transportation demand and mode shift measures. • Solid waste; zero waste plan for municipal operations and the community, organics and food waste diversion, and education and technical assistance to help residents and businesses compost and recycle. • Water and Sequestration; alternative sources for irrigation including recycled water, streamlined permit process for laundry to landscape greywater systems, adopt CalGreen Tier 1 or 2 water efficiency standards for new construction and restore five miles of Colma Creek. Sami Taylor noted the City is expected to achieve nearly 80% reduction in emissions with the proposed measures. The measures achieve the SB 32 goal of a 40% reduction. The measures place the City on the track to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045, but additional actions will be needed. Building electrification and efficiency measures account for the greatest GHG reductions (55%) in 2040 and transportation electrification and mode shift account for 41% reduction in 2040. Sami Taylor discussed additional GHG reduction potential including commercial building electrification and transportation electrification and mode shift. Discussion: • John Skerry asked if emissions are projected to increase if the City does not do anything. Sami Taylor responded that the forecast is adjusted for State policies that are already in place, but does not include any local measures. • Roderick Bovee asked if there is a breakdown per capita and if it includes secondary emissions. Eric Yurkovich noted there is also a consumption based inventory based on use of goods and services. • Steve Firpo asked how the airport effects the City. Sami Taylor noted that the airport has reporting requirements outside of the City. • Roderick Bovee asked what the largest emission sector is after implementation of the proposed measures. Sami Taylor responded that the transportation sector is the largest contributor. This includes personal vehicles and heavy duty trucks. She noted that an increase in electric vehicles is captured in the modeling. • Steve Firpo asked about incentives. Sami Taylor noted that it could include rebates, tax credits, expeditated permits and more information on existing programs from utility providers. Steve Firpo noted more educational/outreach be needed on these opportunities. • Steve Firpo asked about reducing emissions relating to new east side development. Sami Taylor mentioned the a possible reach code for commercial development and Eric Yurkovich noted that new construction is far more efficient than older construction and east of 101 and Lindenville are intended to be new mixed use areas with parks and services and will lend more easily to opportunities to walk and bike to services and amenities. • John Skerry noted the large emission sectors are transportation and non-residential energy, and do we need different measures for non-residential? Sami Taylor responded that generally for commercial and industrial buildings, the use of natural gas is the highest emission. In order to reduce emissions from buildings, need to reduce use of natural gas. Transportation demand management programs will also reduce traffic trips and reduce emissions. • Sophie Martin asked if the trip cap is for east of 101 and if the TDM is city-wide or specific for east of 101. Billy Gross responded that the City will be revising the TDM ordinance city-wide including residential projects. He also responded the trip cap may be east of 101 specific as its where it is needed. She also asked about TDM for residential. Billy Gross responded that yes, they will researching programs for all projects. She suggested requiring participation in a Transportation Management Association (TMA) to assist smaller businesses. TMAs are typically managed by businesses to provide alternate modes of transportation for employees. • Roderick Bovee asked about green building code standards and assed about encouraging cargo bikes. Sami Taylor responded the City is not currently considering a green building code for mass timber. She also responded that encouraging cargo bikes is a good idea and referenced a carbon neutral delivery zone pilot program (use of carbon free delivery vehicles). • Julie Ann Murphy asked how we established the emission reduction targets and does this place the City as a regional leader? She asked about other options including pilot programs to help the City achieve the goal. Eric Yurkovich noted that some cities are moving up the carbon neutrality target (earlier than 2045), but it is very difficult to achieve. Eric Yurkovich likes the idea of pilot projects. Sami noted that even though we can make progress towards carbon neutrality, but will be very difficult to achieve. May want to also consider regional efforts. • Sam Shihadeh noted that the City is located near the airport and seeing more logistics and distribution companies. He suggested considering a pilot program to monitor distribution trucks. He also asked about composting of food waste and more study of pilot program options. • Bill Zemke suggested elevating the public outreach component. • Sophie Martin noted that distribution trips will be increasing, need to encourage more efficient and electric vehicles for the distribution industry. Eric Yurkovich asked about a Pilot Program to incentivize clean vehicles. Sami Taylor noted that the State has regulations for trucks to transition to clean vehicles, and that technology isn’t quite there yet for the distribution trucks to go all electric. • Bob Cavalieri asked as we transition from natural gas to electric should we also encourage more solar and wind power. Eric Yurkovich noted South San Francisco residents can purchase from Peninsula Clean Energy with cleaner energy and the City has a high participation rate. • Roderick Bovee asked about wind energy local generation. Eric Yurkovich responded that yes, the City can look at options to generate energy locally (micro grids). • Sophie Martin commented on the ability of the PG&E grid to meet electric demands. Eric Yurkovich noted the equity aspect of these measures and how to implement equitably. Discussion: • Julie Ann Murphy asked about programs to assist renters as well as homeowners. Billy Gross responded that he is not aware of current City programs to assist with retrofits. • Roderick Bovee expressed concern with electric vehicle charging from an equity standpoint and suggest less expensive modes of transportation. Eric Yurkovich commented that parking can be unbundled (selling parking separate from housing), especially in areas that are transit rich. • Julie Ann Murphy commented that the solid waste measure could be a cost and space issue for some households. May want to consider cost by persons served and not simply households. • Sophie Martin commented on education and outreach and seeing what other nearby agencies have done. Sami Taylor noted next steps include discussion with the Planning Commission on September 16, 2021 and will host community focus groups to discuss strategies. The schedule is to publish draft the Climate Action Plan by the end of this year. Staff Comments None. CAC Member Comments None Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 7:31 p.m. The next meeting scheduled for October 12, 2021 to discuss Race and Social Equity.