Good evening.

I am Cindy Darling, Mayor of the City of Walnut Creek, and welcome to the Tuesday, November 4th, 2025 special meeting of the Walnut Creek City Council.

Under California law, public comments and special meetings are limited to subjects on the agenda only.

Therefore, public comments will be received at the time of the for the item identified bottle.

After an opportunity for public comment, the city council will conduct the commission interviews.

Commission interviews will not be video recorded, but can be viewed in person.

And members of the public may sit in on the interviews, ask for public comment.

Council reviews the questions and confirms that.

Anyway, nobody's here.

We are adjourned.

We're going upstairs.

And welcome to the regular meeting of the Walnut Creek City Council.

The City Council is conducting this meeting from the City Council Chamber.

This meeting is being video streamed and can be viewed live or later on the city's website.

As some attendees may be participating in their first Walnut Creek City Council meeting, I wanted to welcome everyone and talk briefly about the public comment process.

For each agenda item, there will be an opportunity for public comment on that item.

Thus, if you desire to speak to an item on the agenda this evening, please hold your comments until the city council considers that item.

Additionally, we have a section on the agenda titled Public Communications, which is for public comments for items not on the agenda.

Any comments during public communication should not relate to an item that is on the agenda this evening.

Consistent with section 9.5 of the city council handbook.

30 minutes will be initially allocated for public communication for items not on the agenda.

Additional time for public communications for items not on the agenda will be provided at the end of the open session portion of the meeting if necessary.

If you desire to provide a public comment, please complete a speaker identification card and line up behind the lectern at the appropriate time.

Wait your turn, and then when you approach the lectern, please state your name, City of Residence for the record.

You will have two minutes to address the City Council.

Please keep in mind that this is a city business meeting.

The City Council has adopted rules of decorum to ensure that meetings are conducted efficiently and effectively, and that all members of the public have a full, fair, and equal opportunity to be heard.

The city council handbook outlines decorum expected in the council chamber and can be found on our website.

All remarks should be addressed to the city council.

Please do not use threatening, profane, or abusive language, which disrupts, disturbs, or otherwise impedes the orderly conduct of the council meeting.

Again, each speaker will have two minutes to make your remarks.

Written comments submitted and received up to two hours before the meeting have been posted to the city website for public review and are included in the meeting record, but will not be separately read into the record.

Good evening.

I am Cindy Darling, mayor of the City of Walnut Creek, and welcome to the Tuesday, November 4th regular meeting of the Walnut Creek City Council.

Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the five of the United States of America.

And you're probably proportional science.

One nation under God, individual liberty, justice for all.

City Clerk Susie Martinez, would you please call the roll?

Councilmember Devini.

Here.

Councilmember Francois.

Here.

Councilmember Silva.

Here, your pro tem welcome.

Mayor Darling.

Here.

All right.

And tonight, the first thing first, order of business is it is lung cancer awareness month.

And we are issuing a proclamation recognizing the significant health impacts of lung cancer in our society.

And the fact that it affects us all.

It affects friends.

I had a friend of mine, her mother passed away without ever having smoked.

We always think of it as being something that's that.

So it's an important health effect health problem here, and we wanted to raise awareness of it.

And I would like to invite Lena Lee with the American Lung Association up to accept this proclamation for a lung cancer awareness month.

And you can go ahead and introduce yourself and then I will come around and present the proclamation and then we do the picture.

So hi, my name's Leanne Lee, and I'm a member of the American Lung Cancer Screening Initiative.

Hi, my name is Hannah Papoy, and I'm also a member of the American Lung Cancer Screening Initiative at Berkeley.

So American Lung Cancer Screening Initiative is a national nonprofit that's composed of students and physicians that are working together in order to raise awareness about lung cancer and lung cancer screening.

On behalf of the team, we would like to thank the Walnut Creek Council for recognizing Lung Cancer Awareness Month this November 2025.

It's truly an honor to be here today.

Lung cancer is now the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide.

It is the second most common cancer in the U.S.

with an estimate of over 230,000 diagnoses and over 127,000 deaths this year alone.

Anyone can get lung cancer.

It claims more lives than breast, prostate, and colon cancers combined.

Lung cancer has become the deadliest cancer in the U.S.

However, it doesn't have to be.

Early detection early detection through lung cancer screening can catch lung cancer early when it's easier to treat and the survival rates are higher.

Unfortunately, the national screening rate is as low as 18%, and only 16% of high-risk Californians are being screened.

We strongly encourage all individuals aged 50 to 80 with a smoking history to ask their doctors about lung cancer screening.

It's also important to spread the word to anyone who you may know who may benefit from the screening.

By advocating together, we can help bring awareness to lung cancer and remove the stigma surrounding it.

By disseminating together, we can increase screening rates and decrease lung cancer mortality.

Together, we can help save lives.

Thank you.

Who's going to do the picture?

Oh, I'm going to move here.

Okay.

No, we're going to do this all.

Oh, okay.

That's great.

I could do this.

And then we're going to make a Matt come out and do the real thing.

This is the test of my organizational skills here.

Thank you.

You guys want to come on out and join us?

Thank you guys for coming in.

Of course, thank you for having us.

I'm going to have a lot of people who have a lot of people.

Thank you guys so much for coming.

Thank you so much.

Education.

Thank you.

Thank you for working here.

We've got the good work over there.

And next on the agenda is I would like to invite Deputy Fire Marshal McAllister from the Contra Costa County Fire Department or Fire Protection District up to make a presentation to the council.

Hi, good evening, Aaron McAllister with Contra Costa County Fire.

We are your fire department in Walnut Creek.

And thank you for allowing the district a few moments on your agenda just to give you the latest and greatest and what's happening at Confire.

One of our big milestones this past year was the annexation of Rodeo Hercules Fire District.

Why is that important to Walnut Creek?

Because it's it put together an organization that had been an outstanding issue for a long, long time on the west side, and our resources flow seamlessly throughout the day wherever they're needed.

If we have multiple fragmented fire departments, then there's permissions and delays, and coming into a larger organization, it really smooth things out and we're able to serve that community better and serve our other communities better.

We added all of their employees or paramedics and they're kind of scattered throughout the county.

So some of them are actually working in Walnut Creek now, getting used to the county and seeing uh new areas they're not used to working in.

So that brings us to 35 staffed fire stations and 41 fire companies.

So here in Walnut Creek, we have one engine and one ladder truck.

So there's seven people, four on the ladder truck, three on the engine that work at station one downtown Walnut Creek, and of course we have station seven, uh station four, and then the adjacent stations as well that serve Walnut Creek.

So that takes us to over six hundred and seventy total staff.

Uh we do have a reserve station in Briones Valley, and the Byron Boys Ranch that uh is in Byron is now the Byron Wildland Fire Center.

That's where our hand crew is located.

Fourth of July this year saw a little bit of uh decrease in our calls for service.

Uh maybe it was the weather, um, maybe it was multiple factors, but we did statewide have some very high profile impacts, uh, such as the Asparto incident.

Uh our fire marshal Chris Bachman is serving on a statewide panel uh that's going to review fireworks-related regulations, and hopefully that brings some positive change as to the fireworks industry and how it's regulated in California to help make things safer.

Uh you can see from the numbers, Walnut Creek had uh very, very few calls for service.

In fact, I don't think we had a fire uh in Walnut Creek on July 4th this year.

Um this year was a full-fledged aerial firefighting program locally.

Uh Copter One, we hired a helicopter company.

Uh we spent about 1.8 million dollars on that contract.

In addition to that, we put a staff member on that helicopter every day.

So the pilots talking to pilots and the fire officers talking to fire officers on the ground.

So one of our employees in the front seat, uh, about a 300 gallon uh capacity in that tank uh on the helicopter, it's a belly tank, which is distinguished from other aerial fire fighting uh where there's a bucket which poses an issue of flying over occupied homes and the swing.

Uh so we went with the uh belly tank, which it's able to fly loaded and then respond immediately to the fire.

Um, and they saw a busy season.

They had 40 fires, they had 232 drops, almost 70,000 gallons of water was delivered by that helicopter.

I do want to point out we had a partner, PGE paid about one million dollars of the cost of this helicopter.

We wouldn't have been able to do it without them.

Um but just to give you some glimpse uh into the future, the need for that is not going away.

Um we were able to get multiple drops in before the Calfire aircraft arrived.

So the Calfire State aircraft comes from the north and comes from the south, and we're kind of in Contra Costa where the Olympic rings meet.

Uh so we have some longer ETAs for their aircraft, and so it came in really, really valuable for us.

We are looking at what the next version of this program looks like.

Is it do we continue to contract um at full build-out?

Do we have our own aviation program?

So we're we're taking all that into account now.

Uh the HELO pods, um, the Board of Supervisors dedicated money for five of those, and that's what you see underneath that helicopter.

We've got two of them deployed, and we're looking for homes for the other three.

Um, they need to be near a water source, but we're trying to shorten the reflex time where the helicopter picks up water uh to the scene of the fire.

Uh a couple significant fires in Walnut Creek.

Um, in the first half of the year, we did have 37 exterior fires.

We've had a couple of working structure fires, a residential fire and a commercial fire through the first half of the year.

A number of working fires as well, compared to last year, we're probably on track to hit about the same number.

Okay, the heat map, it's consistent with what you might expect to find.

Downtown Walnut Creek has a uh density in downtown where we have high number of calls for service.

The other thing that really stands out on this map is Rossmore.

It's very apparent where Rossmore is, it's that valley, and you got some red on the map there.

Uh, we have a high frequency of emergency medical calls in Rossmore, but overall, throughout the year, fairly steady in the calls for service in Walnut Creek, running about a thousand calls a month.

Uh as you might expect, they're mostly EMS calls.

Uh, a couple of those other categories, and I'm sorry that slide didn't quite translate.

It's a little jumbled.

Um, but we do have some ambulance only calls, and I do want to bring your attention to that.

A lot of people ask, Chief, why do you send a fire engine to everything?

The answer is we don't.

We EMD our calls through our dispatch center, we triage those calls, and some calls get in ambulance only.

So we don't always send a fire engine to everything.

A lot of those are triaged to ambulance only, and in Walnut Creek, the first part of this year we had 1,500 of those calls that got only an ambulance.

I also want to highlight that uh we're in the middle of a remodel at our communication center, about an $18 million investment in our comm center.

Um, it's been quite some time since that building has had a refresh, and we're actually moving it from its current location into what was formerly our headquarters on Geary.

Um, and in addition to rebuilding the COM center, we're we're spending about five million dollars in technology upgrades, uh, really the brain of the fire district, the backbone.

We can't do it without our comm center and all the technology that supports what we do every day.

Feels a little bit odd to be talking about wildfire preparedness with the storm coming in, but it is a year-round event in California.

We are going to see significant winds, and we're in that tween period right now where we do have still a lot of dry grass out there where the green's starting to show through.

So that that potential still exists on our website and through this QR code is a preparedness guide with some recommendations for homeowners.

And I want to go off script just a little bit.

I got two other items I'd like to cover with you.

First, in the last couple weeks, we had an EV fire in Walnut Creek.

Um, it was a Jeep, an EV Jeep plugged in charging in a below grade parking structure with chargers below grade.

This is kind of worst-case scenario for us.

Um EV fires produce hydrogen fluoride, it's a highly, highly toxic gas, and that's in a confined space when it's below grade.

If that's on the roadway, we can keep a safe distance and try to control smoke.

Uh, the good news is all the building systems worked as intended.

The smoke management system, the sprinkler system, um, but at the end of the day, we had a number of employees and protective equipment exposed to this toxic gas.

Their gear is gonna have to go back east and be cleaned by a specialized cleaner uh at great expense.

And if that gear is not able to be cleaned, it could cost us hundreds of thousands of dollars to replace that equipment.

So, I was just at the California Fire Chiefs Association annual meeting last week, and we brought this up with some of our peer agencies, the 15 largest departments in California, and nobody had had one of these yet in a below grade, this kind of worst case scenario.

So we are talking to peer agencies, considering what what we should do in the future, how to address this new hazard that presents itself to firefighters and the public.

Uh, the other item I want to add in is the fire district is uh happy to report that we purchased 1,300 Civic Drive.

It's right next to Station One.

It's formerly the Mills on Wheels building.

Uh we believe that in 10 years or so we're gonna rebuild station one.

Um, there's a lot of construction and development happening in Walnut Creek, and this helps the fire district secure uh that site and the corner for a future rebuild of station one.

In the meantime, we'll probably do some paint carpet HVAC work and occupy that in some form until we get to a master plan to rebuild station one in the future.

And with that, I'm happy to take any questions.

Thank you.

I know I had one question.

Um we hear a lot now about the changes in defensible space recommendations and the idea of the zone zero around the house.

Are we gonna see that getting implemented in Contra Costa County in the near future?

The Board of Forestry is taking up the zone zero regulations, and we expect that to be adopted by the Board of Forestry by the end of the year.

You may recall there's a delineation between state responsibility and local responsibility area.

We think that will be pushed into the high and the very high of local responsibility area.

So, yes, uh, we we do anticipate that happening.

Do you anticipate it being something for new structures or existing structures?

It's gonna be both.

Um, it's gonna be a lot easier to implement on new structures, and I think the first year or two we intend education as does the state in the existing structures.

Heavy, heavy education.

We don't want to be heavy-handed urban.

Can we give you my husband's name and phone number?

Um other questions for the Cindy Silva?

Thank you for being here tonight.

So I sit on the Governor's California Seismic Safety Commission, and we're currently conducting a study through Cal OES, which we're a part of on the capability and seismic readiness of the 3200 fire stations around the state.

One of the issues that came up in the Rio del earthquake three years ago was that the roll-up doors on the fire station when the shaking was done were stuck, they were jammed, and they couldn't get the doors up for 20 minutes, which could be catastrophic, both for medical as well as for fire issues.

How do our stations in the Contra Costa Fire district fare?

And Vince Wells is on the commission with me.

You might know Vince.

Yeah, yes, of course.

Um so our stations vary.

I mean, we have a number of stations that were constructed in the last five years.

They're of course built to the highest newest standards.

We also operate older stations such as station one that was built in the 60s that do not meet those current standards.

Um, new fire stations for a single company, just for one crew, is about 12 million dollars.

And for a double company for two crews and enough bedrooms for seven or eight people is running twenty-three million dollars.

It's a very expensive proposition to replace stations.

Um we do intend to embark on a master plan.

I mean, I could rattle off stations that need replacement, but we are gonna uh go towards a master plan and identify those older stations that would be the higher priority.

Lastly, I'll add that um we do have policy anytime there's anything 3.0 or greater, we do roll up all the doors get taken up, apparatus comes out of the base.

As fast as possible.

Yes, okay, thank you.

Other questions?

Councilmember DeFini.

Yeah, hi, Chief McAllister, thanks for coming down to talk to us.

Um I was wondering, um, you know, we're we're seeing a lot of technology now in like fire suppression and and the ability to um see what kind of changes people are making to their yards, their homes on a very small scale.

Um, if I was wondering if you could speak to uh how you think that will play out as far as working with insurance companies and trying to get us back to being insured and what communities, what hope communities have for being able to pool their resources and get their their neighborhood fire safe.

Very complex issue.

Um Chris Bachman has been highly engaged.

We uh do have the Lafayette Walnut Creek shaded fuel break near Rossmore, and one of the things we've been working towards is having that put into the maps so that insurance companies can see the mitigation work that has been done.

It's been one of our complaints, one of the community complaints that we don't get credit for the work that's been done locally.

Um, so we're working to get that included in the maps where we've done project work.

The other really strange thing in California that the insurance companies don't take into effect is there's an ISO rating for that that rates our ability to put out structure fires.

Great system, been around forever, and it uh we actually just got increased to a two, which was a huge step for the Contra Cost Fire District, but that only looks at structural fire fighting.

It doesn't take into account our ability to mitigate wildland fires locally.

Um quite honestly, Calfire's presence here is light, right?

We have one station out sunshine out by the Marsh Creek jail.

Um but we have a number of resources.

We have a bulldozer, we have a hand crew, we have a helicopter now.

Um so we have the the weight and the strength to mitigate some of these fires, but there's no credit for that in the insurance system.

So those are some of the conversations we've been having.

Yeah, thank you.

Other questions?

Councilmember Francois?

Hey, Chief, thank you for being here.

Uh on the EV fire.

Is any is the investigation still going on or any lessons learned for those of us who may have an EV vehicle?

Uh kind of was this used correctly, and kind of how any other issues or takeaways we can get from that incident.

Well, we did learn this afternoon there was very public recall of the Jeep specifically, and we believe it's the same Jeep that was involved in the EV fire, that there's they've identified a number of fires throughout the country.

Um limiting your charging and not leaving things on the charger, I think would be extremely helpful.

Um some of the older products, and this goes from children's toys all the way to vehicles, um, but limiting that charging time instead of just leaving it on and walking away and forgetting about it.

Uh some of the smaller products, uh, we probably all have uh a DeWalt or some sort of cordless drill in our garage.

When you go to replace that battery, the new one is a hundred bucks, or you can buy the off brand for 50 bucks, but the what we're hearing is stick with the manufacturer so it's all compatible and it doesn't go into thermal runway and have meltdown, have a problem start a fire.

Okay.

And then I just wanted to ask about the palisades and at Eaton Fire.

I'm not sure if if your district did any mutual aid for that.

But uh, you know, it's concerning seeing the fire season go from what had been kind of six months a year to being kind of year-round and pretty unpredictable, kind of.

Obviously, we have to have defensible space.

What uh what other kind of lessons can be learned learned from those major incidents?

Yeah, I've uh I've fought fire Malibu multiple times in my career.

Uh we did have staff that went to Los Angeles, both engine companies and the fire marshal who worked in the public information shop.

Um I think the really big takeaway is if you fail you're in jeopardy, you should leave.

Don't wait for that call.

Sign up for the community warning system.

Use some of the publicly available tools like watch duty that has really caught on, um, that pushes out really, really good information.

And I know the state and others are working on additional products to push out that level of information.

It's it's as good as the information we get on our our systems.

So sign up for all those community warning tools, but if you think you're in jeopardy at any time, don't wait for that call.

The public should should evacuate the area.

Thanks, Chief.

Thanks.

Any others?

Well, thank you for everything that you guys do and helping keep our community safe, especially considering you know, we've got the Rossmore folks, and we appreciate all you do for all of us.

And um go have that conversation about zone zero at home and I might call you in for backup.

Anytime, thank you.

Thank you so much.

So next on the agenda is the consent calendar.

Does any council member wish to pull any item for discussion or any staff member need to pull an item?

I would like to pull item two F, please.

2F.

Everybody else good, all right.

So with that, I will ask for any public comment on the consent calendar items to A, B, D, E, F, D, or not F.

The ones through H.

After, before, like E F.

G and H.

There we go.

I got it.

Seeing no public comment.

Motion.

Move to approve consent calendar items A through E.

No, wait a minute.

A B, C, D.

You make the motion.

All right.

Move to approve consent calendar items A and B, D and E.

G and H.

Second.

Roll call, please.

We have done our alphabet.

Thank you.

That includes the addendum to two H.

Yes.

Thank you.

Councilmember Silva.

Hi.

Councilmember Francois.

Hi.

Councilmember Davin.

Hi.

Mayor Pro Temwal.

Mayor Darling.

Hi.

Alright.

Going back to 2C.

Um Councilmember Definity.

Yeah, I just thought I'd pull this because it wasn't clear to me, but it is now, but I wanted to make it clear for the public.

And thank you, Carolyn, for stepping up to the microphone.

But when it says that we've got a not to exceed for 750,000, we're not actually spending that money.

We're being reimbursed for those costs by the vendors whoever's using the space.

So it's it's not an out-of-pocket expenditure.

You elaborate just a little bit on that.

Sure.

Good evening, Carolyn Jackson, interim arts and rec director.

So there's two components to this contract.

One portion is the vendor is paying the city for the right to run the lobby bars and to be the sole provider of alcoholic beverages.

And you see there in the report the amount that they would pay per month to the city.

Then separately, as the sole provider of alcoholic beverages, they would be the only ones who could provide service for private receptions, and they may also provide catering service for those receptions.

The vast majority of the not to exceed would be outside rental clients booking a reception as part of their event.

And our financial practice is that we, the Leisher Center and the City, pay all the vendors involved in events, and then we settle with the rental client at the end of their event.

Most clients were gathering their ticket sales as well, so we're holding both their revenues and then also tallying up their expenses.

There will be a portion of that 750 that would be for city sponsored events.

We do have, you know, receptions and things that we manage for our own internal programs, but that would be a very small portion.

Thank you.

Any public comment on 2C?

Um is it on 2C?

We're not to public comment yet.

I'm sorry.

That's okay.

Uh we're just talking about two C on consent right now.

Okay, sorry.

All right.

Um motion.

So moved.

Second.

Second.

Roll call.

Councilmember Silva.

Hi, Councilmember DeVinny.

Hi.

Councilmember Francois.

Mayor Pro Tem Well.

Hi.

Mayor Darling.

Hi.

Motion carrying.

And 2F.

Item 2F is a lease agreement with the Gardens at Heather Farm.

And I'm really wanted to pull this to say thank you to staff and to the board from the Gardens of Heather Farm of resolving our issues around the lease agreement that it's continuing for another 30 years plus two 10-year extensions.

I also wanted to point out that there was a revised map on the dios this evening that shows the perimeter of the property, and I can assume as this is a question.

Can I assume that anything inside the black line is considered part of this lease agreement?

Yes, good evening.

Ridge Payne Public Works Director.

Yes, it's correct.

We uh we were using a map from the previous agreement, and since then we've made some improvements at the end of the parking lot there.

So the garden sheds and the hot houses are included in the lease agreement.

Thank you very much.

You're welcome.

Any public comment on 2F, which is the Heather Farm lease agreement.

Now it's your turn.

Okay.

Uh hi, Jan Warren.

I just um wanted to thank uh the city for I mean a a dollar uh and for the forethought uh the forethought when it was created.

I didn't know the history 77.

I appreciate getting all that information in terms of almost six acres for the garden center, and we highlighted a lot of uh places to go in our city, and uh I have to admit I haven't been there a long time, but it's a wonderful asset, and I'm so glad we have it.

And to me, it's like a um uh a uh outdoor uh art space.

You know, it's not it's not just it I'd love to garden, but it's it's the beauty and so forth.

So I really appreciate uh us continuing that relationship.

Thank you.

Any additional public comment?

Motion.

Before I make the motion, I want to ask the city manager.

The Gardens at Heather Farm, the lease agreement is a dollar a year.

We do that for a number of nonprofit organizations that are running facilities on our property.

Perhaps you can take 30 seconds and explain why we give it at a discounted rental rate, etc.

Uh yeah, happy to do so, Dan Buck.

The short version is they're providing a community benefit uh to the public by operating the gardens, making the gardens available for public use, and are effectively, you know, serving as a contractor, if you will, on behalf of the city and doing so to help offset city cost to provide this service otherwise.

So it's a benefit to the public and hence the reason we're not charging rent.

And we have a similar relationship with the equestrian center.

This at Heather Farm Park, Lindsay Wildlife Experience, the Railroad Museum, and the Assistance League of Diablo Valley.

Nailed it, yeah.

What about the Shadowlands Ranch?

Sounds right, yes.

Okay.

Thank you.

And I'm happy to make the motion to approve consent calendar item two F with the attached um change.

I'll second that roll call, please.

Councilmember Silva.

Hi, Mayor Darling.

Hi.

Council Member Davin, Councilmember Francois, Mayor Potemwell.

Motion carrying.

All right.

Next on the agenda is public communication.

This portion of the meeting is reserved for comments on items that are not on the agenda.

Under the Brown Act, the council cannot act on items raised during public communications, but may respond briefly to statements made or questions posed.

We may request clarification or refer the item to staff.

Consistent with section 9.5 of the city council handbook.

30 minutes will be allocated at this time for public communication for items not on the agenda.

Additional time for public communication for items not on the agenda will be provided at the end of the meeting if necessary.

Written comments submitted have been posted to the city's website for public review and are included in the meeting record, but will not be read separately into the record.

At this time, I note the time is 63, so we'll go to 703, and then any remaining comments will be at the end of the meeting.

So anybody that would like to address the city council under public comment.

This is for items not on the agenda.

Step on up.

Thank you.

I just wanted to highlight uh that I recently read an article from Cal Matters about how the state of California has slid um a lot in terms of our managing drunken drivers.

And we used to be do a great job, and now people can uh get any number of uh DUIs and continue to drive.

And it when I was reading it, it um and I know there was a piece of legislation that did not pass this year because um I think it was the um highway patrol or somebody didn't feel like they could enforce it.

But it concerns me when we're talking about micro mobility and uh operating more more ways to get around where you don't have the protection of a car, and so I hope that maybe we can work this year to uh go back to our legislators and see if we can't make some improvements.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Anyone else?

Hello.

Hi, Mayor Darling and Council and Community.

My name is Sharice Cound, and I'm a field representative for state assembly member Rebecca Bauer Cahan.

So I wanted to just take a brief moment to give you an update from her office since the legislative session has uh completed.

So six bills authored by assembly member Bower Cahan were signed into law by Governor Newsom this fall.

Um I'll highlight just a few.

A B 56 was um social media mental health warning labels.

This was responding to U.S.

Surgeon General Vivek Murphy's call for safety warnings on social media platforms, requiring platforms to display the warning to users, particularly to address the mental health crisis among young people who spend excessive time on social media.

A B 578 is the Fair Food Delivery Act.

And this is for anyone who uses Doordash or other delivery services.

And also requires access to live represent representatives from the company for your refund.

AB 621 was uh for AI generated non-consensual intimate images.

So basically uh strengthening civil enforcement mechanisms against websites that use AI to create deep fake nude images.

Uh there were also uh a couple of key bills that were vetoed by Governor Newsom that the assembly member is gonna continue to uh to work on.

Um AB 432 was the Menopause Care Equity Act, and this was passed with near unanimous support in the legislature, uh, but was vetoed despite addressing a real health care crisis that up to 70% of women seeking menopause care don't receive the treatment they need.

The bill would have ensured insurance coverage for evidence-based treatments and incentivized physician training, and also AB 1064 for AI chatbot child safety was vetoed to uh prevent children from to protect children from these companion chat bots and the dangerous uh behaviors that they can influence.

So feel free to reach out to our office if you have any questions or any input for the state.

Thank you.

No, thank you.

And just let the assembly member know how much we appreciate her service and the time that she dedicates to our city.

Thank you very much.

Any additional public comment?

All right, we are well before 703, and we'll end public comment.

Um is there any questions or comments people had before we move on?

All right, so close move on to closed session announcements.

There is there anything city?

There's nothing to announce this evening.

City manager, any report?

Yeah, good evening again, Buckshire City Manager.

I do have two updates.

Uh we issued a couple of news releases since our last meeting on October 18th that I thought I would repeat here again today with respect to the hiring of new department directors.

The first being our, as we know, our current chief of police, Jamie Knox, is retiring December 30th of this year.

And as of December 31st, Captain Ryan Hibbs will be our new police chief.

So congratulations, Captain Hibs.

We will certainly do a more formal announcement and gathering as that date draws near, but I wanted to formally congratulate him here.

And then, secondly, we will have a new arts and recreation director starting December 15th.

Her name is Chris Farrow.

She currently serves in a similar role at the City of Stockton and has worked in the East Bay and Contra Costa County in various roles.

And I think she will also be a great addition to our city team, and we again will do something more formal to welcome her to Walnut Creek as her starting date arrives.

And that's it, Mayor.

Thank you very much.

This leads us to the council member reports on A B 1234 activities.

Um we'll go ahead and start this way this time.

Good evening.

I was out of town last week at a conference, but I did get a good time.

I did get time to go to Made in the Shade events, which was just this past weekend out of Shade Lens.

Um was uh very well attended.

Uh kids get to go out there and sample all the different sports um sports that are offered at the complex, and uh we get to see what uh businesses there are in the community that um get a chance to they get to um promote themselves and and promote their activities.

Um the police were there, the fire department was there, live music, food trucks, so it's a very good time.

Thank you.

Mayor Protect.

Sure.

Yeah, the maiden to shade the bed is really amazing.

Considering that Shade Lands was this, so it was a business park, but there really wasn't a lot of uh resident activity there for many many years, and and it's just really changed in the last few years.

Uh big kudos to uh the Chamber of Commerce and really the whole Shade Lands group and and the PBA and putting all that together.

It is a terrific experience and and uh fun for the whole family, as they say.

Uh I also had a walkthrough of the Chick-fil-A that's going up in the Northgate area.

So, along with council member Silva and uh some staff just wanted to see what was happening there, making sure that some of the uh things that were brought up that we had provided direction on Chick-fil-A were being handled, including uh expanded sidewalks and uh some of the traffic um traffic uh potential issues that were being mitigated, and obviously we're going to uh revisit that about six months after they open.

They're expected to uh finish construction by about the second third week of December and expected to open by the second week of January.

So I'm sure we'll be hearing about the grand opening at that time.

Uh I did want to make a plug for our own city, which had a terrific Halloween event for the city employees last week.

Uh Councilmember Silva and I were judges for the costume contests and the uh the carving of jack-o'-lanterns, and it just shows that Walnut Creek, while we take ourselves seriously when it comes to the work that we all do and provide for our residents.

We also have fun within the city itself and providing a great work life balance and uh and fun experience for our own employees, and I just take real pride in that and thank you to our city manager and the fun bunch for putting all that together.

And lastly, I had the opportunity to visit the uh chamber event, the business expo, which was at the Marriott.

Again, I saw council member Silva.

I think you were shadowing me for the lot of the last two weeks, or maybe I was shadowing you.

Okay, alright.

Well, we'll put it that way.

Whatever whatever you say on that, but uh anybody else that might have gone to that, great event by the chamber bringing together uh I think it was over 50 different businesses from Walnut Creek as well as I think there were a few from Lafayette, and just really showing what there is in terms of commerce in Walnut Creek.

Uh again it it felt to me like you know what, we are back.

Walnut Creek is back.

We've been that saying that for several years now, but it's just great to see this level of activity, and I believe we are now down to the lowest uh vacancy rates in downtown that we've been at since prior to COVID, which is at about seven percent, I want to say.

It was something like that, but uh, I mean, just to give an example of the relative uh vacancy rates in the state.

We a lot of us were at the Cal Cities event where we meet mayors and city managers and council members from all over the state, they're at 10 to 15% vacancy rate still downtown in many, many cases.

They look at Walnut Creek and they say, it's amazing what you've done here.

How can we get there?

And these are people that bring that conversation to me.

It's not like I talk about it.

They say Walnut Creek, oh my gosh, you guys are doing great.

So uh again, just uh real pat on the back there to the city staff and the chamber of commerce and our business community that really makes sure that Walnut Creek is a terrific place to work, shop, dine, live, and uh and and just enjoyment for everyone.

So that's my update.

Thanks.

I'll just jump in now since we're going this way.

Um I got to do the opening night kickoff for the Citizens Institute.

For those of you who don't know what that is, we um invite people to apply, and it's six-week program where they learn all about the city.

They get to go out and kick the tires on the big trucks, they get to go down and get locked in the jail, and we explain to them what a city does.

And it's always a great opportunity to learn.

If any of you are um interested in what's going on, we we offer it once or twice a year.

Um I got to go to the ribbon cutting for WC Kitchen and Bar, which took over the former OPA space, and it's a local couple who really just are passionate about their food.

Um they've really done a nice remodel on the inside, so that was great to welcome them to our community.

Um Marin Clean Energy, I sit on the boards, MCE now.

Um we had our executive committee meeting the other day, and we are working through some issues that some of the folks up in Marin County have brought up.

As I reported out last time, you know, the cost of power is been fluctuating wildly.

And so while MCE did not you know manage to increase their net position, their income from electricity sales was not equal to the amount that they paid for electricity.

And so we're looking at ways of balancing that out.

And the executive committee is working on that.

And lastly, for those of you who have been following the news with SNAP and Food Security, SNAP is called CalFresh here in California.

It is not clear right now what the federal government is doing, but the benefits that are normally distributed as of the first of the month were not distributed.

Staff has worked to get out information on social media about the various programs that are available if somebody is experiencing uh food insecurity.

The local food banks are stepping up.

And if you are in a position where you can help the both White Pony Express and the food bank of Contra Cross and Solano are doing a food drive specifically to help overcome the gap that is currently existing and will be out at the farmers market this Sunday, and the Walnut Creek Farmers Market is working with White Pony Express.

The White Pony Express already comes and picks up all the extra fruits and vegetables, all the perishables from the farmers market.

But if you're coming to the farmers market on Sunday, you can bring your non-perishable items, not in glass, and there'll be a barrel there at the farmers market to help provide some resources for those people who might need it.

Councilmember Francois.

Okay, thanks, Mayor, and thank you for that update on the food drive at the farmers market.

I too was able to attend uh the Citizens Institute at the Lesher Center last week.

Uh Carolyn was gracious enough to host me, and it was great to see the civic engagement and the ability really to showcase one of the crowning jewels in Walnut Creek's crown, I guess, uh, in terms of the Lesher Center, plus our open space, just the ability kind of to connect with fellow residents, and it was great to see a good group of people there, civic-minded engaged people.

I told them that I was a graduate of Citizens Institute back in 2007.

So be careful, you know you never know where this might lead you.

And uh it was it was it was a good group, and uh I think they learned more about the Leisher Center, and uh, you know, we already I saw we had an email in our uh correspondence from one of the Citizens Institute members who's already getting civically engaged.

So that's great to see.

Other than that, I had a pretty light light couple of weeks.

I did uh uh staff the farmers market booth.

For those of you who don't know, each of us will take turns.

You'll find a council member there at the farmers market on Locust Street from about 10 to noon.

We all kind of kind of call in the morning, sometimes on Sundays.

Most Sundays, not a holiday Sunday, and then it's an opportunity to come up, talk to us about something that's happening in your neighborhood, a pothole that needs to be fixed, an issue you're having with a broken street light, uh just to say we're doing a great job.

We always like getting those.

But if there's a question or concern or an issue, it's an opportunity, and I want to give a shout out uh to Brianna Byrne.

I had a woman come up to me and ask about safety improvements at uh at Ignatio and Walnut and pedestrian improvements and traffic safety improvements on Sunday.

I emailed uh Brianna on Sunday, and by Monday morning, she had already contacted with the resident and let her know that actually we have a plan to make improvements at that intersection.

It's under it's funded, it's underway, and here's the time frame when it will happen, and if you have any follow-up uh questions to contact.

So that's the kind of customer service you get when you're at Walnut Creek, and if you come to the farmers market, we're happy to connect you with the right folks and staff who will let you know what's going on in the city.

And then just finally, a reminder that today, of course, is election day, and there's about an hour and 10 minutes left before polls close.

So get down and vote if you haven't already, or turn in your ballot here at City Hall.

We have two uh ballot drops, one on the parking lot side and one on the main street side.

And that's my update.

Thank you.

Councilmember Silva.

I'll just add to the election reminder, but those two drop boxes get locked at 8 p.m.

So they will be picked up promptly.

So don't delay.

And every vote counts.

So the mayor and I attended the Metropolitan Transportation Commission retreat that was held two weeks ago.

It was after our last council meeting.

And with us was Erica Vandenbrand, or director of community and economic community development.

And Henry Root, is that member of the planning department?

We pleaded our case in a minute time.

We each got a minute.

That's 120 words in case you're wondering.

At rapid fire speed.

They heard a lot of comment about concerns about the policy.

I'm cautiously off.

I know they heard our comments.

It's not that we are not supportive of transit oriented development.

In fact, we've been doing it for 40 years, it's just that there are some areas that they've included in the proximity to transit are unbuildable or unrealistically expectations with them.

So we have to keep fighting the good fight.

I'm glad you went first.

But so more to follow on that.

Last week I attended the October meeting of the I used to say the Golden Rain Foundation at Rossmore, but it's now Rossmore Walnut Creek Board.

They have changed their brand.

They are Rossmore Walnut Creek, and reported on things that we're doing in the city, listened to some of their reports.

They were very interested in hearing what happened with the e-bike discussion, and so I brought them up to speed on that, and more to follow on that.

Last night's Walnut Creek Sister City Board meeting, the they had a debrief on the trips to Italy and SHIA Folk and the night here in the council chambers, and they were very excited about how it went here at the council chamber.

Their plans are underway for the SHIOFOK students and the Cetto students to visit Walnut Creek in the last week of March and the early part of April.

And so their plans are underway on that, and also plans are underway for recruiting students who are eighth graders to participate in the program for 2026-2027, and more information will follow on that.

The Northern California organization of the Sister Cities International will have a meeting in Arinda this Saturday, and I will be attending that along with the president of Sister Cities.

And finally, I will mention that Councilmember Francois and I are the representatives from Walnut Creek to the board of the Recycle Smart, which is the Central Contra Costa Solid Waste Authority.

It's a joint powers authority partnership with Danville, La Marinda, the County, and Walnut Creek to provide the trash services, the organic recycling services, and the regular recycling services.

And unfortunately, you missed a great and interesting meeting this last week because we received a report on our waste characterations characterization study, the results of that study.

So Invision, you've always how many of you have always wanted to do dumpster diving?

There are people in this world, at least I got a laugh out of that.

There are consultants that actually collect samples from all of the bins, not all of the bins, but a representative sampling of the trash, the blue bins, and the green bins to determine when you basically take it apart and see what's going on.

Are we putting the right stuff in the right bin?

It's part of our um efforts to encourage people to recycle more, but recycle the right things in the right bins, and not put the wrong things in the wrong bins.

So the results are in, and um it it gives us a the reason to do a study like this is to actually be able to determine what you should be putting on the sides of the garbage trucks, you know, the promotional and educational material.

Like do you remember the the um billboard on the side of the trucks with the dog licking the peanut butter container?

You're not supposed to put the containers in the recycling until it's been reasonably cleaned out, a wet paper towel, something like that, or a dog.

Dogs are very good at that.

So what we have learned from this study is that first of all, there are 62 types of things that are put in the in these three bins in six categories with paper, plastics, metal, glass, organics, and other being everything that shouldn't be in there.

So some learnings from this study.

There are still, while our single family homes are doing well, there are still excessive amounts of organics in the landfill stream in all three sectors.

The customer sectors being single family homes, multifamily homes, and commercial.

So too much green is in the black or the blue.

The single family sector is highly successful at diverting yard trimmings into the organics cart, but it's not yet fully embraced putting organic waste from your food scraps in the green bin.

So if you're not putting your food scraps into the green bin, you should start.

There is an ongoing need to promote opportunities for hazardous waste and household hazardous waste disposal opportunities.

A hazardous waste is things like needles, prescription drugs, medications, etc.

There's ways to dispose of all the information about what to do properly is on the recycle smart website.

And here is the takeaway from what they found is that right now our single family homes are doing sixty-four percent diversion.

That means that only 30 six percent, thirty-six percent of the trash, it means is and that's better than the state law, which is 50% diversion.

But what they found in the black in the wrong bins equated to if we put it in the right bins, we'd be diverting 88% of our trash.

We can do better, remember to read the sides of the bins, and there's an even an online.

I'm gonna bring the online quiz of can you put it in the right bin and to do it during one of these.

Thank you very much, Mayor.

Okay, now that we're all clear on what's going where.

Next on the agenda is a public hearing for consideration of to waive the first reading and introduce an ordinance amending various sections of Title 10, Chapter 2, the zoning of the Walnut Creek Municipal Code to implement the FY2331 housing element.

A little bit of residential care facilities, minor code, cleanup edits and find that amendments are exempt under CEQA.

And I invite staff forward to make a presentation.

Good evening, Mayor and the City Council.

My name is Frank Kong.

I'm the building official for the city.

It is my honor tonight to present you with the ordinance for the adoption of the 2025 building code.

Here is an overview of my presentation.

I will begin with some background information about the California buildings down in the code, and then discuss the proposed adoption and the city amendment, and then conclude with recommendations for council's consideration.

So California Buildings down the code garbage design and the construction of new buildings and alterations of the existing buildings.

So here are the third team parts of these California standards of code.

The California WUI code is highlighted in red, means it is brand new code for the theater.

So I will talk a little bit more uh updates uh in a minute.

So the California's buildings done in the commission abidate the standards of codes every three years in alignment with the revisions of the model code.

Local jurisdictions are permitted to adopt more restrictive amendments if those amendments can be adjusted justified by local climatic, geological, and topographical conditions.

However, now we have AB 130 passed on June 30th of this year, which is essentially created a six-year memorandum for the local amendment impacting the residential construction.

Except, you know, with two low amendments meet the following two exceptions.

Exception one, if the amendments are substantially the same as those previously filed in the city and currently in effect.

Second option is regarding home hardening.

If those amendments for home harmony are proposed by the fire district, it is acceptable.

So this is some information here about the new Wii code.

Current building code, chapter 7A, only mandate new building in a very high fire hazard severity zone.

And in one click, we don't have any of them.

However, the new Wii code in the 25, well mandate the building in high fire in a higher, not only the very high, also in a high fire hazard zone.

And we have quite a bit.

Here is a map.

So the orange color, it is the high high fire hazard zone here.

You can see some area in Ross More surrounded, some area in towards the end of the right gear, and all the way along to this north southeast of the boundary oak area.

So they are the in orange color.

The property in those areas will be impacted and qualified for the California Wii code to be enforced.

And what is the impact?

So the code require the exterior wall of the house to be either non-combustible or one or fire rated.

Roof need to be either class A roof or it is non-combustible like metal, stone, or you know, those kind of a roofing material.

Here it is regarding glazing, right?

If you have an open, if you have a for windows, you have to be 20 minutes fire rated, because the envelope of the wall already one hour.

So the window need to be 20 minutes.

If the wood door, it had to be a solid wood corridor with a one and three-eighths inch of the thick, just like right now the garage door we are using right now.

So the code also has some requirement for the accessory structures.

If the accessory structure is like less than three feet from the main house, then the accessory building need to comply with the same requirement as for the house, regardless of how big or small it is there.

Now if the accessory building is further away from the house, more than three feet, but that's less than 50 feet, and the accessory building is more than 120 square feet, then again the accessory structure need to comply with the same requirement for the new building.

So the staff proposed to adopt the following 11 parts of the building code.

Amendment.

So staff proposed three structural amendments and six flood plan amendments.

All these totally nine amendments are substantially the same as we currently have in forced.

So we are in compliance compliance with AB 130.

Three structure amendments will restrict certain type of research materials in commercial and residential constructions and also require special inspection for the concrete spread footings to improve the quality control and the quality of the construction.

Again, the intent is to minimize the damage caused by the earthquake.

And this two three structure comments are carried over from the previous code section, co-cycle.

Six flood plan amendments here, including the requirement of a higher standard free board to elevate the building to minimize the water damage, and we increase the area instead of one year construction valuation, we increase three years' accumulated improvement period to determine if the building, existing building codify, you know, as a substantial improvement or repair.

If that existing building codified it, then they have to elevate the entire, you know, floor and other measures as a new building proposed in that flood zone area.

Justification is this amendments are supported by local climatic and topographic conditions.

They are carried over from previous co-cycles, identical the same.

We have one administrative change.

Staff proposed two repeal entirely chapter 11 in Title 9 of the Municipal Code, time of sale, residential weatherization disclosure.

This ordinance was adopted in 1983.

Require homeowners to disclose the status of weatherization measures when at the time of sale.

So now right now we are 42 years later, right?

So the current modern real estate practices, particularly the routine use of home inspection, you know, have made this voluntary disclosure ordinance unnecessary.

Now I'm going to switch gear to two fire ordinance, 25, 14, and 2515.

So on October 7th, fire district introduced the two list two ordinance to adopt the California fire code and the California WICO.

The or county fire found have some findings there, findings to just the amendment are necessary.

They set up the public hearing date on November 18th, which is the same day as we are having the public hearing.

The fire code amendments are carried over from previous co-cycle.

Fire district proposed two amendments.

One is regarding the home in sitting homes.

What's the definition of a substantial addition?

The definition is if somebody proposed addition, which is more than 50% of the existing square footage of the house, and the accumulated area, including in sitting and new, is more than 6,000 square feet.

That's very big house, then the whole entire house need to comply with the requirement.

I just went over, right?

The exterior wall, the roofing materials, and the glazing door requirement.

Second, second amendment, it is for larger development, more than 30 dwelling units, and when the parameter food fences, when is within 30 feet of a structure or house, then the fence need to be built of our non-combustible materials.

Okay, behind in the back of the wall, the house or next to it, and eventually the fire jump on the house and burn the entire neighborhood down.

So this is just why it is important way, you know, for the parameter fence.

If they are less than 30 feet from the main house, then they have to be built with non-combustible materials.

Again, for larger residential development 30 or more units over here.

So the staff recommendation is recommended council to introduce and we will further reading of this ordinance to adopt 2025 California Building Standard Codes with amendment and set a public hearing date on November 18th.

So this will conclude my uh presentation.

I'm happy to answer questions.

Thank you so much.

Um questions, Councilmember Definitely.

I don't have any questions.

I just wanted to pass along a compliment.

I had some opportunity to spend a week with our fire marshal last week, and he uh spoke very highly of you and the work that you do here in Walnut Creek.

So thank you for your work here and we're lucky to have you.

Thank you, Connor.

Appreciate it.

Questions?

Councilmember Francois?

Thanks, Frank.

Uh so is it correct that the 25 uh 2025 building standards code?

Will that be the code essentially that remains locked in place for six years?

Uh for three years.

And then I need to come back again, you know, to do the adoption for the 2028 code.

Again, we need a but the AB 130 locked six years, right?

So when we adopt when we have when I come back to adopt 2028 code, I still need to follow the same requirement by law.

I cannot propose any more, you know, restrictive amendment than the code unless for those already carried forward from 25 code cycle.

Good question.

That's correct, and they're very additionally, they're very limited, additional exceptions that some cities have implemented in this round of code updates, but three years from now, most of those will have passed as well, too.

So it's really what you have in your codes right now that you can carry forward.

The building standard codes will continue to be updated on the three-year cycle, but in a very narrow window of changes.

Is that um correct?

Yeah.

They will continue to be updated.

Um the law prohibits local agencies from amending them.

It doesn't prohibit the state building standards code from making the changes.

I see.

Because the model code update every three years, so we have to follow it in alignment with the revision in the state level.

All right, thank you.

Sure.

So another way to say it is our hands are tied in three years from doing anything at the local level that is over and above what they're doing at the state.

Correct.

The um that picture of the burning fences, that applies the additional structural requirements that the fire code has or apply to developments of 30 houses or more, which we have.

We don't have we don't have that much land in one of the creek, for example.

Right, unless we start taking over the open space, which we're not going to do.

Okay, so it really isn't related to multifamily high rises or low rises, it's related to single family homes of developments of 30 homes or greater.

30 units or more.

Uh they didn't clearly say is that if that is a requirement applied to a condo or something, this is residential.

A might apply to a building with uh, you know, uh one building with more than 30 units.

I need a more clarification for that, but right now the language is that is more than 30 residential units.

That's the language they propose.

All right.

Okay.

Yeah.

I think that's all I wanted clarification on.

Thank you.

Okay, as somebody in the very high zone.

Um, so it sounds like the requirements do not kick in unless you're doing a really major remodel.

Just a kitchen remodel or something like that won't code.

The remodeling substantial remodeling, thank you, Darn, for uh Cindy, for this equation basically said substantial remodeling definition is alteration definition.

If you random, if you altered the both the interior wall and exterior wall, more than 50% of the lengths, plus you remove more than 50% of the roof.

Well, that's very substantial alteration.

We you know, but a simple re-roof wouldn't you wouldn't care.

I mean, you would obviously not be replacing the wooden shake roof, but but it doesn't cr bring in all those other things.

The justification from Fire Marshall Far District is if you already change and modify more than 50% of the wall, right?

And also you modify 50% or more of the roof.

Then now why not just do it with the entire house project currently code to make it a home harmony with our house?

That's your justification.

I don't think it makes sense.

That does make sense.

Thank you very much.

Um, any additional questions?

All right, we'll go ahead and open this up to public hearing.

It's open for public comments if somebody has comments on the building code and all those fun things.

Um step forward, and I do not see anybody.

Um we'll go ahead and close the public hearing and turn it back over to the council for discussion deliberation and a motion.

Madam Mayor, I'd I'd move to a wave the reading and introduce the attached ordinance amending title nine of the Walnut Creek uh municipal code to adopt the 2025 edition of the California Building Standards Code by reference and with local amendments, and to set a public hearing for November 18th, 2025.

Second.

Roll call, please.

Councilmember Francois, Councilmember Silva.

Hi, Council Member Divini.

Hi.

Thank you very much.

It's a complicated subject.

I appreciate you walking us through that.

Um next on the agenda is a public hearing on consideration to waive the first reading and introduce ordinance and ordinance prohibiting the use of gasoline powered leaf blowers.

Oh, did I miss one?

Hi, buddy.

It's the signage.

Oh shoot.

Darn it.

Okay.

Okay.

Hello, Mayor, Mayor Pro Town Council.

Um, I'm Erica Van and Brand, the community development director.

I will do my darndest to get us through this so you can get to that item.

But okay.

Sign or sign ordinance.

So today, um, just to go through this um very briefly, we have a project overview for the siding ordinance update and the timeline.

Um share results um with you of the outreach stakeholder outreach that we did, as well as we have a sign um can you know working group um composed of our uh members from our public our um planning commission and then design review commission and then next steps.

So with that, the purpose of this is to um eventually create contemporary standards that provide flexibility um to address our community's evolving needs.

The last time the city went through a comprehensive update of the sign ordinance was back in 1995.

Um I remember it well because I have a daughter that age.

But um, so it what we would like to do is to clarify the intent of the signage in the community and the city's roles, and we're looking tonight for you to give some feedback um around that.

Ultimately, then to update the city's sign regulations, and then along with that, our sign design standards and guidelines.

So, just you know, a quick time arc over here.

We started this project before COVID in 2019, and there had been some initial um, you know, outreach to the community, and then COVID came, and so the project was paused.

We restarted it again last year, and in earnest this year, where we had a joint meeting of our planning commission and then our design review commission to get feedback about the project and also to select two individuals, one from each commission to help serve as a working group to help us, you know, serve as a touchstone for the project.

Subsequently, we did a quite a bit of community outreach, reaching out to, you know, variety of folks, which I'll share a little bit later, and then this fall, coming back to you because you had asked to come back to you before we started drafting any kinds of ordinances or anything for your consideration.

And then ultimately in early 2026, we hope to be able to bring forward to you a new revised updated sign ordinance for your consideration.

So for those of you who haven't memorized the sign code, this is just some excerpts from our municipal code.

And so back in 1995, the intentions by council were these to provide minimum standards for the signage for all the reasons that are listed there to to promote traffic safety by controlling the design quality materials, etc.

Um, but also to encourage creative and innovative approaches to signage, not signing.

That would be really clever, um, and then signs that are a quality design that are pleasing the parents, the aesthetics and appropriate and size materials, type of activity in the neighborhood they're located in.

Fortunately, signage is not real regulated the way that housing is.

Continuing that is that also to encourage signs that are compatible with the building that is attached to because you know these are intended to be attached to buildings for the most part, and they're compatible with neighboring buildings and businesses to also support, you know, neighborhood values, property values in the visual environment by discouraging signs that contribute to visual clutter in the streetscape, and then additionally to identify businesses in attractive and functional matter, not serve primarily as general advertising for the business.

And I'm you know, keep that one in mind because that's one area of discussion, I'm sure that you know you'll want to have some top uh talk and debate over, and then lastly to discourage signs that cause a traffic hazard or interfere with ingress or egress.

So thing you know, trying to make sure that things don't block people getting to and fro.

So with that, we conducted um quite a bit of outreach.

We had an out online questionnaire.

Um it focused primarily on businesses, property owners, and um, but we also received back, received feedback from the public, and this questionnaire really was focusing on what is the intention that people want to use signage for.

And I'll get into those details in just a sec.

We also met with the Walnut Creek Chamber of Commerce and the Walmer Creek Downtown Association to request feedback, and also they helped us amplify getting the message out to their constituencies.

And we also requested specific feedback from recent businesses within the last two to three years that had gone through the sign permitting process.

So with that, the online questionnaire that we, you know, just shared with you.

We received 23 total responses, and uh, while that may not seem like a huge universe, it is a big universe for signage, and many of those responses were for groups of businesses.

Think Shade Lens and so forth.

Um, but you know, many most of them, you know, or a significant proportion were from retail businesses, and then business property types, you know, so that shopping centers, um, you know, business parks, etc.

So we did have a you know a broad array of representation for people that have been very vocal over the years about the sign ordinance and wanting to see some changes.

So summary key themes of this, so that business and property owners generally expressed a need, desire for more permissive regulations that met more modern marketing needs through a balanced approach to standards, but really focused on business visibility, branding, creativity, and maintaining the city's character, and so that's a balance over there.

And in these four areas, we've summarized in subsequent slides for visibility and location, A-frame signs, one of our favorites, sign and design flexibility, and then process improvements.

So in terms of visibility and location, the stakeholder feedback was that they wanted to be able to have more visibility from both the sign or from the street and sidewalk because they felt was essential for their business success.

And they wanted to, they had requests for updates to the sign standards, essentially for more signage on building sides, upper levels, and intersections so that more.

One of which was light pollution from signage for nearby residential uses because we're having more and more of them in the downtown area, the residential uses, and then also to avoid visual clutter.

A-frame and temporary signage.

So stakeholder feedback was that A-frame signs are considered crucial for foot traffic and seasonal promotions.

The request was for clearer, more flexible rules for A-frame signs and temporary signs, especially in downtown, citing confusion over current restrictions and inconsistent enforcement.

The working group feedback was that if there's a desire for A-frame signs that they be more temporary in nature rather than permanent, to develop design standards to minimize the visual impact of A-frame signs, so that one of the things that they talked about was limiting the size, and then also trying to find ways to address the difficulty of enforcement standards.

I'm going to pause right there to share with you that in 2015 there had been a pilot program that had been launched, and that trying to have down, you know, to figure out in the downtown A-frame signs what that might look like.

And it kind of went its own way, if you will, um during the COVID period, and so now we're trying to figure out you know how to help better navigate that through this sign ordinance.

And the reasons why are that temporary turned into permanent, and that in the picture to the left, you have six A-frame signs all in a row, despite the fact that on the on the buildings, you know, the business names are there.

Similarly, in the top middle area that there are A-frame signs, and then the lower middle, there's an associate, there are quote temporary signs because they can move and so forth, but they all advertise the same business.

And similarly on the right-hand side, there are three signs, several of which are actually blocking, you know, pedestrian access and right-a-way here in the downtown, and heard a lot from the sign committee, and then earlier, whenever there was a joint meeting between the Planning commission and the design review commission about that, which is why A-frame and Temporary Signs are highlighted.

Okay, onward.

Size and design flexibility.

So the stakeholder feedback basically they wanted more.

They wanted to be able to use signage for branding, so more marketing, and having more design flexibility, and that to avoid overly uniform or prescriptive requirements.

And but also you know wanted to you know enhance community character or local character.

The working group feedback was that to establish pedestrian-oriented sign standards in the downtown area, and that's true, not just simply for A-frame signs, but also we have um blade signs now that you know are perpendicular to a building that in 1995 we didn't allow.

Um, and then looked at the the use of exploring overlay zones or form-based codes to allow for flexibility in the standards and allowing it to evolve, modifying the sign and height standards where appropriate, so that looking at you know things with in different neighborhoods and so forth and having more tailored towards specific areas, and then also providing more flexibility within master sign programs.

So right now we require um a master sign program whenever there are um more than five, six buildings with signs associated with them, or um there's going to be some complexity of signs, and we asked for that to be um done voluntarily for larger buildings, that there may not just simply be one if there are two more if there are two or more businesses there.

So to be able to do that, but then also to um establish a scheduled update of requirements and incentives for property owners to update master sign programs because right now many of our sign programs are were done in an earlier age, and it's quite a process to actually update them.

And so there was some recognition that trying to provide those incentives to offer more flexibility, um, and it's not just our flexibility, it's the flexibility being asked for by the property owner for the master sign programs.

Uh in terms of stakeholder feedback, we received um comments about um process improvements, so to improve permitting processes to be clearer and use less technical jargon, creating tools to help people through the permitting process like a checklist or online information hub, and then also a recognition that outdated master sign programs can be restrictive to the tenants.

So we've got at least one of these underway in terms of improving the processes and process improvements, and then and the corollary with that is that uh we're looking at uh also in refinements as part of that process for our um our online information hub and checklists.

Working group um feedback was that they were highly supportive of a central online hub for sign standards and requirements to help lead people through the process, so that's a customer service kind of thing, and then also finding ways to help the city to help users, especially first-time um users through the process.

And so um as part of the process improvements that we're undertaking, that is indeed, as I'd mentioned earlier, one of the things that we're working on with that, it is a lot of information, and um I can go back if you want me to, etc.

But we're looking for your feedback on this, and it's you don't have an action to take tonight, but it's more what um given everything you heard, what your feedback is and any guidance or direction you'd like to offer before we go back to the working group and the planning commission and the design review commission.

Thank you, Erica.

That was quite a lot of work represented there, and I really appreciate it.

Um because I've I've heard about this issue for a while, and I think it's good that we're getting back to it.

Um questions on the part of council.

Um go ahead.

Uh thank you, Erica.

That is a lot of information.

We certainly have heard about signage whenever there's something a new b business goes up.

Talks about temporary signage what is the definition of temporary like a temporary A frames?

Yeah.

There's so many things that happen in development.

It depends and um it depends on whether it's a real estate sign um that it's more ephemeral, whether it is a seasonal A frame sign or whether it is a grand opening sign.

And all those um are types of temporary signage but they have different time requirements on it.

And so each of them will be identified so that there's less ambiguity when somebody does put up an A frame?

That there would be less ambiguity and clarity about whether it's actually allowed or not.

Okay.

Okay.

And then ultimately who would approve these?

Is it still go through the DRC in the Planning Commission?

So right now the at the um for design review um and these actions for signage it stops at DRC.

They still have decision making authority over there.

Okay.

Um did we get Walnut Creek downtown's perspective?

I mean I see Kathy here uh in the audience but uh I would be interested maybe when there's public communication actually then you can speak to that that'd be helpful.

Great.

Thanks that's it for me now.

Councilmember Silva?

Um thank you first of all this has been a long time coming.

Who are who is on the working group and how big is it?

So it's one member um from one member from um design review commission so Phil Newsom and then um Stephen Quok from um the planning commission and they um were they were identified uh as the representatives for the respective commissions and a joint meeting between the um planning commission and the design review commission.

And are there staff members on it as well?

There are not staff members on the committee but I am the staff to this so I um carry forward their um I'm carrying forward their message right now.

How big is the sign ordinance or guidelines?

If I came in and I had a new business and I wanted to how many pages would I be handed?

I think it's 18.

Is it read like an ordinance or does it read like a a guidebook with pictures?

It reads like an ordinance oh how delightful councilmember Francois thank you Erica this has been a long time coming in um what comes out of the other end of the sausage grinder will it be something more like the objective design standards that we apply to housing projects.

So there will be a set of objective um standards that come with this unlike the housing projects it doesn't need to be nearly quite as defined um because we can the city still has the ability to um have a level of subjectivity involved with it but for clarity for the business community the most the better we can get to these objective design standards and be able to articulate what they're allowed to do and not allowed to do it makes it so much easier for the development community to be successful.

I agree with that can you broadly kind of characterize what the subjectivity factors are as a the size is set right in the size is set um we you know recently within the past year we had a question about whether or not you could have um a chicken on three sides of a building versus two um and you know things like that sometimes it's uh you know get get bigger than a bread box smaller than an elephant for how much you know of your window space that you can put you know things on etc.

But um those are really the kinds of things and there are some usually where there's more subjectivity um and discretion involved is to what where on the dial or where on the needle um in terms of the number of signs for any individual business um and how what the balance is between identifying place and the business name versus advertising and branding and marketing and then in terms of the the feedback I can think of a few instances and I can share them with you offline but kind of one retail establishment downtown and then one medical establishment out in the shade lens who both had it seemed like difficult sign permitting experiences was there an effort made to reach out to kind of recent uh disgruntled applicants or oh yes and so um we have gotten the I think the feedback is represented um you know here and in a kinder nicer gentler way.

Okay.

And I maybe maybe that's I'll save it for a comment for later.

Thank you.

Um my thank you for this um it's been a long time coming especially on the A frames because it seemed like it was kind of the wild west there for a while downtown and I know that's COVID related and everything like that.

So is the intent to identify specific pots of types of signs like grand opening signs second floor sign second floor business signs daily special signs.

So what we attempted to do in the um construct of the questionnaire was to get clarity about what do you want to use signage to do so do you want to use signage to be able to identify place and business do you want to be able to use signage to um evangelize about your business do you want to be able to use signage to talk about the daily special whether it's ice cream or a restaurant or some you know sale or a seasonal sale or um you know do you want to be able to project it to the freeway um be so that people know where they're going to for a hospital for example.

Okay and so as far as how long a sign can be out is there going to be direction because there are some signs that that pretty much turn permanent downtown.

Is there gonna be direction on who gets to leave theirs out all the time and which signs are expected to only make periodic appearances.

So that is one questions um if that is something the council would like to see um with clarity um can an offer that the sign um ordinance update working group had made suggestions about um dialing things in specifically so that the um signage that was a frame signage for example would be supplementary so that here's the special of the day the soup de jour um as opposed to this is what we do all the time or if there was um the grand opening special or if there were a seasonal sign but seasonal um not being defined as 365 days a year.

Okay.

Alright um anybody else have questions thank you for guiding us through this and we will open it up for public comment and then we will bring it back up here to provide that generous feedback that we are good for doing.

Step forward to the podium if anybody wants to please complete a speaker card once at the podium introduce yourself and city of residence for the record and everybody gets two minutes.

You might get a little longer since there's many of you.

Thanks.

650 of us and Kathy Hem and Way Walnut Creek Downtown Association.

Live in Lafayette, but live here but as well.

Um on behalf of the Walnut Creek Downtown Association.

Yes, we have been involved, our businesses have been involved in the outreach that Erica had mentioned, both in focus groups and in surveys and it's been um a project that we've been working on the 18 years that I've been here.

Erica had mentioned um the the uh previous program that started or was uh facilitated in 2015.

Um so w through the city we helped um facilitate um the temporary um outdoor um display program, and so that was seasonal.

Um that was something that pre-COVID we had been talking about.

Could that be something that could be adjusted to be year-round?

Um for the reason that that um the seasonal um permit took place in like April to October, and then uh all the signage and the displays had to be brought in, mostly because of the weather, but then the business's feedback to us was well that's when they really needed it kind of post um holiday time, um, mostly in the uh first quarter of the calendar year when things are a little bit quieter.

So that's where we are starting to lean into um working through um a year-round program.

So happy to revisit that and also happy to help facilitate any of the programs as they get finalized.

Um and then as far as um specific um specifics as far in the signage space and size and and all of that, we get a little bit of both from our businesses.

Um are have had it with the amount of A-frames that dot the um blocks, and others um express that that's um uh an important part of their business and communicating the soup of the day or different specials or different ideas.

So we get a little bit of both, but I think some type of um continued um effort to create some um formations and guidelines would be helpful.

Um and I think that pretty much focuses or answers the questions that I had talked about or that we had also um oh, and then one other thing was just the flexibility to be extended into the proposed artwork to reflect um the business's unique brand.

So just some flexibility to have some creative artwork in the outdoor signage.

Thank you, Kathy.

Anybody else wish to address us about signs?

So with that, we will go ahead and close public hearing and bring it back here.

Um sounds like we probably pretty well exhausted our questions, so we'll look for comments and feedback.

And here we're just providing feedback.

You may always ask a question, but so there were a lot of categories and topics that the working group provided feedback, you know, that we got for feedback from the community and working group provided feedback.

Could we take those one at a time?

Because otherwise this is going to be a bit helter skelter.

Do you have feedback on each group?

I don't know because there were so many.

Okay.

Let's do comments on.

Do we have a summary slide?

So that is a summary visibility and location, a frame.

A frames, sign, etc.

Or you could go to the final slides.

Um the final slide for each category.

So let's work off of this one.

I think it's um but what's the summary on visibility and location?

I think it was only one slide each, ultimately.

So two slides was that a just one slide.

That's one slide.

Okay.

What is a skyline sign?

I think I know what it is, but so um basically if you the best way to um think about it is if you look at John Muir Hospital, the tall um sign up on the you know that you can see at the skyline level.

So definitely from a distance or emergency oriented, so that you need everybody to be able to see it from a distance.

Um yes, and typically, you know, um if you're at a freeway or something like that, that's usually where people are looking at skyline signs.

I think the working group's comments are good.

Yeah, I I I think I agree with these general directions.

When we get to A-frame signs, we will have we will have more discussion when we get to A frame.

That's next.

Alright.

Next.

A frames.

There we are.

Um ahead and provide your feedback on it.

I think A-frame signs are becoming a keto for anybody who wants to put something out.

If you put I come off the freeway at the BART station, I turn right on Ignatio.

Now that is a 40 mile an hour zone.

You can't get up to that.

And there's an A frame sign for an office building.

I think it's for I don't even know what it's for, but it's there every day.

There's no driveway entrance into it.

There's no front door.

You have to go around onto Lacassia or Cole to get to it.

And it's a hazard.

That I think is pushing the envelope.

I can only do it by example of the need for an A frame does you no good when there are no pedestrians on the street and the traffic is not pedestrian oriented.

So just building on, you know, I I guess I need to I need to it hasn't shocked my visual conscience, the A-frame signs.

And I I understand why they're important, especially for businesses in the traditional downtown, but so maybe we can come up with some parameters about the pedestrian retail district and kind of focused on that area as opposed that doesn't make sense to have an A-frame sign on Ignatio, and it could be dangerous if someone's slowing down to just try to read what it says.

So if we're really trying to to support kind of our traditional downtown retail establishments, maybe focus on allowing them on more I guess more than a temporary basis in that area.

And not absolutely not impacting the sidewalk or the pedestrian right of way.

What we saw a lot I've seen a lot downtown is a business that has a sign and it might or might not be a very aesthetically pleasing sign, and they just put it out every day, it's the same thing, it never changes.

Um I would rather see some intent behind the sign that it's either advertising a business that's on the second floor, so you can't do a sign, or it's advertising something of a more ephemeral nature in the store.

Um not just every day.

Everybody puts their sign out.

That would be my desire.

Yeah, I'd agree as well.

Uh um in addition to the um removing ambiguity from what a temporary sign is, I agree.

When it's uh advertising something special, it's almost like when you're hit with a dozen different A-frame signs, none of them are doing any good anymore.

It's uh you know, we're just inundated by all of that.

So uh ones that are advertising something.

I understand there the second floor businesses, which we're starting to see more of now.

I think we do have to figure something out behind that.

Maybe there can be s there's those signposts that we've seen in some of the cities.

Um Sonoma comes to mind.

Um I was at Belbo I then they have those as well, mod uh Carmel.

So I can see how some of that could work out in some of those areas as well, but uh anyway, yeah, I I agree.

We don't just want an evergreen A-frame out there every day, every night.

And there are some along Ignacio Valley Road because I drive that every day.

Yeah, I guess when I think about the businesses, especially downtown and I think of the A-frame signs.

Um some of the businesses aren't don't have quite quite the the store frontage, quite the same presence that others do, and so some of them I I look at them and think like that seems appropriate for that store.

And then I look at another one and think, Well, they've got you know plenty of signage right on the street.

What do they need another like A frame for?

It doesn't seem quite as appropriate.

So I don't know how you you build that into a um like an ordinance that level of subjectivity, but then listening to the presentation it seems like there's so much subjectivity and in how to apply the the the signage.

I mean we sort of have um like businesses' desire to sort of put art on the front of their store in the form of a sign and then we have to like regulate what that art can or cannot look like so I I guess that that would be maybe my comment or question is I how do you build in for some of the businesses that don't have quite the the presence you know maybe they're down an alley or they're recessed or how do you allow them to have something on a more permanent basis.

So I have one more comment.

Well we have downtown we have the truly pedestrian oriented on main and locust streets and then we have some side streets such as Newell that they um have a effectively a small shopping center in there.

They have a large monument sign up high that does not accommodate all of the tenants and the property.

So the tenants over time and I walk this route about six mornings a week more A-frame signs are out at seven o'clock in the morning.

And now it's banner it's flag banners.

These banners that go in the ground and they have a shape a feather it's a feather flag I think is what it's called technically.

Subway has one wing stop has one no one can pick it out it becomes so cluttered it's distracting it's dangerous and it's not actually doing any work anything effective from a marketing standpoint.

So I think those feather flags have to become part of the conversation in this A frame at the pedestrian street level temporary signage.

Okay.

You feeling feedback enough on this one or I feel fed.

Size and design flexibility comments on this one.

If you go back one space we could define visual clutter by example if I can't see the difference between the six A frames it's visual clutter.

Okay.

Sorry.

And I guess on this one I think you know your working group feedback is really good.

The idea is that it's a sign that is readable to pedestrians in a place where being readable to pedestrians is adding value.

And and maybe we can define that with the idea of an overlay zone that would preclude some of the things like every six feet.

Yeah.

And um that's referring to the master sign program a building that has multiple businesses in it.

Yeah.

I mean when I is this the are we on size and design flexibility just in general for all signs.

Yeah.

Yeah because this is what I was talking about with the sort of art I think about our downtown and what makes the downtown um appealing and unique is the variety sort of the visual experience of variety of you know there's this business over here and they've there they're doing this and they have this this feel this vibe to it but over here it's something else and there's different pockets within the downtown and so to me the signs that would be appropriate in one building might not be appropriate on another building and the challenge being how do you you know I hear from the business community want standards at the same time flexibility to maybe not go within those standards if they they feel that on their business they'd like something different or creative or unique.

I don't know this is productive feedback or just me um airing my thoughts but I that's what seems so hard about this ordinance so how do you how do you come up with standards that that allow for ease of use but still allow businesses the ability to go outside of those standards if they propose something something something that's unique that may actually be a really good thing.

Yeah and I could see using the idea of an overlay zone if you go through downtown and identify those areas where it is a little mini store with a bunch of you know there's several different establishments down a little alley and it establish an overlay for it's almost a building half block by half block type thing.

It you know we'll we'll give more flexibility but in this case where there is no little alley everybody's right there.

And be a little bit stricter about what we're allowing.

So in the working group I'm gonna I'm gonna put it in my terms um but essentially that you know they um some nuance to this that if the A frame sign was as tall as I was it shouldn't be there.

But if the if the um golden retriever that someone's walking could read it then maybe that was an appropriate um size um you know height for the sign.

Yeah but we're also discussing signs on the building themselves right.

Or discussing signs on the building themselves so you know instead of um so there unless there are constraints um of some sort there are folks who would have the entire window as an example become a sign in addition to um you know a blade sign in addition to a sign on the door um etc.

And if there's an overhang signage over there so that trying to have some context sensitivity so that you know you're talking about overlay zones um they could be different by neighborhood um you know area um and then also you know the form based code so that there is some um inner relationship between the building and the building facade and then the signage.

Yeah I think you're on the right what I was gonna say is what this really says is that people are maybe good in their business but they're not in the business of signage and marketing.

And the failure in that case is the is what is less Mies van der Row's statement was a very famous architect less is more there's a tendency to do more and more and more and if suddenly you have no ability there's no clear windows and people don't want to go into stores that they can't see who's in them it makes you a little creeped out and so all of that how do we provide a tool that is more than an ordinance and less than selling design service but so that people can people can see what the experts say is the right way to do signage.

Disneyland has different signs in each of its if it's lands but yet it is all done with a very s precise set of standards that were established.

And it's comfort for the pedestrian.

Well Disneyland has very nice signs on Main Street.

They're all very uniform.

Yes but then you go over to the jungle land or adventure land and it's different but it's still the same.

I and I could be on the wrong track here but the feedback that I've received is almost that we have to go I I feel like the direction to go is in a more objective route.

Flexibility to me reads subjectivity which is generally doesn't work out well for the business owner or the property owner that means our staff has the ability to interpret construe the code say that double's too big it should be smaller that color's too red it should be less red and I think it needs to be more I think it needs to be more objective and I so flexibility sounds good but I I'm not sure I I think what the the business owners would want is more assurances and certainty that if I present an application to you that meets all of your standards and it fits the examples that you provided I'm gonna get a yes as opposed to you're warmer but not you're not there yet keep keep going and I so I that would be my overall flexibility concerns me.

I I think it should be organized more like an objective standard like we do for housing.

Thank you.

What's next?

Process we we are in favor of improving process.

Yeah, and on this one too.

I I think that uh I would, and I know we've done the feedback and we've received a good good number of feedback, but I I've got a couple of businesses that all emailed to you, and I'm sure each of us have that, and I would specifically ask staff to reach out to those owners.

Um, some of them could very well have been the owner's fault.

I know one of them wasn't, and and it was described as that was a very difficult sign process for a medical use in the shade lens.

Well, that's exactly the type of use we want to encourage out there.

So I'd like to deconstruct what about their process wasn't working so that when we're making these improvements, hopefully we're addressing what they didn't feel satisfied about, and that wasn't a good process for them.

Yeah, I think on this one, we've had a lot of discussion through the years about concierge or something like that, but this is one of those areas where especially as it first launches, having the ability for somebody to reach out to a staff person and get assistance will be useful because it'll help us understand where our process is not clear, and it will also help because these are not necessarily marketing people, help them through the process.

Thank you.

Anything else?

Okay, we are in favor of improved processes.

Okay, that was it.

Do you feel well fed and directed?

I feel well-fed and directed.

Thank you.

And thank you guys for all everybody that's been working on this.

I know this is a difficult thing because everybody wants everybody to be consistent and they want them to be flexible, and that's always a difficult balance.

And now, in light of the fact that it is eight o'clock, we're going to take a um, I'll say eight minutes.

You get eight minutes, and then we'll be back here.

All right.

Let me make sure I'm in the right place.

We're done with the sign ordinance.

Next on the agenda is public hearing on the ordinance amending various sections of the zoning code to implement a housing element program regarding residential care facilities and a minor code cleanup and edits.

And I will turn it over to staff for the presentation.

Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor Darling, Mayor Pro Temp, welcome, members of the council.

I'm Crystal DiCastro, Principal Planner in the community development department.

And for tonight's following item is a request for council to consider and adopt an ordinance amending various sections of the zoning code related to residential care facilities along with minor code cleanups and edits.

Okay.

State law requires cities to address barriers to housing development for vulnerable populations, such as persons with disabilities, low-income households, and seniors.

Consistent with this requirement, the city's housing element requires an amendment to the zoning code to increase the flexibility of residential care facilities or RCFs in all zones that allow residential uses and to reduce their parking requirements.

The city's zoning code defines two types of residential care use.

The first one is residential care home, and the second one is residential care facility.

A residential care home refers to a small facility that serves six or less individuals, allowed by right in residential care in residential zones per state law.

A care facility refers to larger facilities that serve seven or more, and they're allowed in some zones, and others require use permits.

Both types provide 24-hour non-medical care for daily living and are licensed by the state.

State law requires cities to treat care homes like any other residential use.

To support and implement the city's housing element program and expand housing opportunities, the proposed amendment would update the definition of care homes and care facilities to clearly distinguish that care homes include six or less fewer persons, and care facilities are seven or more persons.

It would update the base district regulations to allow care facilities where care homes are allowed, and it would reduce off-street parking for non-residential zones.

In residential zones, the same parking standards for the underlying zoning district would apply, but in non-residential zones, a reduction in employee parking is proposed.

The proposal includes reducing the required number of off-street parking spaces from for employees from one space to 0.75 spaces per employee while maintaining the current 0.25 spaces per bed requirement.

So how was this proposed parking ratio determined?

So staff evaluated four existing care facilities in Walnut Creek, analyzing their existing parking condition under three parking alternatives.

These outcomes were then compared to the existing parking standards of three nearby cities, the City of Dublin, Pleasanton, and Pleasant Hill.

As highlighted in green in this table, alternative one provides a moderate reduction in total parking, helps avoids overparking in residential areas, maintains adequate capacity for both staff and visitors, and aligns with regional practices and trends.

Yesterday on November 3rd, the city received a letter requesting additional language to specify the maximum number of beds permitted for care facilities to be based on what can be feasibly be placed in a building.

For clarification, staff reviews care facility applications on development standards such as setbacks, height, parking, and landscaping or floor area ratio in non-commercial areas in non-residential areas.

So staff doesn't regulate the number of beds as this is governed and licensed by the State Department of Social Services.

The proposed zoning amendment does not change this process or override the DSS licensing authority.

Therefore, with the proposed ordinance, the city's reviews will remain the same, focus on local development standards, while the state continues to determine how many beds will be licensed for each facility.

Also proposed are minor code cleanup items, and they include adding the definition of objective standards for clarity, removing outdated summer summary use table.

This will avoid redundancy, reduce conflicting information, and also this data is available online on the city's parcel viewer.

That's through our GIS system.

Also, these uses are listed with each zoning district chapter.

And then next is amending the ADU ordinance and JADU regulations.

Updating the ADU ordinance aligns with the recent state laws related to occupancy, fire sprinklers, demolition permits, and noticing.

And then updating the JADU regulations are related to owner occupancy and prohibiting short-term rentals for JADUs.

These minor code edits reflect the city's current practices.

On October 9th, the Planning Commission recommended city council approval of the proposed ordinance.

Therefore, staff recommends city council to find the zoning ordinance exempt from CEQA and waive the first reading and introduce the zoning ordinance, including the revisions on the errata sheet.

This concludes the presentation, and staff's available for any question.

Thank you very much for that.

Questions.

Councilmember Francois.

So thank you, Crystal, for that and uh for the summary and for the planning commission update too.

In terms of the comment we received on beds, I thought you staff provided a good explanation, but just to kind of clarify, then uh our regulations and these regulations would not restrict the number of beds that could be put in a residential care home or a residential care facility.

No, it would not restrict that.

We're not restricting residential care facilities or care homes.

The State Department of Social Services regulates the number of beds within the facility.

We define the envelope of a building that of a residential care home or residential care facility based on whatever standards apply in that zoning district.

Correct.

So in residential areas, it's defined by setbacks or height.

In non-residential, it's typically by floor area ratio.

Okay.

And then the number of beds could come into play in terms of how we characterize it, like you were saying.

If it's six or fewer, it's a residential care home.

Yes, by definition.

But still the number of beds, how many beds you can fit into that building is set by the state?

Yes, by the State Department of Social Services.

Okay.

Do those I do those processes run concurrently?

Like how do you know how many beds you can have?

Do you get the zoning approvals first, or do you get the licensing from the state first so you know how many beds you can have?

So it would be up to the applicant to obtain that information from the State Department where they would say how many beds they're going to have.

And then once we get the application and it says how many beds they have, then they have to follow specific building and safety codes.

Okay.

So likely they would get the state approval first and then come to the city.

Likely.

Typically.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Silva?

So what is the in our experience to this point?

Residential care homes are more like single family homes that have been converted to residential care facilities?

Yes, we typically see them in residential zones, duplexes, or single family homes.

Residential care facility is more likely to be in a non-residential.

Yes.

But if you have a four-bedroom house and you put two beds in each of the four bedrooms, you have a residential care facility, right?

You would.

Okay.

So you really it's it's what he said.

Yes.

So it's it's it's it's really based on the definition.

So the capacity of how many individuals are residing there.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Other questions?

No.

It sounds like have you heard back from the party that commented on Larky Lane that they're satisfied with your answer, or do we know?

We're sitting in the audience.

Okay, we'll get to that.

We'll hear from them tonight.

All right.

Um I don't have any questions at this time.

Um, so thank you very much for that.

And we will go ahead and open the um public comment period up.

Everybody, anybody that would like to comment on this agenda item, come on forward.

Uh fill out your speaker card, um, come up and identify yourself and your city of residence, and you have two minutes.

Good evening.

How's it going, you guys?

My name is Tyler Wagner, coming from Concord, California, soon to be a Walnut Creek resident.

Yeah, so um I think it's great that the city is moving forward in making the zoning amendments necessary uh for the residential care facilities in the residential zone.

I think that goes to show that you guys are for the seniors, especially the upcoming wave of incoming senior population that we're going to be seeing.

Um, yeah, so part of the reason I'm coming here today is behalf on behalf of the property owner two six four th two four six three Larkey Lane.

Um, yeah, we just wanted to clarify and um talk to you guys in terms of the interpretation on how you guys this municipal code's interpretation on the maximum bed count.

Um I believe in a planning commission meeting last month, uh there was talk about and there was just talk about again about how the maximum bed count would be set by you know the governing agency, the DHS over the maximum bed count and what they would allow.

Our only concern is that there's nowhere in the code in the municipal code that actually says this.

And so, you know, our concern is just memorializing the fact that you know, in your guys' municipal code that it states this and that it's clear and that we're all kind of on the same page so that the zoning code can be more easily interpreted from developers who want to build residential care facilities in Walnut Creek in the future.

Thank you very much.

Any other public comment?

All right, we'll go ahead and close that and then bring it back up here.

And um I knew there was going to be some reaching for the buttons.

Yeah, no, I I appreciate the public comments, and I uh, you know, I I think we made it probably about as abundantly clear as we could tonight, uh, and I'm happy to say it again that the city doesn't regulate the beds, that that's regulated by the state.

So we have no control, it's not part of our zoning code, it's not something we limit or restrict you to.

That's something that's licensed by the state, not by the city of Walnut Creek.

What we have control over is the foot the development envelope and those code standards are already set basically, and we're simply saying that these care facilities, in order to blend in and fit in with the neighborhoods that they're going into have to fit meet the height, size, setback limits of existing development in that area.

So I think staff um did a good job of of clarifying that.

I appreciate we have something in writing too that's part of the record that makes it clear.

So not just us saying it on the record, um, but unless there are any other comments, I I think this is good uh good public policy that we're planning for the wave of seniors that are already here and that are coming uh and that we're allowing people to age in place uh in their neighborhoods or in neighborhoods, not necessarily having to go to a dedicated senior f uh retirement uh area if they don't want to uh to be able to you know live and be able to walk downtown and do all the sorts of things that they did when they perhaps owned their own single family home.

So I'm prepared to support this, but I'll allow my colleagues to make their comments as well.

Any other comments?

Just I I'm supporting it as well.

I think this is important at this time.

And I think I'm supporting it.

I want to say we have a clear response to the issue that you're concerned about.

I understand why you're concerned about it, but I think we've made it clear, not legislative attend, but you know, we're clear on what we're doing here tonight.

Um, Councilmember Silva, did you have anything?

Um I'm supporting it as well, and I think we have we have no evidence that we have been in a practice of not abiding by state law and and not staying in our lane, and we have many residential care homes and residential care facilities in the community, and we know what DSS's responsibility is, and we know what ours is.

Yeah, I was truly amazed during COVID.

I was helped distributed some materials to the various.

I was like, wow, that's a care home.

Well, it's a care home.

Yeah, you only could find them by the little COVID signs that were on the door.

Um, would you like to make a motion?

I'd I would.

So I'd move to waive the first reading and introduce an ordinance amending various sections of Title 10, Chapter 2 zoning of the Walnut Creek Municipal Code and making a CEQA exemption finding under section 15061 B3 of the CEQA guidelines.

Second.

Uh roll call, please.

Council Member Francois.

Hi.

Councilmember Silva.

Hi.

Councilmember Davini.

Hi.

Mayor Pro Temwal.

Hi.

Mayor Darling.

Hi.

Thank you.

And thank you all for thank you, Crystal, and thank you for um supporting Walnut Creek and being willing to invest in it.

So now we will move on to the deeply anticipated next agenda item where we waive the first reading and introduced the ordinance prohibiting the use of gasoline-powered leaf blowers.

And I invite the staff forward to make the presentation.

Good evening, Mayor and City Council.

My name is Candace Rankin Mumby.

I'm the city's sustainability manager, and I'll be providing the presentation tonight on the proposed gas-powered leaf blower ban.

So we'll start by providing some background on both the legislative landscape and some of the environmental and health reasons that have led to similar bans and other jurisdictions.

Then we'll go over the proposed policy, uh, give overview of outreach that's been conducted, and then discuss what plans we'd have for implementation if adopted.

So to begin with the background on the state and local regulations, the sale of small off-road internal combustion engines, which includes gas-powered leaf lowers, has been prohibited in California since January of 2024.

The implementation of that state policy is managed by the California Air Resources Board.

Local regulations have existed in California cities long before then, and our research indicates that at least a hundred other cities in California have some sort of restriction on the type of gas powered or the type of leaf blowers that are able to be used.

Some of the nearby cities with these kinds of restrictions on gas-powered leaf blowers include Lafayette, Pleasanton, Piedmont, Emeryville, Oakland, and Navado.

During outreach for our sustainability action plan, which was adopted in July of 2023 by the city council, staff received interest from the community and including a gas-powered leaf blower ban as part of that plan.

This feedback resulted in two actions in the plan to address the health and environmental concerns from gas-powered leaf floors.

Action 15.1 is to adopt a community-wide ban on the use of gas-powered leaf floors for homes and businesses to be phased in over three years following plan adoption.

The item before you tonight would allow staff to implement that action.

And then action 15.2 addresses the city's own use of leaf blowers in our fleet, and that action is already been addressed.

So one of the main drivers for this type of policy that's led to it being included in our sustainable action plan are health concerns.

So the health impacts of gas-powered leaflowers are you know various and they result from several different pollutants that are listed on this slide here.

So because their engines burn fuel inefficiently and in close proximity to people, they result in potential health concerns, including increased risk for respiratory issues, challenges with coordination and focus, skin and eye irritation, and potential increase in cancer risk.

There's also environmental concerns from gas-powered leaf blowers.

They create a few different types of environmental pollutants.

The first type relates to urban smog, and research from the California Air Resources Board has found that one hour use of a typical leaf blower is equivalent to smog producing pollution that would be produced if you drove from Los Angeles to Denver.

Further, gas-powered leaf flowers produce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.

And implementing the gas-powered leaf lower ban will result in approximately 2% of the emissions reductions included in our sustainability action plan.

So the proposed policy structure would add a chapter to the sanitation and health section of the municipal code banning the use of deployment of someone to use a gas-powered leaf blower or to use one yourself within the city of Walnut Creek.

The property owner would be responsible for ensuring compliance with the policy on their property.

The policy does allow for limited exceptions by first responders in emergencies.

So next we'll give an overview of outreach that's been conducted.

So this has been a focus of our sustainability team over the last two years.

We've conducted general outreach to the community in person at community events, including the Locust Fair and at the Shaylands Farmers Market.

We've also met with representatives from the business and environmental community, and we've shared information through the nutshell, our eco newsletter, the city managers update, and through the creation of a leaf floor webpage and related interest list, interest email list.

Over 90% of the feedback that we've received from the community has been in support of the ban.

We've also done more targeted outreach to those stakeholders that we feel would be more impacted by the potential policy.

That includes commercial property managers, homeowners associations, and landscaping businesses.

So we've developed an outreach list of about 400 contacts in these categories, and in September, we sent that pictured mailer in English and Spanish to those addresses.

We also followed up with landscaping companies when phone numbers were available, which was about 90 of the businesses on our list.

And we left voice messages with those who did not answer, but we were able to talk to about a third of the landscaping businesses that we had phone numbers for.

And of those that our staff spoke with, 40% already had some electric leaf blowers in their fleet and indicated that they'd be able to comply with the policy if adopted.

Another 11% shared some concerns about the potential policy, and that was focused mainly on the cost to transition and the effectiveness of electric equipment.

And then the remaining 49% were relatively neutral on the policy and mainly just asked when it would be implemented if it was adopted.

And we intend to continue outreach with this list if the policy is adopted with updates.

So following up on the main concern that we heard, the you know cost to comply, um, costs vary greatly depending on the business structure and the quality of equipment that businesses would choose to use.

Batteries do make up a significant portion of the cost.

Research that staff have reviewed indicate that the cost to transition one commercial equipment and the associated battery equipment could be approximately a thousand dollars to three thousand dollars for that one piece and supporting equipment.

And the overall cost to operate the equipment should save about ten thousand dollars over the life of the equipment in lower fueling costs, so for electricity versus the gasoline, and then also they require less maintenance, kind of similarly as you might have heard about electric vehicles compared to internal combustion engines.

So with that savings over the life of the vehicle, they're expected to break even the cost in one to three years of regular use at in the type that a landscaping company might have.

There are from our outreach that we've done to local retailers and manufacturers, there are often financing opportunities available that can also help uh offset the upfront cost.

So additionally, we've heard concern about the quality of available equipment.

Technology has improved significantly over the last several years in electric leaf flowers.

And as mentioned previously, for the last almost two years, they're the only options that you can buy in the state.

And so our understanding from our research is that though the operation of this equipment is different and might take some adjustment on the end of the user when used appropriately following manufacturers' instructions.

What's available now is equivalent to the potential older gas-powered equipment that these businesses may be currently using.

So education is critical to the successful implementation of the proposed policy.

Sharing information and resources will likely be a faster and more effective way to encourage change than enforcement action.

If adopted, a community outreach on the policy will be our primary method to achieve compliance.

When complaints are received, staff will plan to share information on the policy and resources for transitioning away from gas-powered equipment and services with the property owner with the potential violation.

If enforcement action is needed, the policy would follow the same process as our other regulations in the municipal code.

This process does require significant staff time and also significant evidence of violation for citation to be issued.

So with that, I'll turn over to our recommended action.

And before I'll take questions, I might ask our city attorney to give you an update on a potential amendment we'd recommend to the ordinance that's included in your packet.

Thank you, Candace.

And one of the comments that the council received today was specific to the wording of the ordinance, and there was a question about whether it was confusing to the reader or might not be fully accomplishing the what we were trying to do.

And so what we've done is revise the language in section 5-9.102, which is really the essence of the prohibition in the ordinance to make it clear that the ordinance is intended to prohibit any person, business, or entity who owns or manages or rents property in the city.

So that's the per the actual owner manager, if you will, rent the person renting property, or anyone that they retain to use uh gas-powered leaf blowers as within the city limits.

And so we thought this language is uh clear and makes it clear that we are having this ordinance apply to the property owners, the property managers, if you will, not directly to enforcement against the landscapers themselves.

So let me make sure I understand that.

So if you get a complaint, the initial contact will be to the person who owns the property not chasing down the landscaper.

That's correct.

Yeah, the and and the and the enforcement and as Candace is indicating the educational efforts will be geared towards that person because they're the ones who are in control of the property as as we're going forward.

And our intent would be in the education that we provide to share materials to share it with the landscaper business owners so that they can help facilitate that conversation.

Okay.

Questions for staff?

Councilman?

Uh are you done with your business?

Okay.

No, I like this uh wording.

Um I had a similar concern.

So uh I guess so.

My so I have a few questions.

Um the thing that that uh we've heard about well, I guess it's comments.

I'm sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Oh, I don't have questions right now, I have comments, so I'll wait until afterwards.

Hold the hold the the comments.

I've got some questions, thank you.

Thank you, Candace.

Um, obviously, we've been hearing a lot about this for oh my gosh, probably ever since I've been on city council, nine eight or nine years.

Um, understanding that there's still gonna be this cost to independent individual landscapers.

We're talking about one leaf blower, maybe they have one, maybe they have two.

I doubt they have an extra few thousand dollars lying around in many cases.

So, how can they afford to quickly transition to electric blowers within 30 days without help?

I mean, we haven't budgeted for this.

Um, some of the assistance that's in the county isn't available now for it, so what would what do we recommend?

I mean, are we recommending this to staff, or it's like, well, it's out of our hands you gotta make the transition?

So, as staff, you know, we we wish we had money available right now in the budget to provide financial incentives, but there are also um complicated factors with putting in something like that, and you often need some sort of residency requirement, following off the business license, it can be quite a bit of paperwork to put a local process like that in place.

Uh, the state has previously had funding available when the statewide law first went into effect in 2024, and the funding that was allocated for that did run out.

Um, and some other air districts have had local funding available.

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District has not, though they indicate that they are in development of a voucher program.

So if we are as staff are made aware of anything from backmut or from other you know sources, or that's part of the reason we're developing this leaf blower specific interest list so that we could share that information quickly with our stakeholders.

And what is what are we doing within the city of Walnut Creek on our own leaf blowers?

What's the status on that?

Would you like to talk about that, Mike?

Oh.

Phone a friend.

Good evening, City Council.

Mike Vickers, uh Public Works Assistant Public Works Director.

Um, in regards to the operational side of things, whether it's our street maintenance team or our park and open space team, we've started transitioning about a year and a half ago, and we we have um approximately 15 to 20 electric leaf blowers throughout throughout the staff, and we we've for the most part put the electric, sorry, put the gas-powered leaf blowers aside and focused 95% of our effort with the uh with the leaf book with the electric leaf blowers.

I say 95.

From time to time, we do have some what we would consider public safety issues or or potential challenges.

For example, in the downtown, like like tonight we're gonna get a heavy rainstorm.

If we had a lot of leaf litter down there, we would probably get the um gas powered blowers out because they have a little more they put out a little bit more pressure and they can clean it up quicker.

So, what happens if this ordinance passes?

Uh, what happens 30 days after that?

Do we put them away for good or are we still using them at a 5% rate?

Yeah, it we we can use them for what we would consider emergency type situations, public safety events.

Um it's in the ordinance that we're authorized to use the uh gas powered for those types of incidences.

And this would go, thank you, Mike.

Um, I don't know if this is back to Candace on that, but uh maybe uh stay close.

Um so this would go into effect 30 days after we went through the second reading and pass everything, right?

So then everybody has to be it's enforced at that point.

Yes, the way it's currently drafted, it would go into effect 30 days after the second reading, so if it moves forward tonight, that would be December 18th.

Um so at that point in time, we could you know begin responding to complaints.

Uh we would be starting with the education first, so I no one on a first violation would be receiving any sort of citation, and then we're gonna be working uh through education with um property owners as much as we can, and at some point after that it may be escalated if necessary.

Um so on December 18th, no one's getting a fine, but that is.

So it's a warning.

We're starting off with warnings.

Yes.

Um that's good that that answers one of my questions.

So, how does enforcement occur?

What do we expect to happen if somebody's using a gas-powered leaf blower, a neighbor sees it?

Who do we think they're going to call?

Well, that's what I want to hear.

Yeah, so the uh the initial complaints would be directed to sustainability staff, and we'd be following up with um either you know through phone calls or C click fixed um, it would be directed to us, and then we would be following up with that educational information first.

So I'm as a potential violation too, right?

Right.

So putting myself in the position of a resident, I see what's going on.

I'm probably not going to be looking up who the sustainability person and what the number is at City Hall.

I'm probably going to dial hopefully the Walnut Creek non-emergency police line, but I imagine some people will be dialing 911.

What protocols do we have for that?

Because I I mean I'll get into my comments afterwards.

And let me just first say that I absolutely like the direction of what we're talking about, but I'm really concerned about an inundation of calls that are not emergency on a police staff that probably has five, six people maybe in the daytime that are out and about doing actual police duties.

Yeah, so we've been in preparation before coming tonight.

We've been working very closely with our police uh team, including dispatch and our code enforcement team to come up with internal processes to direct that as quickly as possible to the appropriate avenue, which would be asked.

I think that's my I thank you very much.

I appreciate it.

I mean, I know these are these are challenging questions, but I do I don't think I don't think that the community understands from the feedback that we've got that this is an easy answer.

Yes, this makes perfect sense.

Let's just do this.

There's unintended consequences, and so I'm glad to hear you talking about that, and I'm sure we'll have other questions and comments on that too.

Could I continue his line of questions?

Councilmember Silva?

Um thank you very much for all the work on this, and thank you for the um anecdotal um information about what we're doing in our own public works department.

So continuing on this line of how do you enforce?

So a neighbor calls it in.

They may or may not know the real address of the of the household.

I don't know the addresses of all the households in my neighborhood.

So now I have to go out and get the address I reported in.

By the time someone responds and even makes a phone call to that address, the gardener is gone.

Unless it's the property owner doing it.

I mean, they've left.

Who are they?

And if I'm not home, most of the time I'm not home when my landscaper is doing their work.

I don't know what equipment they're using.

So how do we verify that there's really an enforcement action to be taken?

That I mean, if it's public safety, we all the public safety officers are always saying, well, yes, you saw that person break a traffic make violate traffic laws.

So it's gonna have to the But I didn't ex but I didn't witness it.

So the the enforcement is gonna be um and I'm gonna use enforcement in in a loose sense, the way that Candace is using it's gonna start out with outreach and education.

But ultimately, if we get to the stage of issuing a citation at any point in the future, that's gonna require an active observation by a code enforcement staff person.

Because we have to be able to affirm that we actually have seen the violation.

So at some point will require the process.

It is the same process as a police officer witnessing a it is a red light violation.

Right, it is, but it's not um I'll let Candace and Dan speak to this, but it's not intended to be necessarily police officers who are doing we have code enforcement officers who would be doing that.

Okay, we just added that, you know, a corollary to an extent is when Walnut Creek and other cities have enacted no smoking ordinances in public areas and multifamily units.

It's very similar.

The intent is to of the of the code changes is to make it very clear what the new law is to restrict and ultimately modify behavior, primarily through education and secondarily through enforcement.

You know, in the beginning when the no smoking ban was put into place, we did receive more calls initially, people calling on neighbors, that sort of thing, or somebody noticing it downtown, and oh after that change and occurred, it's plateaued and we don't receive many calls.

I anticipate we anticipate it'd be very similar with this.

If it goes into effect, we're likely going to have a surge of calls and issues for a certain period of time and a level out and I hope ideally people adapt to the new regulations and comply over time, but there'll certainly be a period of time where it's it's going to be more challenging in the beginning.

So Candace, you mentioned in your presentation that forty percent of the landscaping businesses that we spoke to said they had some.

Did anybody ask what does some mean?

Like how many do they typically have and what did they have one or are they like us with 15 and only 95% of the fifteen, I interpreted your data that way, are uh electric or non gas powered, and one might be gas powered.

The conversation was more structured, informing them that this policy was going to be considered and you know, seeing if they had any feedback giving opportunities and the responses that are represented there were indicating, you know, conversationally from the businesses that they would be able to comply based on their current setup.

So we haven't been available it they have not been available for purchase since January 1 of 2024 in the state of California.

That doesn't mean online they couldn't purchase it or they could drive to Nevada and get one, but um so how long what is the useful life of a typical gas-powered?

How long is it gonna take before they all have to be replaced anyway?

I'm trying to get some.

Are these 10-year lifespans?

What are they?

Yeah, it really depends on how much it's being used used and the um the amount of maintenance that's being done, but um our research indicates that for the gas powered ones with regular use, um, like at a landscaping business, it would be you know three to eight years, but I mean there's quite a bit of a variety of time in there.

The electric ones do tend to have longer lifespans.

The electric ones have a longer lifespan because of the the parts.

Yeah, the lower maintenance, yes.

And just to be clear, this is gas only gas powered only, not all leaf blowers.

Because many of the letters we received seem to think it was every all of them.

All noise will be gone.

Correct.

This will still allow a plug-in electric and battery electric leap blowers, which do also emit certain levels.

As I was getting ready to come to the council meeting tonight, the next door neighbor's gardener was in their backyard.

All my windows were closed.

There was a sound, but I had to ask my husband, is it gas-powered or was it electric power battery powered?

Because it's noise, and I don't I'm not an acoustical expert on noise.

This is city only, not unincorporated walnut creek.

So this is not community-wide, this is city-wide.

Many of the letters we received of complaints were from people who that this their neighbors will not be in reducing their use of gas powered blowers because they live in unincorporated Walnut Creek.

This would only apply to properties within the city boundaries.

Okay.

Do we have and did we think about any we have a few large large properties in Walnut Creek that are really they're not parks or well, they're like parkland, but they're natural environments.

And I've heard a concern that they couldn't possibly maintain their property like on a night like tomorrow tonight for tomorrow, et cetera.

And is somebody going to be coming and taking away their gas powered blower that works better for them in these large and I mean this is 30 acres, let's say it's not a quarter acre lot.

Is that any application or any indication that we can have an exception for those property owners to be able to manage their property?

The way that the policy is written right now, the emergency exemption applies is meant mainly for you know public safety staff or or public staff, um it could be amended if that's the direction council would like to.

Yeah, I I I would add that it's also when authorized by the staff for public safety purposes.

So if the hypothetical is that we have a significant storm and we need to clear a bunch of uh brush and whatnot, or you know, things that are you can clear with leaf blowers, there is some discretion of staff to authorize it on a short-term basis for that type of event right now.

Okay, thank you for now.

Thank you.

Council Member Francois.

I want to hear from the public too, so I'll try to keep my comments brief.

But the outreach that was done to property owners who are the potential subject of the enforcement action here was done primarily through the nutshell.

Is that right?

Yeah, so we did uh quite a bit of online outreach through the the nutshell, which is you know printing online.

Um, our eco newsletter, the city manager update.

We met with Walnut Creek downtown with the Chamber of Commerce.

Um we have our had our web page on the website.

So we've tried to hit as many different umes as we can, and the messaging so far has been you know, this is going to be considered by council.

This is your opportunity to provide feedback.

If adopted, the messaging will become much clearer that you know this is policy now, and we're gonna continue a second phase of outreach that would shift to that messaging if adopted.

And the the postcards that went out to the landscape businesses, those are businesses that are I guess more formal that have a business license with the city.

So we developed that list through both looking at um our business license records and then some surrounding community business license records and online research of recommended landscapers in the area through more formal channels and less formal channels like review sites.

So we we tried to get as wide of a selection as possible, and we're happy to always add more um to our list.

I appreciate that.

My experience has been that most property owners generally probably contract with someone who's not a formal landscape business.

How what sort of outreach did we do with those to those folks?

I think in harder, I know.

Right.

In those cases, that is part of the there's a few different reasons for the responsibility being put on the property owner, uh, for compliance on individuals that they employ, and that's one of those reasons there.

So it's it will ultimately be the property owners's responsibility to make sure that whether they're using a more formal or a less formal business that they're complying with the policy.

So that's the reason for the more broad outreach to the community in general.

Two more questions quickly.

Unfortunately we don't have that data.

Okay.

And then I know the action item pretty clearly says we're going to implement this ban using a phased implementation approach within three years of adoption of the plan.

Was there any more guidance about what we meant by phased implementation or or what was what was staff's understanding of kind of how that was going to be implemented.

There was not more direction than that and and I have the great opportunity of being hired right after the plan was adopted.

And so our my interpretation of that or couldn't ask us what we meant.

Our interpretation was to use that time to do the outreach.

I from our research and talking with other agencies if we had tried to you know phase who it would apply to or break it into segments the messaging would get much more complicated and we felt it was better to keep a warning if you will early that this may be coming but keep the actual policy changes to a minimum.

Okay.

Thank you.

And I think you guys have asked the questions that I would have so why don't we go ahead and open it up I have a question I remembered yeah sorry.

Just two questions uh so we've we've done the city has done this with the their leaf blowers we've also done it with our other small equipment lawn mowers things like that is that has the city transitioned to those for for those items.

So we've introduced a couple of those items such as weed eaters or push mowers into our inventory of the electric based uh more on a testing uh type situation um but but really just a handful you know I think we have like two uh push mowers out electric and four or five weed eaters but the focus has really been around leaf blowers okay and then my my second question is if we were to start a city run rebate program how long would it take do we think to get something like that off the ground maybe that's a question for city maybe I think it would take some time there would be a considerable at least and probably longer than that.

There'd be a considerable amount of administrative burden to track the businesses a lot of questioning clarification from council on policy of is it just businesses that are headquartered or located in Walnut Creek or those that do business in Walnut Creek there would be a lot of variants to work through so I don't think it's something we'd stand up extremely quickly.

We're good.

Alright thanks now we'll go ahead and open up for public comment for those of you who would like to address us.

We ask that you come up here and line up along the left side of the room when it's your turn you have two minutes.

Identify yourself your city of residence and um be respectful.

Oh mayor and council members my name is Mike Schwan I'm a resident of Walnut Creek and I'm here to voice my opinion to in support of the ban on the gas powered leaf blowers.

Can I just went through many of my same reasons but really the three that I would point out is that it's really uh community health concern.

She pointed out how these really pollute the air like a car over a thousand miles or their operators health exposure.

I often see many of these people with no hearing protection you know they're breathing in the fumes you know again it's a it's a health work hazard for them and just no noise pollution.

It's just I don't know you know I before I retired, I didn't have a problem with this because I was at work.

But now I'm retired.

Every day there's one or two neighbors that have this going on and it's crazy.

And I I don't I know other cities in California have really taken this on and said you really don't need to have a gas powered leaf blower.

In particular, there are it's an outdated technology that we have better technology to do this.

We have electric or battery powered mechanisms, and they're cleaner, they're quieter, they're better use of our resources, and I think it would, you know, for the community here, provide a better living environment for the residents, the homeowners.

Now, I would put forward in the comment that there are probably areas that could be excluded, like shade lands that people don't live there all the time.

They're business oriented areas that maybe the city would look at and determine these could have other leaf blower options than electric.

So that's my comment.

Thank you for your time tonight.

Thank you.

Hello there.

Thank you, Mayor and Council for having this forum.

Um and thank you for the work you do.

My name's Jeanette Aslan.

I'm the vice president of the board for Countrywood Homeowners Association.

Countrywood is a 299-unit development off of treat billet quarter of treat and Bancroft Road.

We have 42 acres of land, 299 homes, and I believe we have somewhere around 1,200 trees.

My our staff, and I'm here on behalf of my staff.

We're a self-managed HOA, and so we have on site staff.

We have four landscapers and a property manager that all asked me to come talk to you.

And so one of the things I wanted to say is um we are all in support of of getting going battery.

We are all in support of that.

However, we'd like to you to consider maybe a few caveats.

Associations such as ours, um our staff asked we maintain the roofs, the gutters, as well as all the grounds of the association.

Our staff for three months of the year, are blowing every day, all day.

They go up, they climb up to the roofs, they blow off the roofs, then they have to clean up the the people's patios, then they have to also clean up the grounds.

Um three months a year, we do all they do is leaves.

Um they would like us to consider that could there be allowed some kind of a thing, as you said, during this time of the year when all the trees are falling, the the the gas power just don't have the ooph yet.

I'm hoping with time they will, not only will they have more oomph, but they'll have longer battery lives, but um, but could there be some kind of they asked if they there could be some kind of an allowance to utilize gas for this period of time of heavy leaf fall.

Um the other thing is that they're very expensive.

Um as she said, one thousand to three thousand dollars a piece.

We currently use, I believe we had four.

We now one broke, so we haven't bought another one, so we're down to three.

So we those are the three that we use.

But when you uh but I took I took all the staff actually to a an electric blower convention thing, like in twenty twenty-four, and um because I wanted them to try them on because uh for weight and all that and none of them are happy because they just don't have enough power, they don't have enough power.

I said, I know, I know, I know, but but if we had to, if because we have to do this, anyway.

Um, the other problem is not only having to buy the blowers themselves, but every place, especially ours, we have to have a huge bank of backup batteries.

Because one battery will last.

If you're lucky, blowing at the at the at the at the strength that you have to this time of year, it will last 20 to 30 minutes.

So then you have to get another battery and another battery.

So it one man could go through six to eight batteries a day.

For for what they're blowing.

Anyway, I have to I'm gonna type I'm I'm not how did I get that much time?

We we called you a an association so you get 10 minutes.

But don't feel like I have to use all I won't I won't take advantage.

I won't take a bit.

Um okay um I like I like that there's been some discussion of maybe some well way to help I I don't I'm not as concerned with us on this aspect because of the finances we'll figure it out but some of the smaller landscapers I just worry about their ability to afford the transition and y and if there was any financial assistance as you said you mentioned the loan program there might be some um some ways to finance that would be very very helpful.

Um I guess in listening listening to talking about giving giving um tickets or or to people when I read that there was a three year startup I went yes okay three years.

People can transition.

In our hands our blowers last anywhere from about three years maybe to five years.

Um and can there be a rolling transition?

I mean you y you try several of you said you one thirty days from the implementation people can call up and say you're not you're gonna get phone call that and we're we'll be sighted.

That's crazy.

That we have to have time to transition to this new to this new um policy.

Um so I don't know I I was I was thinking since there was a three year implementation maybe m cer uh s uh citations wouldn't happen till after that and and then they weren't noncompliant.

Anyway if there's any way that we could leave five percent or a certain percentage of of our gas blowers for this time of year in the rain and when we have branches fall and the and we have to clear many sidewalks we have lots of pathways through country wood that have to be cleaned and because of the leaves are slippery.

So if there's any way that we could have some kind of an exclusion for um sites or or communities like ours I would appreciate it.

Thank you.

And my my guys would appreciate it.

Oh you know what?

That is my rule we don't clap for people.

It's nice that it's nice to offer moral support but it can sometimes intimidate other people on some of these issues.

So I didn't say that at the beginning so thank you.

Good evening Madam Mayor Council members I'm Martin Engelman and I'm a resident of Walnut Creek.

I moved here at the turn of the century to Red Gear Meadows way up on the uh east side of 680 up the hill there we have very bucolic community with a lot of deer and wildlife and open space.

Um and I used to go to work too and didn't know about this.

Now I'm retired and uh the thing that bothers me the most about the gas powered blowers is the noise.

I mean I I see their environmental impacts but um what's killing me is the noise and these things go they gotta be over ninety decibels you've probably done studies but I mean they're they're they're loud and um at the beginning of the century there weren't that many of them and a lot of the homeowners uh they used to change their own oil and landscape their own yards and then slowly we started aging out and the guy across the street you know he had a shoulder operation so he hired a landscaper started blowing then neighbor stopped by hey can you do my yard so that landscaper then started doing the neighbor's yard.

And now we have one landscaper that comes and we cause it we call it Tuesday Blower Hill.

Blower Hill Tuesday today.

He comes at eight thirty and he blows all day at the four houses around my house.

Um if I'm out in the garden there's no peace.

If I go inside the noise leaks through my double pane windows so there's no escape.

Um and so it's really the noise that bothers me.

Uh what can I do?

Nothing.

I really have nowhere to go but government can do something so um I urge you to adopt this ban on gas powered blowers and I support the ban.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next on the air and city council etc.

And thank you for your consideration of a ban of gas leaf blowers.

I've uh been and I've been a fan of banning them for many years.

Um the science is clear there's really no need for this kind of uh pollution as well as the noise pollution we just talked about and we did adopt uh the sustainability action plan in 2023 that we would ban um gas leaf blowers it's time and we don't have to keep inventing the wheel I think many communities have done this all over California and the un the US in terms of how do we enforce how do we get other community members to get to come along how do we pay for this kind of thing.

So again I would just really encourage us to follow along with this and ban this as soon as possible.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Danger left thank you.

Hi Sharice Count speaking um now as a resident and property owner in Walnut Creek.

Um so I just wanted to um say that I absolutely support the idea of us moving away from these gas powered devices that are unhealthy for us as community members and workers um and thank you to the team that has gotten us as far as we have today with our sustainability plan as a city.

Um so my only concern is about the implementation of this and you know how can we make sure that we are clear um about the expectations and how do we help people make that transition.

I think about as a property owner when I saw those banners that said lose your lawn and it was a campaign from the water uh you know um uh department and um you clicked on that and it it was very clear how to lose your lawn.

They had the rebates they had the dollar amounts that you would get they had free consultations of people who would do a a design for your space um for you to lose your lawn and it was very helpful for people who wanted to make that transition and it was a great incentive.

So in this case how do we make sure that people are clearly educated and have uh the information and the resources to make the change.

So I sent to you guys earlier today um via email an example of the town of Hillsborough.

They have not only um they gave six months um time period uh before before it went into effect they had a city rebate program um they also had an excellent detailed presentation where a uh property owner and landscaper came together and presented how they successfully transitioned from gas to electric and it was fully an English and Spanish presentation um and then they had a printable fact sheet for the city that included clarity around the dates and the expectations and the resources.

So I would just encourage you to look at those examples of how this has been done effectively and see what we can do.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Well hallelujah we're we're here and we're talking about banning what we've been talking about for years.

Um and I can repeat what everyone else has said, but um I'd like to thank Candace.

I mean, thorough.

She's just done a thorough job of trying to uh uh validate every question, and all the folks that have already done it, and I remember us the council saying, no, no, we don't want to do it first, you know, or early because there's there's gonna be all this contention, and now that there's more people doing it, that should be easier.

So I want to highlight Carol Weed's uh written comments.

Um I read all the letters this afternoon uh talking about the noise lab level.

Somebody has uh comment about um Los Gatos having some kind of noise cap.

I don't know anything about it.

But um education, we we've been out there talking about this, and not that people aren't aware of it, and it's never gonna be a hundred percent right away.

We've talked about people who've already bought uh electric blowers for their workers, and so it's a matter of uh bringing them along, and it's just um I guess I I'm don't understand why that there's the angst uh that I'm hearing tonight.

Uh we can we can make this happen.

I I thought of the same thing that somebody already commented on about the cigarette butts.

I can remember walking down the the Broadway and going, look at all these cigarette butts, but you know, everything takes a little bit of time, but um whether you're changing your garage door or changing out your lawn, the people next door to you start talking to you and saying, Oh, who did you use?

You know, and it it becomes a wave through your neighborhood.

So it's just it's time, so let's do it and celebrate.

Thank you.

Evening, uh Mark Colburn, East Bay Native, Walnut Creek homeowner since 2005.

As a six to seven day a week runner, I've seen an exponential rise in the use of gas blowers in Walnut Creek.

As I jog through the city streets, I hear and smell the blowers all day long, seven days a week.

Majority of work performed by the blower dudes is 45 minutes of nonstop debris spreading, exhaust slash raw fuel spewing, and racetrack decibel sound levels onto our adjacent properties and city streets.

As cars drive by, the cycle is complete, sending debris back onto residential properties, thus ensuring job security.

It's gotten so bad that our neighbors, our neighbors' crew, were on their rooftop.

Two guys for 47 minutes, blowing gutter debris, asbestos, and filth into our yards, the pool, windowsills, window screens that were clogged, and into our lungs.

We were having an outdoor baby shower that had to be taken inside.

This blower topic has been teased since 2021.

It's time to outlaw these gross polluters.

Did you know that per hour of use five pounds of particulate matter is blown into the air by each blower?

This is break lining dust, lead, fungus spores, pathogens, pesticides, herbicides, and animal feces.

Take a deep breath, Walnut Creek.

Smell good.

How do we how much do we breathe in each year?

About 265 tons.

The California Air Resources Board has stated that gas leaf blowers are the leading source of ozone forming emissions in the state ahead of cars.

The cumulative damage that these gross polluters exhort on Walnut Creek residents contributes to reduced life expectancy.

Thank you.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Anyone else?

Alright, we'll go ahead and close public comment and bring it back up here.

Um do we have additional questions for staff based on the public comment that we heard tonight?

Council Member Francois.

I have one for Mike, I think, and um, you know, some of the comments we received from the HOA, and I think you verified this to some extent that that the electric, even the electric backpack blowers are not quite the same level of home for efficacy as the gas powered.

Is that that's been your experience or city's experience?

Yeah, yeah.

I mean, I will say that since we've transitioned into the electric leap blowers, we've found them to be very effective um 95% of the time.

Okay.

It's just the heavy storms, the heavy downfalls are when you need to resort to the gas blowers.

Yeah, it's when the debris's wet is typically the hard is typically hard to get that it sticks.

That's the hardest part.

All right.

Thank you.

All right.

Comments, we're in the comments.

We'll start.

Oh, you have a question.

You didn't you have to look at me when you have a question, my dear.

Um, and thank you to all the members of the public.

Um, I was intrigued by the story of Hillsborough, and I was wondering if in our research we looked at how different communities had phased it in.

And um, I appreciate that Hillsborough was offering a financing plan.

That's probably one of the wealthiest cities in the United States.

Number one.

Number one.

Yeah, I thought that's what I read recently.

So I I take and they're much smaller.

So, but can you help us understand what other cities might have phased-in approaches and what that might have entailed?

Yeah, and I I will note I I have spoken with staff from Hillsborough.

They've done a fantastic job and they've had many years to build up their program, and we're happy to learn from other cities as we're implementing where it's matches our community's resources.

Um, in terms of the ability to phase in, that is something that uh different communities have approached very differently.

Some of them have done it as the ordinance is written and proposed right now, like a typical ordinance, the same timeline.

Others, including our neighbor in Lafayette, have you know when adopted, indicated a delayed time for when it would go into effect, and then can communicate.

I kind of talked about that second phase where you can say it is happening, but you can give that warning period.

Um as mentioned, the three-year period from when the sustainable action plan was adopted would be July of 2026.

Uh so there is flexibility if that's something that it would be of interest.

I think it can be included tonight and still included as part of the first reading if there's flexibility on the date.

So besides Lafayette, what other communities had a phased-in approach?

I don't have that information available immediately in front of me.

I'm happy to follow up with that afterwards, but everyone's kind of done it a little bit differently.

So thank you.

Can I can I ask you too, Candice, if you know, if there were an interest in doing we have it's been two and a half years since we adopted the plan essentially.

So another six months, is there anything staff would do differently in terms of the outreach that it's done or the notices that it's provided, or the conversations it's had with landscaping businesses?

If we were to put a phase delay in like that, I think we would transition into that second phase where the it would be same communication to the same uh channels but indicating the new date, um, and then after that the date is in effect, we'd have a new third phase that we'd be currently thinking of as the second phase.

Um so it wouldn't adjust our practices too much, but we've communicated so far to the regulated community.

Is that essentially that it's being heard tonight and will likely take effect in December?

We had said that it would be coming to council sometime in fall, and there'd be information from there.

So we haven't shared an effective date with the community before the agenda item came out.

All right.

Any more questions?

Comments then.

Cool.

Kevin, you want to start?

Go ahead.

Sure.

You've been typing.

Okay.

Uh well, I I really appreciate the work the staff has done on this.

I appreciate the community outreach and I've been we've been hearing from residents about this for at least the nine years that I've been on council.

Um this was discussed at the uh I'm on the I stood on the California League of Cities Environmental Quality Policy Committee.

This has been discussed there for multiple years.

And uh I'll I'll I'll read the last page of the book first here.

I'm going to support this.

Right?

This is something that I think is really important, and I think that we as a community do uh do need to support this, and I'm glad to see the movement in that direction.

But I'm going to talk about a few cautionary notes that I think we need to take as a community as well, because it's not the kind of thing where we say, great, we're gonna flick the switch and now all's copacetic.

Because it's not that's not going to happen.

Um we talked about this at the California League of Cities, and I talked about how we were talking about talking about implementing this in Walnut Creek and looking at the right timing on this.

We hung up that Zoom call with uh 50 or 60 cities and mayors from the state, and the mayor of Santa Barbara called me, and at the time I was mayor, and he goes, Mayor Wilk, I just want to let you know, be very careful when you do this because we implemented it in Santa Barbara.

We were inundated with police department calls.

Neighbors were calling on neighbors.

We've turned everybody into whistleblowers.

Social media is absolutely blown up.

Next door, if you thought next door was bad before, be prepared because next door is now just going to be people calling out other people, their neighbors.

Social media on Facebook is going to be horrific.

Um just be prepared that you're going to turn the community into chronic busybuddies.

This is what we've experienced in Santa Barbara.

I mean, he called me directly to let me know after we got off that call.

Um we understand the hardship here when it comes to landscapers.

I think that that is something that is real.

Walnut Creek, we've just made budget cuts.

We don't have the money for a grant program or a loan program.

It's great that Hillsboro does as the one of the top wealthiest communities in the in the country.

I do like the fact that when Sharice Count had mentioned that there's uh the fact sheets that both in English and Spanish, I think that's great.

I think those are some great ideas.

I think a presentation by a landlord and developer, uh a landlord and a landscaper talking about the transition and how they made it work.

I think that's excellent.

I would love us to implement something like that.

Uh but there are these going there are these concerns that are going to inundate police and unfortunately make social media even more problematic than it already is.

I think we can all agree upon that.

Uh and lastly, there's a concern.

I was thinking about this um yesterday when I was going through the entire report, and I wish it wasn't a concern.

But we have to be realistic in this day and age of what's going on.

And I am concerned that a neighbor gets upset seeing a gas-powered leaf blower by a landscaper who is most likely a minority, and he's upset and he calls ice.

Is that can any of us say honestly that is out of the realm of possibility?

I don't think we can.

I hope certainly that doesn't happen, of course, but I think these are serious unintended consequences that we are going to have to address should we approve this.

And again, I'm I'm in support of this.

I'm going to approve this, but I don't think that we can go in with blinders thinking we've just made a great decision.

Everything is going to be great from here on out, and we've reduced noise and we've reduced uh pollution, which we will have done, but there's consequences with that.

That's my comments.

Well, I I agree with Councilmember Wilk, there will be there will be challenges.

Um I think it will probably be something that settles down over time, but um I'm sure the first part of that will be will be challenging.

Um I'd like to sort of propose the following uh items.

Um in addition to the uh the ban on the gas power, I think we should set uh hours during which leaf blowers can be used.

Do we have that already at the city?

What what are the current so maybe I should have asked that during my question?

We do have a noise ordinance um which has hours.

I apologize, I shouldn't have that in front of me, but I don't, but it's um you know the early morning hours and evening hours that you'd imagine.

So if the equipment reached the decibel level limits and all the associated parts of that ordinance, the noise ordinance will continue to apply in this case as well.

So uh going back to Hillsborough, I thought they had reasonable time eight to five on weekdays, ten to five on weekends.

Is that so that would be my suggestion for for leaf blowers and then uh for the decibel limit I think we should set a decibel limit for the electron the uh electric blowers since I think that's one of the biggest things that people are responding to is the noise so I would say uh like 60 decibels maybe for the um the decibel limit on the equipment um I also I would also like to propose that we create a rebate program I know it will take uh a little time but maybe we can accelerate it um we did have some money left over from the resurfacing uh item 2G so perhaps we could allocate some of that money to uh rebate program it with you know 25 or 50 thousand dollars and then um use that money to help folks transition because I think that's that's a valid concern and I'm not as it's not about the big landscaping companies it's more about the the like the smaller individuals that might have a harder time with this the rebate program could be for residents um or commercial operators with a walnut creek business license um and uh and then I I'd like to uh to see if we can in the future do we have plans or can we create plans to start transitioning our other equipment to electric starting at the city level I don't know if that's on our sustainability action plan but um would be nice to see that.

And then the last side last item is as far as you know because I'm hearing that when it rains and it's wet it's hard to get the leaves up.

But I think that's going to be true for for everybody.

I mean and it's going to be true for these these big complexes especially and so you know if we as the city are saying that we need to use the electric blowers when it's wet and there's there's leaves that are difficult to get up you know I I think that's then a tough ask for some of these bigger communities to to have to deal with the same problem but not be able to use the the gas so I would ask that as a city we don't we don't use it for that reason.

You know that we really restrict the use as a city to the most extreme circumstances where issues of of safety and and health are really like some sort of natural disaster and not just not just the rainy leaves.

That's it.

Thanks.

Councilmember Silva what are your thoughts so I think we have from a health standpoint and a sustainability standpoint this is the right thing to do.

But I think all major policy decisions and this is a major policy decision it's not minor and it is not in comparison to smoking.

Smoking doesn't have a three to four thousand dollar price tag on it to change your behavior this behavior is a business behavior so it it's not comparable in my mind but um the I think we have an obligation to do this but I'm very concerned about the way we're implementing it.

I would say that my interpretation of phased in is different than the interpretation that we're receiving tonight.

Doing three years of outreach when we don't need we didn't really even know what the outreach program was and couldn't offer advice on it is different from actually a phased in approach where there's you adopt the resolution you have a time frame you have to comply certain stages.

So I'm struggling with the implementation.

I'm also struggling with it in the fact that a large preponderance of our gardening services are being provided by those who are small business owners and they're they may or may not be in our community.

And so we would have to be mindful of I I think about my neighbors.

As we're an aging community, our neighbors who have a landscaping service, the property is required to have implement this, and they lose the landscaping service because they the landscaper can go to Concord, can go to Danville, can go to San Ramon and not and pick up more business.

So I mean I just see these things.

These are these unintended consequences that you were mentioning, Councilman or Mayor Pro Tem.

The um so if we were going to adopt this tonight, I want us to talk about a phased-in approach and what that would mean.

How we could do this such that we slow roll it.

I appreciate the idea that Hillsboro is primarily a residential community, large expensive homes, large, I mean, very wealthy property owners, and it's a small community.

It is very easy to and they implement and they still phased it in.

So I think we need to look at that.

We are a business community, we are a residential community, and we have a good portion of our residential properties are single family attached, such as country wood.

299 units, there's Bancroft Village, there's Sunset Park, there's Rancho Dorado, there's Stratton on the Lake.

All of those have beautiful trees, and in the next few weeks, all those leaves are coming down, and that tonight's rain are going to bring a preponderance of them down.

And to suggest that it's not a safety issue when you to remove wet leaves.

They're slippery, people are more likely to fall.

If you're walking over landscaped areas, you can't see what you're walking on.

You could trip over a hazard that's in there.

So I don't think we should wait for the natural disaster to say it's an emergency.

I think removal of leaf litter is a consequence of the environment that we live in.

Loss of business, loss of jobs, unability and loss of services in our community, those are the implementation issues that I'm thinking about, and I'm trying to figure out a way for us to provide direction without making it appear that we're trying to say no to the uh underlying policy, because I think we are a yes for the underlying policy.

Councilmember Francois, yeah.

Um thank you everyone for coming tonight, and thank you for the comments and thank you to staff for the diligent efforts over many years.

Uh we have we're all committed to this policy.

It's it's the right thing to do from a sustainability standpoint, from a noise standpoint, from a health standpoint.

So I share the concerns I think that have been raised previously about the implementation, the cost that uh small business owners will have to incur.

And they will have to incur those costs.

There has to be a day of reckoning at some point, and what I'd like to do is be faithful to the language that we had in our plan, which was the phased implementation approach within three years of adoption of the plan, which like like Candace said is July 2026.

I know, quite honestly, i if the life expectancy though of of this equipment is three to five years, not all the equipment is going to be at the end of its useful life at that point, and some contractors will uh likely have to make the difficult decision that they can't do business in Walnut Creek any longer and will have to go to neighboring communities to do that, which which don't have these bans.

So I I appreciate you you're struggling and trying to articulate the phased-in approach because I think that is the right.

I mean, it's it seems to me that generally the way uh Sharice Count had explained the Hillsborough ordinance, and I didn't have an opportunity to look at the ordinance itself, but that essentially they adopted the resolution, but it didn't take effect for six or seven months.

Um that general concept seems right to me, whether it's three months or six months.

Um that day is coming though, and I think it's incumbent on all of us primarily as property owners to the extent we hire landscapers to tell them there's going to be a change that we you're not going to be able to use gas powered blowers any longer and that you're going to need to convert your fleet to uh the electric ones.

I I think there's there's I like generally the concept of of rebates, but I see the difficulties uh that staff mentioned in terms of how do you verify residency, and yes, you could require business license, but I think that's really getting at the big guys that probably can already absorb the cost more than the small independent uh landscapers who may or may not be based in Walnut Creek.

So that they wouldn't be getting any benefit of that.

I I think the way to get at that rebate is through BACMID or I guess the state program has run out, but to do it more regionally and not not at the local level.

And uh I don't think I have anything else to add.

I I'm in support of the ban and uh would like us to talk about a phased implementation approach.

So let me try this.

I I appreciate everybody that comes here that came here tonight.

I understand all sides of the question because you know, in addition to our property here, we have a big property up in the mountains.

We've switched over to electric, but there's a lot of running back and forth to get the batteries.

Um, but it's also something that we need to do from a health standpoint and from an environmental standpoint.

So my just thinking about the year in leaves, the year in landscaping.

We are in November.

We we this is not the time this month to make this happen this month.

Um, but if we gave ourselves 120 days and made the ordinance kick in on March 18th, you know, hear it next month, give it 120 days, kick it in in March, that's a time of year where theoretically the work we're through the worst of the winter, we're through the worst of the wet.

Um, and then we it gives us a time period to to help people think conceptualize how they're gonna deal with it.

And there's a couple things that I really like about the approach we're having, which is we're not going to chase down the individual landscapers.

It's an obligation that's on the property owner, the homeowner.

And if the and if the landscaper can't do it, you know, in the case of a single family residence, I know somebody who was really sick of the leaf blower at his house.

So he just bought an electric one, he recharges it, and when the landscaper comes, he puts it out for them and they do the blowing with his leaf blower.

So there is a way for the homeowner to take ownership of it.

Um but if we if we have the ordinance implementing in March and give ourselves some better time to do the education that we need to do to get people ready to do the switch over to help them kind of think it through, um, and then move into this the start of well, this is now required, but we're not nobody's gonna get a ticket.

They're gonna get continue to get educated for another um three months or something like that.

You know, we're we'll that in my mind kind of starts to look like phasing that'll work in a couple different ways.

Uh it'll give us a little more time to educate, it'll give people small property or small business people a little bit more time to plan, it'll get us through the worst of the leaf season for this year, and um reactions.

I think that approach makes makes sense.

And um, I mean, you could quibble on whether I think just March or April or whatever date you're gonna use, getting through this winter season uh gives folks the opportunity to not have to make the hard changes right during the middle of it and then in reality gives a little bit more flexibility um to use the to use the well they'd have to use the electric equipment but it would be at a time when it'd be more effective to blow around dry leaves.

Just for a point of comparison I think the backpack blowers which we heard are a thousand to three thousand a piece I think are the ones that they would use for resident even the re the gardeners would use are much more expensive than what an individual I purchased one and it was about two hundred dollars but that's just to blow out the garage and not any heavy leaves.

So but anyway I like your I like your approach and I think it's workable.

I like that approach as well because I was sitting here thinking we must have been you know reading each other's minds.

I was sitting here thinking we're going to do this and we're talking about a storm tomorrow and just the consequence is it also a possibility that we would be looking for some solutions for these large homeowner associations that um have to blow roofs and gutters etc etc.

I mean they have an a monumental amount of work every season and we really don't want them removing tree cover.

I'm not a hundred percent sure what to do with that it it sounds like um I mean I just don't know the technological capacity of you know Mike assures us that the electric commercial electric ones still don't have the oomph of a gas powered one.

I mean I I think to that point and I know that I was keeping notes here that at least one of your uh gas ones was down so hopefully when you replace that one it would be with an electric one but maybe maybe we could use this t period of time too if we haven't already to conduct additional outreach to the HOAs to say this is taking effect we the council decided to phase it in it would take effect in middle of March or beginning of April whenever it does and give but I'd like us to have that dialogue with those homeowners associations um if we haven't already or we need to again just to remind them of the date.

And what's our appetite for a decibel level on the electric you know I think the existing um sound or the existing noise ordinance I think um we we do have an existing noise ordinance that um that the town has um and so we could when we bring this back for action we could report to the council on what those standards are but we do have an existing one right now and um it's you know the I I would suggest we would just report back to you on that as as part of it because it does it it it also factors in like ambient noise and whatnot.

So if you're leaf blowing next to the freeway it's a different issue than if you're doing it in a pretty quiet residential neighborhood and but we do have standards for the quiet residential neighborhoods.

Oftentimes they're time weighted standards though and these are pretty quick um you know 45 minute incidences.

I would want to advise the council too because there are if you think back to the corollaries of um when you were moving to different types of internal house utilities and whatnot whether or not there are some state preemptions that come into play.

So I would want to advise the council on that because you're when you're starting to say a decibel level you're really getting into the market of what can actually be uh sold out there keeping in mind as as you all have noted earlier tonight you can't buy you well you can't buy legally in California anything but electric ones right now so if we're gonna set a standard on electric ones I'd want to make sure there's no preemption issues that we have going on with that because that that's getting to the equipment itself not the use of the equipment.

So it sounds like the recommendation is to have when we come bring it back to us to adopt we have we could report that and then if they then the council would understand can we regulate and if so what are the options and then if you wanted to amend the ordinance you could you could do that if you had the legal authority but I would want to advise first on whether you actually have that authority.

Because I I could see challenges with you know for if we're passing uh an ordinance on leaf blowers that are used in different parts of the city that if they can be so loud in one area next to the freeway but they can only be so loud over here then that that wouldn't really well I I think the the pre the underlying premise is that we're getting by using an electric leaf blower you're getting a quieter leaf blower and that you can't there's nothing beyond that other than raking and so yeah I was I was just reading briefly um that some of the electric models can get up to like eighty three decibels uh which is you know pretty loud so since that was a big part of the community's concern with the leaf blowers I just want to make sure we're not replacing one loud instrument for another are you comfortable with um the city attorney's recommendation that they bring the issue back to us for further discussion yeah sure yeah and I think on the rebate idea I well I wish we were at a point where we had the money to do it.

I think there are significant implementation issues with it as a local rebate because um to be quite honest I know the fellow who does our yard does not have a California uh walnut creek business license um i so it's it it and he does not live in walnut creek and so it there's implementation issues with the rebate that are difficult then and that actually when I think about that somebody could be working in Walnut Creek Concord and Pleasant Hill are we rebating for the whole wall of wax yes.

Yeah.

Yeah so i as much as I would hope that Bachmed can get back in the rebate business um yeah I guess rather than try to do it ourselves.

Sure.

I mean I guess my lens on the rebate was even if we wind up you know supplementing people who work in neighboring cities that's our contribution to the transition because we feel it's important and so even if it didn't go exclusively to you even if people somehow took advantage or they were working in multiple areas it would still be an opportunity for us to try to you know help move the needle in that regard let me okay let me articulate this motion um I would move to amend the I don't have it in front of me.

Amend the draft ordinance to allow implementation um in on April first 2026 um and then ask staff to bring back additional information about noise levels and regional funding efforts when they bring the ordinance back to us next month.

Just one clarification we were currently planning to bring the ordinance back on November eighteenth in two weeks.

Oh that's that would not be we are we have an agenda that is awfully packed.

If it was coming back on consent on a second reading it's different than coming back with date changes and I mean if you want us to delay bringing it back we could certainly do that.

Or and alternatively we can if if the council's an agreement with an effective date of April 1st, 2026, that only requires a minor change to the ordinance that's before you tonight that it's in um section section five at the very end.

It currently says it's effective 30 days after adoption.

We could just say it's a effective April 1st, 2026.

So there would be no enforcement ability even before then.

And the issue of whether we delay enforcement further to do community outreach is not something that has to be in the ordinance.

The council can just simply provide direction on that.

Yeah, I'm come from I'm just not quite yet used to the fact that we are in November, so that's why I was saying next month.

But we are in November.

I may mayor just apologize one other thought.

If there is concern that November 18th is a big meeting, we could bring this portion back.

Could go on consent if there are the modifications made this evening.

If your council wants to have more discussion on the noise item, we could bring that at a subsequent meeting, but not too far into the future.

They don't necessarily have to be coupled unless you want them to be coupled, absolutely.

So actually that could work well if we bring this back with an April 1st effective date and then ask staff to bring back um noise and um an update from Bachmed on um rebates, and that doesn't have to get tied together.

That can come in January and um, yeah, if that's amenable to council, we can do that.

So the second reading wouldn't be November 18th or well, we do the second reading November eighteenth with the effective date of April 1st.

And because those are not those are not those are separate issues, and I think we're all what I heard from across the board is that we are all interested in proceeding with the leaf blower or ban, but we are also interested in making sure that we find ways to make it more equitable and to make it more effective.

But those are not linked, those actions are not linked.

So my proposal would be to my motion, not a proposal, my motion is to um waive the first reading and introduce the ordinance and bring it back direct stack to bring it back to us at the next meeting with an effective date of April first, twenty twenty-six, and then we also direct staff to bring back additional information relative to noise ordinance and um regional rebate possibilities at a meeting in uh the not too distant future.

Second, and can we add on to that also to discuss the the times of day that you know whether that falls inside or not?

I think that's what we're we're asking staff to bring back here.

With the noise ordinance, I would also include that discussion.

Okay, yeah, correct.

And Mayor, if I may, then so that that's the ordinance that's on that's referenced on the screen right now with the modification that's in there, and then the only other modification is in section five to show the ordinance shall become effective April first, twenty twenty six.

Yes.

So if it's that you can actually introduce it tonight, okay.

And then when it comes back to you on November eighteenth, if you choose to, you can adopt it at that point.

Okay.

So I will move to introduce this ordinance with the date change and the change shown on the screen.

Yes.

Second that.

Roll call.

Mayor Mary Darling.

Hi.

Mayor Pro Temple.

Hi.

Council Member DeVini.

Aye.

Councilmember Francois.

All right.

Councilmember Silva.

Hi.

Motion carries.

Thank you all very much for this.

And I know this is something that some of you are deeply.

Um and I know we we will work with you guys to make sure that I and now I have to go home and tell Joaquin what he has to do in my backyard.

Wow.