Open Space and Ecology Committee

September 27, 2006

Page 2

OPEN SPACE AND ECOLOGY COMMITTEE

September 27, 2006

PUBLIC WORKS CONFERENCE ROOM, CITY HALL

50 PARK PLACE, BRISBANE, CA

CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL

Committee Chair Gutekanst called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

Committee Members Present: Bouscal, Gaffney, Miller, and Chair Gutekanst

Committee Members Absent: Whitten

Staff Members Present: Open Space and Ecology Analyst Pontecorvo, Assistant to the City Manager Smith

* MC = Member of Committee

ADOPTION OF AGENDA

Chair Gutekanst suggested including a brief item on the Community Festival under “Other Committee Matters.”

MC Gaffney said she would like to discuss use of recycled products and alternate purchasing practices by the City.

Chair Gutekanst noted the last meeting ended after 11 p.m., and she recommended concluding this meeting by 9:30 p.m. She suggested limiting the time spent on the General Plan Conservation element to an hour and fifteen minutes and then moving to other agenda items. Other committee members approved this plan.

MC Bouscal proposed adding a discussion of fluorescent lighting.

MC Gaffney moved to adopt the agenda as amended. The motion was seconded by MC Bouscal and unanimously approved.

GENERAL PLAN UPDATE: REVIEW OF CONSERVATION ELEMENT

Open Space and Ecology Analyst Pontecorvo provided copies of the Conservation element and the excerpt from state law regarding General Plan conservation elements.

She noted conservation elements are supposed to address “conservation, development, and utilization of natural resources, including water and its hydraulic force, forests, soils, rivers, and other waters, harbors, fisheries, wildlife, minerals, and other natural resources.”

Ms. Pontecorvo said the 1994 General Plan Conservation element needs some updating, but not a major rewrite. She welcomed the committee’s suggestions on the text, policies, and programs.

Chair Gutekanst proposed starting with a general discussion before reviewing policy and program language. She noted the main omission is the topic of green building, but the best placement for that section needs to be determined. She recommended including a program to have the City adopt a green building ordinance.

MC Miller stated that after reading the 1994 materials, he agreed with Ms. Pontecorvo that only an update is needed.

MC Miller said the committee needs to decide whether to deal with green building as a separate topic or to break it down by water, energy, pollution, and other components. He noted it might be best to mention particular green building programs in each category, and then add a separate program for a green building ordinance.

MC Miller recommended reconstructing the first page of the element to focus more on goals rather than statements of feelings and belief. He pointed out that the last item is an appropriate conservation goal, and suggested moving that to the beginning.

MC Miller noted the committee previously agreed to add a whole new paragraph on sustainability. He said that text should define sustainability, explain its importance, and articulate principles of sustainability. MC Miller observed that sustainability covers a wide range of issues such as the shortage of water, global warming, and overuse of fossil fuels, and he recommended mentioning those in the introductory text as well as in subsequent policies and programs. He also suggested adding a description of the Open Space and Ecology Committee’s history and activities. MC Miller proposed putting these items under two new headings: “Sustainability” and “Open Space and Ecology Committee.”

MC Miller commented that the treatment of water resources in the General Plan is somewhat confusing because the Open Space element talks about “aquatic resources” and the Conservation element talks about “water resources.” MC Miller recommended defining “aquatic resources” as features such as the lagoon and wetlands, while “water resources” are those used for drinking and irrigation.

MC Miller noted the committee previously identified some portions of the Open Space Plan and Baylands scoping materials that should be included in the Conservation element, such as portions of the Open Space Plan dealing with ecology, Baylands scoping recommendations dealing with the lagoon, birds, sedimentation, and drainage, and a description of the committee’s annual report on activities. He recommended stating that open space is an important part of the conservation program and referring to the Open Space element for more details.

Chair Gutekanst asked Ms. Pontecorvo to pull the previously identified sections for the committee’s review at the next meeting.

MC Gaffney questioned the rationale for putting green building in the Conservation element. MC Miller explained that the basic point of green building is to build in a way that conserves natural resources. He talked about the relationship between fossil fuel use, global warming, and the environment, and noted that building and transportation are the two human activities with the most environmental impact.

Chair Gutekanst commented that about 90 percent of green building focuses on conserving natural resources, and about 10 percent deals with indoor air quality. She said green building promotes use of recycled materials and reducing impacts on natural resources. She described the LEED program and offered to provide MC Gaffney with a copy of the checklist and booklet.

MC Miller suggested gathering the LEED materials and other green building references in a separate file. Ms. Pontecorvo said she would assemble those documents for MC Gaffney and MC Whitten.

MC Miller proposed reviewing the text, policies, and programs of the Conservation element and identifying sections that need to be updated.

Chair Gutekanst welcomed comments on the goals.

MC Miller said he would put the last item first and rephrase the other points as conservation goals. He offered to draft some proposed language.

MC Bouscal noted one sentence refers to citizens being judicious in water use, and he recommended adding the City. Chair Gutekanst said businesses should also be included. After some discussion, committee members decided to refer instead to “the community.”

Committee members agreed the language in the introductory paragraphs was good. Chair Gutekanst recommended introducing the concept of sustainability in the first section, “Conservation Policies.” MC Miller suggested adding a statement about the Open Space and Ecology Committee’s interest in conservation.

MC Miller proposed revising the first sentence under “Conservation Policies” to say “address the preservation and management of natural resources” rather than “manage.”

Chair Gutekanst suggested deleting “in recent years” from the first sentence in next paragraph. MC Miller recommended phrasing the second sentence more positively: “Residents are aware of the necessity to conserve water and energy.” MC Gaffney proposed reordering the other sentences and eliminating redundancies. Committee members suggested mentioning green building practices in this paragraph.

Chair Gutekanst directed the committee’s attention to the text about the government’s role. She recommended rewording the language about governmental constraints to read, “The San Bruno Mountain Habitat Conservation Plan and state, local, and federal agencies have jurisdiction over certain areas and activities. These agencies’ regulations establish minimum requirements, but do not preclude the City of Brisbane from establishing more stringent requirements.”

MC Miller said he was a bit uncomfortable with the proposed language. He noted the City Attorney has consistently cautioned about imposing requirements that go beyond normal standards. He suggested working on the wording later.

Chair Gutekanst suggested keeping the next-to-last sentence and deleting the sentence beginning with, “These challenges . . .”

MC Miller proposed adding next a short paragraph about the establishment of the Open Space and Ecology Committee.

Under “Biological Resources,” “Plant and Animal Species,” Chair Gutekanst recommended updating the first paragraph to list the three endangered butterfly species. She suggested reviewing the information on rare plants to make sure it is current.

MC Bouscal observed that “San Bruno Mountain” does not cover all the open space areas around Brisbane. He pointed out that Ice House Hill, the lagoon, and other areas have habitat value as well. Chair Gutekanst suggested adding a paragraph at the end of Page 141 mentioning those other resources. After some discussion, MC Miller proposed changing the first sentence to say, “The General Plan area contains many species of plants and animals native to California.” Committee members approved this approach.

Chair Gutekanst noted the next part of the text talks about the Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP), but it does not mention raptors or waterfowl that inhabit the area.

MC Miller suggested talking about the HCP amendment process and describing the effect of the amendments.

MC Miller noted that the sentence in the middle of the fourth paragraph refers to the City’s “responsibilities,” but provides only one example. He recommended changing that sentence to read, “One of the responsibilities of the City is to identify . . .”

In the next paragraph, MC Miller proposed mentioning other environmental regulatory agencies such as the Air Quality Management District, the Department of Toxic Substance Control, and the State Lands Commission. Committee members noted the Department of Fish and Game is responsible for managing Owl and Buckeye Canyons.

MC Bouscal said he understood the Department of Fish and Game will soon be transferring that responsibility to the county. He added that Mountain Watch is sending letters to the state and the county to find out exactly what will happen. He promised to keep the committee apprised. Ms. Pontecorvo suggested asking Sam Herzberg for more information.

Chair Gutekanst drew attention to the last sentence on the page, and she questioned whether any General Plan policy “emphasizes the relative responsibilities of these agencies.” MC Miller proposed changing the wording to say “recognizes the need for good communication and coordination between all concerned, in the interests of providing good public service.” Committee members expressed support for this language.

Referring to the maps, Chair Gutekanst recommended including vegetation maps of the Brisbane Acres. MC Miller suggested also finding out if up-to-date versions of the existing maps are available.

MC Bouscal noted the maps do not show the large viola habitat area on Ice House Hill and elsewhere. He observed that the 2001 Open Space Plan identifies areas with particular butterfly species.

Chair Gutekanst commented that maps of butterfly host plants would be more useful than some of the maps provided.

Chair Gutekanst asked who will be responsible for obtaining updated maps, and Assistant to the City Manager Smith responded that the Planning Commission staff will assemble the document. He suggested conveying the committee’s recommendation to provide more current maps and remove dated ones.

Mr. Smith proposed moving to the other conference room. Chair Gutekanst suggested completing this agenda item. She said Ms. Pontecorvo will gather background materials and technical reports on green building, prepare a packet for MC Gaffney and MC Whitten, and gather relevant portions of the Baylands EIR scoping documents. She noted that MC Miller will be drafting some new language for the goals.

After taking a short recess, the committee reconvened in the Main Conference Room at 8:23 p.m.

MC Miller asked who would draft the paragraphs on sustainability and the Open Space and Ecology Committee’s background. He observed that most of this material could probably come from other documents. Mr. Smith suggested that the staff come back with proposed language.

Chair Gutekanst asked MC Miller to draft the language about the committee’s history and activities. MC Miller said he would send proposed language to the staff.

UPDATE ON CITY COUNCIL MATTERS

Residential Solar Fees

Open Space and Ecology Analyst Pontecorvo referred to the materials provided in the last agenda packet. She noted that MC Miller had mentioned an article in the Sierra Club News about high permit fees discouraging solar installations. After the issue was brought to the City Council’s attention, the Council adopted a resolution to amend the master fee schedule. Ms. Pontecorvo said the City previously based building permit fees on valuation, but the resolution calls for a flat fee of $250 for single-family residential solar installations.

MC Miller observed that the resolution only refers to a single fee, but it does not specify an amount. He asked if the City Council also set the fee at $250, and Ms. Pontecorvo said she thought the City Council’s action covered the amount as well.

MC Bouscal asked if the City Council considered a refund for the three applicants that had to pay a higher fee.

OTHER COMMITTEE MATTERS

CAG Update

Chair Gutekanst provided an update on the activities of the Citizens Advisory Group (CAG) formed by the Department of Toxic Substance Control to provide advice and input on the Baylands. She said the Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) is requiring property owners to develop mediation plans to prevent the spread of Bunker C oil in a contaminated drainage ditch and to control leachate from the landfill in the central drainage channel in the area adjacent to the lagoon. She noted a draft plan has been reviewed by the RWQCB and returned to the owners for revisions.

MC Bouscal asked why the new owners are responsible for clean-up rather than the previous owners. MC Miller said Southern Pacific was not required to do any mitigation when it sold the property; the buyer, Tuntex, relieved Southern Pacific of all environmental clean-up responsibilities.

Global Warming - Assembly Bill 32

MC Miller reported that AB 32 had been signed that day by Governor Schwarzenegger, establishing California as a leader in setting targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. He remarked that although a reduction of 20 percent by 2020 is not enough, it is a step in the right direction.

MC Miller urged committee members to see “An Inconvenient Truth,” Al Gore’s documentary on global warming, or read the book. He referred to a map showing that if nothing is done about global warming by the end of the 21st century, sea level will rise about 30 feet. He noted the map of the Bay Area is very interesting.

MC Miller added that he brought this issue to the attention of the Universal Paragon representatives who participated in the tour of the Baylands, but none had seen the documentary.

MC Bouscal asked how Brisbane’s elevation of 100 feet was determined, and MC Miller responded that 100 feet was an average. MC Bouscal questioned what parts of Brisbane were measured to arrive at that average.

Staff Role

MC Miller asked Assistant to the City Manager Smith to comment on how he viewed the staff’s role. Mr. Smith said he would like to think about the question and respond at the next meeting.