Portola Valley Weekly Update December 22, 2022

This week's update:

• Town Hall Closed December 26- January 2
• Message from Mayor Aalfs
• Housing Element Schedule Update – January 4th Planning Commission Meeting Postponed
• Reminder – New Building Code goes into effect January 1, 2023
• Sheriff’s Contract Update – Share Your Thoughts
• Draft Safety Element Available for Review
• SMC Alert - San Mateo County's Alert System

Town Hall Closed December 26- January 2

Town Hall will be closed for the winter holidays.

During this time, for emergencies, please call 911. If you have other needs please view a list of essential contact information.

While Town Hall is closed, you can still submit non-urgent requests to the PV Connect App.

Please note, per the Town's Noise Ordinance, no construction/landscaping activities are allowed on

• Christmas Day, Sunday, December 25, 2022
• Christmas Day observed, Monday, December 26, 2022
• New Year's Day, Sunday, January 1, 2023
• New Years Day observed, Monday January 2, 2023

Message from Mayor Aalfs

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

I’m back.

I know what you’re thinking: already? And yes, it’s true, my third term has arrived ahead of schedule for a variety of reasons, as discussed at Wednesday night’s Council meeting. Now that that’s settled, I’m ready and looking forward to the coming year. As always, you can reach me at jaalfs@portolavalley.net with your comments or questions.

First, I want to acknowledge my colleagues who departed from the Council on Wednesday: Maryann Derwin, John Richards, and Craig Hughes. Between them, they have served Portola Valley for over 50 years, and I personally worked alongside them for over a decade. I tried on Wednesday, but I can’t put into words their dedication, their commitment to the public good, or the knowledge and perspective they have imparted to me. Thank you and enjoy the respite.

Second, I want to welcome our new Council Members: Judith Hasko, Craig Taylor and Mary Hufty. This job has changed a lot over the past few years, and anyone willing to step up and serve in today’s environment demands and deserves respect. Congratulations and I look forward to working with you all.

I also want to acknowledge Vice Mayor Sarah Wernikoff. Ordinarily, Sarah would have Succeeded Craig Hughes as Mayor, but she elected to defer that role for one year due to circumstances involving her family. I applaud her decision to put family first and I am honored to be stepping in to help her do so.

Needless to say, we have a challenging year ahead. I will have much more to say on the myriad issues in front of us, and I am working now to schedule opportunities to meet with any of you who want to talk about Town business. You are of course always free to email me at jaalfs@portolavalley.net; I will do my best to respond and to make time (keep in mind, I still have all of my other responsibilities, especially during the Holiday Season, and forgive me my lapses in response). For the moment, I wish you Happy Holidays and look forward to our work in the New Year.

Best Regards,

Jeff Aalfs, Mayor

Town of Portola Valley

Housing Element Schedule Update – January 4th Planning Commission Meeting Postponed

The Planning Commission meeting tentatively scheduled for January 4, 2023 is postponed to allow staff to continue to work on questions brought up by the Town Council, Planning Commission, and residents. Staff is currently working with property owners and residents to answer questions and address concerns. Planning Commission will meet later in January to continue its discussion of the Housing Element and associated actions. An update will be posted early in the new year. In the meantime, the staff and consultant team wish residents Happy Holidays.

Reminder – New Building Code goes into effect January 1, 2023

The California Building Standard Codes (CBSC) change every 3 years and are mandated by law to be adopted locally by city and county jurisdictions. State laws authorize local governments to enact ordinances making amendments to the California Building Standards Code.

A summary of the 2022 Building Standards Code amendments adopted by the Town Council is included below. An FAQ and handouts that will be available next week on the Town website: www.portolavalley.net

Please email planbuild@portolavalley.net should you have any questions.

GREEN BUILDING STANDARDS AMENDMENTS FOR NEW CONSTRUCTION

Applies to:

1. New building from ground up.

2. Addition, remodel and/or alteration where permit scope of all permits issued in a 12-month period exceeds:

• 50% of existing floor area;
• 50% of existing wall area; or
• 50% of combination of floor and wall area

Requirements:

1. Required to be all-electric buildings.

• No natural gas or propane piping installed
• Uses electricity for cooking, clothes drying, space and water heating

2. Includes outdoor amenities such as:

• Outdoor, kitchens, grills, pool, spas, fireplaces, fire pits and outdoor heaters.

3. Electric vehicle (EV) ready space supplied by a minimum 40-ampere 208/240 branch circuit.

GREEN BUILDING STANDARDS AMENDEMENTS FOR EXISTING BUILDINGS - ADDITIONS, REMODELS & ALTERATIONS

Applies to:

1. All residential construction additions, alterations, remodels, repairs, and/or accessory dwelling unit conversions that do not meet the definition of newly constructed.

2. Where Scope of Work Includes:

• New, replacement, upgrade or relocation of an existing air conditioning condensing unit; and/or
• Replacement/upgrade to the main electric panel

Requirements:

1. If install a new, replacement, upgrade and/or relocate an existing air conditioning (A/C) condensing unit must be replaced with a reverse cycle an air conditioning heat pump.

2. If you replace/upgrade the main electric panel required to provide electrical capacity and reservation of breaker space to accommodate:

• Electric stove, clothes dryer, level 2 EV charger, photovoltaic panels, and heat pump water heater.
• A dedicated 30 amp, 240-volt branch circuit installed within three (3) feet from the existing water heater location.

NOT Required:

1. You are NOT required to replace any of your gas appliances with electric at the end of their life (known as “burnout”) or when/if you upgrade them

2. You are NOT required to replace any of your gas (or other) appliances when you do work on your electric panel

• A/C replacement is only triggered with work on A/C unit

3. You are NOT required to replace any EXISTING outdoor amenities with electric

WILDLAND URBAN INTERFACE (WUI) AMENDMENTS

Readopts the December 2021 WUI amendments except for:

1. Removed amendments that are now in State requirements (e.g., vents and roof eaves)

2. Decks

• No longer mandate noncombustible material decking.
• All decking material required to meet State minimum code of ignition resistant material.
• All decks being required to meet the code requirements regardless of distance to applicable building.

3. Detached accessory structure requirements

• All accessory structures subject to Building permit meet WUI requirements regardless of distance to applicable building. Includes ADUs and SB9 Units.
• Accessory structures not subject to Building permit but constructed closer than 30 feet to a property line meet WUI requirements.

4. Exterior columns supporting roof structures and trellises

• Constructed of noncombustible material or wrapped with noncombustible material.
• Not required when the trellis is detached, less than 120 square feet and more than 30 feet from a property line

CHANGES TO ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM (ESS) AMENDMENTS

1. Residential code establishes minimum safety requirements for ESS

2. Under certain circumstances in Residential Code, would be allowed in a habitable space

3. Removes that exception = no ESS in habitable space

4. Benefits

• Provides a higher level of safety for the occupants; and
• Retains the other safety requirements established in the code

ESS Amendment DOES NOT:

1. Does not discourage ESS installations

2. Does not add cost to project

3. Does not prevent stacking of ESS when tested to UL 9540A

4. Does prevent ESS from being installed in habitable spaces like bedrooms and living rooms

Sheriff’s Contract Update – Share Your Thoughts

What are your public safety concerns? How would you like to see public safety enhanced in Portola Valley? What public safety efforts in Portola Valley are working well?

The 5-year public safety agreement between the Town of Portola Valley and the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office expires in June 2023. The Town needs input from Portola Valley community members as it enters into discussions with the Sheriff’s Office about a new public safety contract.

There are several opportunities for you to provide input on your feelings about public safety. This input will be used to inform discussions about a new contract:

Learn how you can participate in the process

Draft Safety Element Available for Review

The Public Review Draft of the Safety Element is available for review and public comment. The Town’s technical team, including staff and consultants, have developed this draft based on the content of the existing Safety Element, State law, guidance from the State and regional agencies, and best practices. This draft was guided by preliminary comments received from the Sustainability Committee, Geologic Safety Committee, and Emergency Preparedness Committee on early memos prepared by the technical team.

Town Committee Review of Draft Safety Element

View the recording of the October 26 Joint Committee meeting with the Wildfire Preparedness, Emergency Preparedness, Sustainability, and Geologic Safety Committees. The technical team presented the Draft Safety Element at the meeting. These committees will have opportunities to further discuss the Draft Safety Element at their individual committee meetings.

Opportunities to Provide Input on the Draft Safety Element

There are several opportunities for members of the public to provide input on the draft Safety Element:

Submit written comments

• Submit electronic comments using the form on the Town’s website at www.portolavalley.net/safetyelement.
• E-mail comments to safetyelement@portolavalley.net

Provide input at public meetings.

• TBD Emergency Preparedness Committee meeting
• TBD Geologic Safety Committee meeting
• TBD Sustainability Committee meeting
• TBD Wildfire Preparedness Committee meeting

Members of the public are encouraged to engage in these committee meetings and provide feedback at any stage in the process. Comments on the Draft Safety Element are requested by January 13, 2023.

In addition to the committee meetings, the Planning Commission and Town Council will review the Draft Safety Element. These meetings will provide additional opportunities for community members to provide input on the Draft Safety Element. Dates for these meetings will be added to the Safety Element webpage when available.

To receive updates on meetings and other Safety Element matters, you may sign up for eNotifications on the Town’s website by going to the “Community” page, navigating to “Stay Informed,” then “Subscribe to Town eNotices” and selecting Safety Element. You may directly access the “Subscribe to Town eNotices" page here.

SMC Alert - San Mateo County's Alert System

The San Mateo County alert and warning system is undergoing a major upgrade.

The web address for SMC Alert will remain SMCAlert.info but our software will be changing from Everbridge to RAVE mobile alerting.

If you are already enrolled in SMC Alert your information has been transferred to the new system, you will continue to receive alerts as you have in the past.

We encourage you to create a new account on the new SMC Alert so that you can access new innovative features and make any changes to your account. Creating a new account will not cause you to receive doubled up messages.

Messages from the new SMC Alert text messages may come from any of the following short code mobile phone numbers: 226787, 67283, 78015, 81837, or 77295. E-mail notifications will come from smcalert@smcgov.org