The Pleasanton City Council is set to hear an update Tuesday on staff's efforts to implement the Climate Action Plan 2.0 (CAP 2.0), which is an environmental framework to reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the next 10 years.

According to the report, the council had adopted the CAP 2.0 in February 2022 with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions that comply with, and exceed, targets established by the state.

The idea was to create a roadmap for emissions reductions that is "both realistic and implementable."

"Staff began implementation of CAP 2.0 actions in 2022 and have made significant progress since then; this report serves as a status report of actions that have been completed, are in progress and are upcoming," the staff report states.

Some of the projects that are either currently completed or in progress that will help the city achieve its reduction targets, according to the staff report, include adoption of building codes requiring more buildings to be all-electric and more infrastructure for electric vehicle charging stations.

Other projects that staff will be touching on during the presentation include requirements for solar panels on new buildings, over 2,000 feet of new bicycle lanes and new garbage collection and processing requirements.

The City Council meeting is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday (May 2). The full agenda can be accessed here.

In other business

* City staff will be seeking the council's adoption of modifications to the city's objective design standards (ODS) for housing sites.

On Jan. 26, the council adopted two sets of objective design standards for residential development -- one that aligned with housing sites zoned during the city's 6th Housing Element cycle and another for smaller infill development in multifamily zoning districts.

But according to the staff report, local developers and architects provided staff with comments during the reviewal process of the standards in regards to how they relate to existing developments.

"In response to these comments, staff and the professional services team made modifications to the ODS toward satisfying the concerns of the commenting parties while upholding the standards where they would result in a better-quality project and maintaining project feasibility," the staff report states.

The report also states that the changes will reflect public comments, cleans up and clarifies some of the standards, and provides additional revisions that reflect recommendations made by the city's Planning Commission.

Those recommendations, which were voted by the commission on April 12 to be proposed to the council, provides support for the modifications to the standards -- but it also asks the council to consider tiering allowable building height for projects greater than 30 dwelling units per acre.

According to the staff report, the commission requested that "the height limit for projects 30 (dwelling units per acre) and greater be reconsidered to be less than the currently permitted 65-foot maximum, particularly if there is no vehicular parking on the ground floor level."

* The City Council Legislative Subcommittee will be seeking council adoption of Pleasanton's legislative framework, which helps guide the city's response to certain state and federal bills.

"The framework includes guiding principles, goals and strategies that guide advocacy efforts on behalf of the city's interests," the staff report states. "Within this framework, annual focus areas are established to guide the city's legislative positions."

According to the staff report, if approved the subcommittee and staff will establish how the city will position itself on selected 2023 bills and will monitor remaining legislation throughout the 2023 legislative session.

Some of those bills will pertain to specific themes such as housing, fiscal sustainability, infrastructure and the environment.

According to the report, the themes and how the legislative subcommittee proposes on responding to these bills were developed by considering the "current political landscape at the federal and state level in addition to current regional and local issues."

The report also states that an overarching theme for the different bills will be the city's ability to retain local control and decision making.