Berkeley Climate Action Plan Public Comment Summary

Below is a summary of comments received on Berkeley’s draft Climate Action Plan. You can also download this summary as a document (PDF, 125KB).

The public comment period ran from January 28 – March 7, 2008. The comments were submitted through a variety of means, including:

• On-line at www.BerkeleyClimateAction.org
• Public workshops hosted by City Commissions and the Office of Energy & Sustainable Development
• Community meetings hosted by organizations such as the Sierra Club, League of Women Voters, Livable Berkeley, and the Bicycle Friendly Berkeley Coalition
• By email and post

A summary of the comments received will be included as an appendix to the revised version of the Berkeley Climate Action Plan. A revised version of the plan is scheduled for release in Fall 2008.

General Comments:

• The plan offers a strong vision, but more specific implementation steps are needed, including implementation timeline, costs and cost/benefit, and potential sources of funding for the proposed strategies
• Use more action-oriented language…avoid “wishy-washy” terms
• Ensure that the CAP is consistent with or at least as aggressive as existing Berkeley policy documents such as the General Plan
• The CAP recommendations should be integrated into the General Plan
• More emphasis should be placed on the relationship between climate protection and social justice and jobs

Transportation and Land Use:

• Urban Density:
• Commit to density along transit corridors
• Identify measurable objectives regarding reductions in vehicle-miles-traveled
• Housing near transit is number one tool for reducing GHGs
• City should seek to meet the target level for added housing outlined in the Regional Housing Needs Allocation process
• Build transit-oriented development at Ashby BART and Berkeley Way parking lot
• Implement zoning adjustments to facilitate housing in Southside and Downtown and other transitserved areas of the City
• Emphasize the potential for re-use of existing building stock
• Encourage in-fill development along transit corridors
• Consider a reduction in business license fee or tax rebate based on a given company’s distance from transit or willingness to purchase transit passes for employees
• Allow more ancillary units on residential properties
• Establish an upper limit to neighborhood density
• Parking:
• Eliminate parking requirements for housing near transit
• Implement parking maximums in Downtown and Southside
• Raise parking rates
• Peg permit parking fees to the fuel efficiency of the vehicle for which the permit is being purchased
• Extend Residential Permit Parking citywide
• Un-bundle housing and parking: Change zoning so that all parking spaces require separate payment and are not included in the rent or in the purchase price of a unit
• Phase out monthly parking spaces in Center St. garage
• Phase out parking spaces on street and city parking lots for City employees
• Funding/Revenue for Transportation & Land Use Actions:
• Implement a congestion fee
• Devote a portion of the Vista College mitigation funds to trip reduction efforts that encourage alternatives to the single-occupancy vehicle
• Institute a gas tax
• Implement an added fee/tax on ownership of 2nd/3rd vehicles
• Assess a Transportation Services Fee on developers to fund trip reduction efforts
• Public Transit:
• Buses:
• BRT: Comments both for and against
• Commit to installing “real-time” signage at AC Transit stops
• Use AC Transit’s report, "Designing with Transit - Making Transit Integral to East Bay Communities, A Handbook for Elected Officials and Local Staff,” to guide City policy
• Work with AC Transit to improve the flow of bus routes (i.e, better timed signals, eliminate unneccessary stop signs, etc.)
• Consider a freeway bus service, with stops along the freeway
• Urge AC Transit to purchase more fuel efficient buses and to utilize low-carbon fuels
• Urge AC Transit to diversify its fleet size
• Fund Eco-pass for Berkeley residents/businesses
• Create transit specifically for hills (shuttle)
• Design shuttle systems for additional City neighborhoods and shopping districts
• Bring back electric street cars
• Better integrate existing transit agencies and opportunities
• Urge regional transit providers to provide a discount on advance purchases of long-term transit passes
• Promote Amtrak (Berkeley Amtrak Station) as a viable means of transit
• Alternative Fuels:
• Create more charging stations for electric vehicles
• Factor in the full lifecycle impact of bio-fuels before endorsing
• Offer free parking for electric and other alternatively-fuelled vehicles
• Create better signage for existing Center St. Garage charging station and ensure that non-electric vehicles do not block access
• Include 110 volt outlets for future charging stations (which is suitable for many existing electric vehicles)
• Purchase plug-in hybrids for City fleet
• Bicycling:
  • Bicycle safety should be a number 1 priority in the CAP…focus on making bicycle boulevards safer for families
  • Specifically address safety of crossing San Pablo Ave. and other major corridors on a bicycle
  • Identify a high-visibility bike project, i.e., close a stretch of Milvia to cars
  • Establish bicycle rental stations in the hills
  • Eliminate stop signs at traffic circles on bicycle boulevards
  • Devote one lane on Dwight Way, Claremont, MLK Way, and Cedar Street to bicyclists
  • Promote Berkeley Bide/Pedestrian bridge
  • Promote bicycle cabs and bicycle trailers
• Other:
• Prioritize accessibility for elderly/disabled
• Create monthly car free day
• Revise inventory methodology to include I-80 and VMT outside of City boundaries

Zero Waste:

• Plan should include an assessment of City’s progress toward achieving its Zero Waste goal
• Enhance capacity to process recyclables/compost locally
  • Transfer Station Rebuild: This will add processing capacity
  • Install an anaerobic digester
• Address City rate structure issues to better inventivize recycling/composting
• Create friendly competition around recycling
• Sustain BUSD recycling activities
• Emphasize reducing waste at its source
  • Extended producer responsibility
  • Increase education and outreach
• Ban plastic bags (including dry cleaner plastic bags)
• Encourage restaurants to use compostable take-out items
• Promote repair shops and tool lending library as a way to reduce consumption/waste

Building Energy Use:

• Renewable Energy:
  • Move forward on Community Choice Aggregation (use the term ‘Community Choice Energy’ instead)
  • Consider cooperative purchasing of solar power, whereby community members pool their purchasing power to get discounted rates on solar energy
  • Protect solar access for residential and commercial buildings
  • Create a wind energy park at the Berkeley marina
  • Create a centralized solar energy installation that feeds into the grid
  • Renewable energy should have its own chapter in the plan
  • City should encourage school district to put solar on all its schools
• Rental properties:
  • Require energy/waste audits in tenant-occupied units
  • Focus solar incentives on multi-unit buildings
  • Explore district energy for groups of multi-unit buildings
  • Focus outreach on making rental units more efficient
  • Identify and address additional barriers to reducing energy consumption in rental units (other than the split incentive barrier)
• Water & Energy:
  • Include specific strategies that reduce water consumption in urban areas
  • More explicitly make the connection between water consumption, energy, and GHG emissions
  • Require aggressive water conservation in all new buildings
  • Implement water recycling and grey water efforts throughout the City of Berkeley
  • Encourage composting toilets citywide
• Other Building Energy Use Comments:
  • Set a goal to achieve net-zero energy consumption in new Berkeley buildings by 2020
  • Implement the City’s sustainable energy financing district program
  • Grant developers exemption from certain zoning requirements if they achieve a certain level of green building
  • Require that all developers submit a “net-zero energy plan” for all new construction
  • Establish a maximum carbon per square foot ratio for new construction
  • Promote the preservation and adaptive reuse of existing buildings

Green Space, Trees & Urban Gardening:

• Encourage more urban green space/access to nature and community/neighborhood gardens
• City should work to increase number of street trees in Berkeley
• New buildings and developments should be accompanied by full street tree coverage
• Enact an “open space assessment fee” on new development in order to pay for the cost of creating additional green space in and around Berkeley
• Enact zoning ordinance amendments that promote green roofs
• Preserve green space in the region by purchasing conservation easements

Adaptation & Peak Oil:

• City should use, and encourage private property owners to use sustainable landscaping techniques that conserve water and require less energy to maintain
• City should better prepare for disruptions in oil supply and skyrocketing oil prices
• Adopt the “Oil Depletion Protocol,” which would commit the City to reducing oil consumptions and GHG emissions from oil consumption by 3% per year
• Localize: Highlight options for reducing “indirect” emissions, such as those that result from the transport of goods
• City should create more flood control measures in anticipation of rising sea levels
• Refer to East Bay Municipal Utility District’s most recent Water Supply Management Plan for statistics regarding impacts of climate change on water supply
• Build more effective storm water management and flood water control systems
• Restore and enhance riparian and wetland habitats
• Prohibit or minimize new impermeable surfaces and use permeable pavement where possible
  

Education & Outreach:

• Emphasize climate education in schools
• Create more resources that promote individual/household level action
• Establish a competitive grant program to fund art projects on the topic of climate change
• Plan a “Car-free Carnival” to celebrate alternative modes of transportation
• Integrate Peak Oil information into climate action outreach
  

Revenue/Funding Sources:

• Institute a carbon tax: Use the revenue to fund GHG-reduction initiatives
• Create a residential carbon market in which in which above-average utility consumers are charged a surcharge that the utility could then pass on to below-average users, either in the form of a rebate on their bill or an actual check

Other:

• Update the climate plan at least every two years
• PG&E Emissions Factor: Distinguish between average and marginal emissions factor
• More clearly state the assumptions that were used in estimating the GHG emissions forecast of Berkeley emissions
• UCB & LBNL: Emphasize coordination with these institutions and include their GHG emissions in the community-wide GHG inventory
• Coordinate local efforts with the State’s implementation of AB 32

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