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Belmont staff, consultants brief council on Climate Action and Adaptation Plan update; community workshops planned
Summary
City staff and consultants presented the scope, timeline and initial greenhouse-gas findings for Belmont’s Climate Action and Adaptation Plan update, laying out emissions baselines, state targets (SB 32 and AB 1279 references in presentation) and a schedule of community engagement culminating in a draft for council review.
City staff and consultants from Rincon Consultants presented an update on Belmont’s Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP) during the Sept. 9 council meeting. The update reviewed the city’s greenhouse-gas inventory, recent trends, state-aligned reduction targets and a timeline for community engagement and a draft plan.
Olivia Mendoza, Rincon project manager, told the council the CAAP update combines mitigation (greenhouse-gas reductions) and adaptation (preparing for heat, wildfire smoke, flooding and sea-level rise) and builds on the city’s 2017 climate plan. Mendoza said the city’s 2023 inventory shows on-road transportation and building natural gas are the largest local emissions sources and that a sharp reduction occurred after earlier switches to cleaner electricity supplies through Peninsula Clean Energy.
Rincon presented three forecast paths: business-as-usual, a forecast incorporating state legislation and a target pathway aligned with state goals. Mendoza said the plan will aim to align Belmont with state targets discussed in the presentation: SB 32 (40% below 1990 levels by 2030) and a longer-term target the presentation referenced as AB 1279 (carbon neutrality by 2045). The consultants said achieving those targets will require a mix of building electrification, reduced vehicle miles traveled through active transportation and transit, expanded EV charging, and waste-reduction strategies.
The project schedule calls for continued community outreach through September and January workshops, an online survey and draft measures development through early 2026, with adoption targeted in the fall 2026 timeframe. Rincon staff noted implementation challenges such as grant funding cycles, staff capacity and certain state-level constraints (for example, limitations on some local reach-code changes cited in the presentation). City staff said presentation materials and the community workshop slideshow will be posted to the project web page and encouraged residents to take part in the Sept. 11 workshop and ongoing outreach.
Speakers during public comment urged the council to incorporate early childhood and childcare facility resilience into climate planning; Build Up San Mateo County provided a written link and asked that the CAAP consider child-focused vulnerabilities and childcare providers’ needs.
