Council continues Trumark request to omit natural gas in Olson South Chandler subdivision

The Paso Robles City Council on July 15 continued consideration of a developer request from Trumark Homes to make natural gas installation optional for selected tracks in the Olson South Chandler specific plan.

Warren Frase, the city's community development director, said Trumark has purchased multiple subdivision tracks and is seeking an operating memorandum to the development agreement that would allow those tracks to be constructed as all-electric, without installing natural gas mains in the neighborhood local streets. Frase said the request would not change the specific plan generally or force a citywide policy; rather, it would let the developer choose not to install gas mains in those tracks.

Dana Gillespie, project manager for Trumark Homes, told the council the company's market experience shows no sales decline for all-electric homes and that the utility landscape has changed: she said the California Public Utilities Commission and PG&E structure penalties that can make installing gas infrastructure costly in certain situations. City and developer figures cited a potential penalty approaching about $1,000,000 across the affected phases if the lines were installed given the project's timing; Trumark said typical solar panels will be provided on the homes, while battery (Powerwall) systems would remain an optional upgrade.

Council members pressed staff and the developer on several points: whether mains in backbone roads would remain, whether laterals (the service connection from curb to individual houses) would be required, how PG&E capacity and grid resilience would be affected, and whether savings to the developer would be passed to buyers. Proponents said the backbone gas mains that serve other tracks would remain in place and that only local street gas mains would be omitted in the affected orange tracks. Opponents and members of the public raised reliability concerns: an in-home caregiver described an oxygen-dependent client who experienced a prolonged outage, and other public callers urged caution about relying solely on electric infrastructure in the event of extended outages.

Given those questions, council moved to continue the item and asked staff to return with additional clarification about development-agreement language, utility penalties and incentives, and options that would preserve buyer choice. The motion to continue passed unanimously.