Council reintroduces ordinance to revise utility undergrounding rules, adds exemptions for small projects and some schools

The council reintroduced Ordinance 2966, which would amend Redlands Municipal Code Chapter 17.17 to modify undergrounding-of-utilities requirements for subdivisions and development projects and to create exemptions for particular project types.

Director Desadnick told the council the amendment responds to situations where undergrounding costs make small nonprofit or private-school projects infeasible; the proposed changes would add exemptions for projects the city determines are infeasible and would preserve the remainder of the ordinance as presented on May 7. The staff report said the proposal is exempt from environmental review pursuant to CEQA Guidelines —50061.

Evan Sanford, executive director of the Redlands Chamber of Commerce, asked for clarifying information about whether there have been any undergrounding projects since 2008, the balance of funds held for undergrounding, and whether specific projects (Cypress and Lakeside in South Redlands) remain priorities. "Since 2008, it's the chamber's understanding that there has been no case of utility lines being undergrounded by the city," Sanford said, and he asked about project costs and fairness of exemptions.

Staff responded that the city has approximately $1,000,000 in an underground-in-lieu fund and an additional $2,000,000 that had been designated under an Edison program that is no longer active; staff said the Cypress project is under design and estimated at about $3,000,000, using both funds to complete that stretch. The policy rationale given on the dais was to allow small-scale projects and certain community-benefit projects (for example small private-school or nonprofit sites) to proceed without a prohibitive undergrounding cost burden while preserving the in-lieu fee program to pursue organized neighborhood-scale undergrounding when feasible.

Councilmember discussion noted concerns about fairness between projects that pay in-lieu fees and projects that receive exemptions; Councilmember (speaker) who requested the exemption said the Lutheran church across from Smiley School faced a $200,000 cost just to underground a small service area and that exemption could keep a community project viable.

The council voted to reintroduce Ordinance 2966 and place it on first reading; no final adoption occurred tonight. The item will return on the council agenda for subsequent reading and potential adoption following the formal ordinance process.