Piedmont resident Cisco DeVries will be the featured speaker at the Tuesday, October 6 Home Energy and Water Conservation Symposium at the Middle School library. DeVries earned an MPP from the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley and a BA from UC San Diego and is the co-founder and CEO of Renew Financial.

Renew Financial provides financing to homeowners for 100% of solar installations, super storage batteries or other home ecological project costs. The loans can be repaid over up to 25 years, expecting the project induced savings to offset the monthly repayment.

The October 6 symposium is sponsored by Piedmont Connect, Piedmont Middle School Green Team, and the League of Women Voters Piedmont.

Home Energy and Water Conservation Symposium

Piedmont Middle School Library

Tuesday, October 6, 7 – 9:30 pm

7 pm Keynote Speaker

Cisco DeVries, President & CEO of Renew Financial presents financing options and new developments.

7:30 – 8:10 pm, 8:15 – 8:55 pm  attend 40- minute presentations:

Solar Energy presented by Mel Burns, Domino, and Pete Shoemaker, Renewables Program Coordinator at PG&E Pacific Energy Center.

OR

Energy Upgrade Home Performance Speakers: Royal Huey, Green Pro Network and contractors.

OR

Water Conservation: Speaker: Tony Madrone,  Indra Designs.

9 – 9:30 pm Question and Answer Period

More details available at Piedmont Connect

The Budget Advisory & Financial Planning Committee will meet in the Police Department Emergency Operations Center, 403 Highland Avenue on Wednesday, September 23, at 6 p.m.  The Committee will review:

•   7- year Budget Projections
•  Parcel Tax
•  Future agenda items

The meeting is open to the public.  There will be no public broadcast of the meeting.

City staff prepared options for prohibiting or regulating AirBnB rentals for consideration by the City Council on Monday, September 21.

• Prohibit short-term rental of the 18 Second Units developed as low income housing. Staff strongly encourages the Council to adopt this provision, pointing out that the imposed rent restrictions would limit the AirBnB rate to $25 (very low income units) to $35 (low income units) per night for the units, before AirBnB takes its cut.
• Prohibit short-term rental of the 110 approved Second Units, which are not rent restricted. Staff notes that few are rented. Instead they are used as guest quarters or a home office.
• Prohibit short-term rental of the 66 apartments in Piedmont.
• No regulation of Home Swaps.
• Prohibit or regulate with standards short-term rental of rooms in a house. If allowed, the number of allowed rental days per year could be limited.
• Allow vacation rentals of whole houses with restrictions, perhaps limiting the number of allowed rental days per year.

Read the staff report here.

On April 17, 2015 and May 6, 2015, the City sent two page letters together with “Rental Tax Forms” notifying 13 homeowners that if they had short-term rental income in 2014 they were liable for the tax plus penalty of 50% or 100%. Also enclosed was an “Intent to Rent” form to be completed. The homeowners receiving the letters had been identified by City staff from listings on AirBnb.

The letters explained that under Piedmont’s current code it is legal to rent an entire residence while the owner is away, but it is not legal to rent any part of the residence for less than 30 days while  the owner is at home. The letters further noted that Planning Director Kate Black is developing regulations for short-term rentals.

Most of the 13 Piedmont homeowners responded promptly to the letters. Some had listed a short-term rental availability with AirBnb but subsequently removed their listing. One protested the high minimum tax, saying it would not be worth renting with such a high tax to pay. One expressed support for neighbors having short-term renters. Four owners did not respond. Three owners promptly paid their tax and penalty.

Read the staff report here.

Prop F Empowers Neighbors to Crack Down on Short Term Rentals in San Francisco – 

A proposition on the November 3 ballot in San Francisco takes an unusual approach to enforce limitations on AirBnB/VRBO/Flip Key type rentals. Prop F would prohibit short-term rentals of second units and limit other short-term rentals to 75 days per year, which is far more than the typical AirBnB online rental by San Francisco hosts. According to a report by San Francisco’s budget analyst, 70% of AirBnB hosts in the city rent only a few weekends per year, receiving a total annual payment of $3120 from AirBnB.

Prof F encourages neighbors within 100 feet to sue hosts of brief visitors renting through online services.  Plaintiffs who win in court would be entitled to special damages of $250 to $1,000 a day on top of attorney fees and costs. It also allows various parties to sue hosting platforms like Airbnb in addition to individual hosts.

Ballotpedia Sf reports:

This measure would impose restrictions on private, short-term housing rentals. It would restrict all such private rentals to only 75 nights per year and impose provisions designed to ensure such private rentals are paying hotel taxes and following city code. It would also require guest and revenue reports from rental hosts and “hosting platforms” every three months. Moreover, Proposition F was designed to prohibit the use of “in-law” units for short-term rentals and enact regulations concerning privacy, peace and quiet. Proposition F would allow enforcement of its provisions by the city, as well as authorizing private action lawsuits by “interested parties”—defined as anyone living within 100 feet—against those suspected of violating the law.

The initiative was motivated by and targets websites such as Airbnb or Homeaway, which feature rental listings nation- and world-wide. It was proposed by a coalition of unions, land owners, housing advocates and neighborhood groups called Share Better SF. In the interest of easy enforcement, the initiative would focus on penalties for websites that post rental listings that do not comply with city law, as well as punishing individual home owners or sub-leasers. The fines proposed for websites featuring illegal posts range from $250 to $1,000 per day for each non-compliant post. Estimates show the fines for a website such as Airbnb could add up to millions of dollars unless a way was found to keep listings in accordance with city law.

Airbnb has responded with a media campaign against the measure through a political committee, SF for Everyone, No on Proposition F.

Two related ordinances are under consideration by the city’s Board of Supervisors, one would limit short-term rentals to 60 days per year and the other would impose a  120 days per year limit.

Share Better SF web ad supporting Prop F.

Airbnb web ad opposing Prop F.

SF Chronicle article.

Landscape 1:  Ramona/Ronada Traffic Triangle.  A traffic island built to improve pedestrian safety that uses drought-tolerant landscaping.  Supported by the neighborhood, the project cost was $185,000 with $30,000 in private contributions ($25,000 from the Piedmont Beautification Foundation and $5000 from the neighborhood).  At this, the peak of the drought, the triangle is in full bloom.

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Landscape 2: the Highland Garden Walk.  A drought-tolerant landscape with pathways, pedestrian seating and themed gardens proposed to replace the Sheridan Avenue “crescent”, the swath of lawn where Sheridan runs into Highland Avenue. Supported by a majority of the neighborhood, the project is estimated to cost $90,000 and is in line for $30,000 in grant funding ($20,000 StopWaste, and $10,000 from EBMUD).  At this the peak of the drought, the project would replace an ornamental lawn that uses 600,000 gallons of water per year.

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The difference between the two projects?  The Traffic Triangle is completed and is an asset to the community. The Garden Walk is at a standstill and at risk of losing it’s funding.

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If you are interested in more details, watch the Park Commission meeting at minute 58 to see staff’s assessment of the project (http://www.ci.piedmont.ca.us/video/,  Park Commission, September 2 meeting).  The main reasons for the delay seem to be preference for the lush lawn and “50/50” support for the project by the Piedmont Beautification Foundation.  Additional meetings will be held to tweak the project but unless the design is resolved soon, funding for the project will be lost as well as the planting window for a new garden.

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The lawn at Sheridan and Highland Avenues is the most water-inefficient public landscape in Piedmont.  This small lawn uses 600,000 gallons of water per year, 4% of municipal water usage, yet goes virtually untrodden on by the public.  Commenters at the Park Commission suggested that the lawn provides a pleasant visual “drive by” landscape for Piedmonters.   I suggest they drive by the Sheridan lawn and the Ramona/Ronada Triangle today and see which provides a better visual drive by.

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Drought-tolerant landscaping is the future for California and Piedmont should take advantage of any available funding. Is the city’s legacy for the worst drought in California history going to be that it rejected funds to replace water-wasteful landscaping?   And how can the city honestly ask for neighborhood contributions when it won’t avail itself of these funds?

 ~

Garrett Keating, Former Piedmont Council Member

Editors’ Note:  The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Piedmont Civic Association. Comments on the opinions are welcomed.

Piedmonters were jolted this morning at 6:49 a.m. by a 4.0 earthquake on the Hayward fault, centered less than a mile from Piedmont. It occurred at a depth 3.3 miles according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). It was followed by an 2.3 aftershock at 7 a.m.

Helicopters circled over Piedmont and the Hayward fault for 30 minutes. No damage to transportation corridors was observed.

The quake was centered near the junction of the 24 and 13 freeways. Seven aftershocks followed.

BART halted service until 7:24 am for track inspection, also finding no damage.

Berkeley residents reported “pots and pans flying” and pictures sliding on walls.

Read more.

The Piedmont Park Commission will meet on Wednesday, August 5 at 5:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, located in City Hall, 120 Vista Avenue.

Agenda for the meeting:

Approval of June 3, 2015 minutes

Public Forum

Update on Linda/Kingston Triangle

Update on Hampton Sports Field

Update on Crocker Park Garage

Update on Highland Garden Walk

Monthly Maintenance report

Construction debris and removal dominate Council Agenda on July 20 –

The Piedmont City Council will meet Monday, July 20, beginning  with a Closed Session in the City Hall Conference Room at 7 p.m. for consultation with legal counsel on anticipated litigation. Any action taken will be reported in the following open meeting, expected to begin at 7:30 p.m. The public is invited to attend the public meeting in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 120 Vista Avenue.

Agenda:

A public hearing on an appeal of a Planning Commission approval. Staff Report

Consideration of $339,745 purchase of Motorola radios for Police, Fire Department and Public Safety. Staff Report

Consideration of agreement with Green Halo on reporting of construction debris and removal according to California law regarding recycling.  Staff Report

First reading of City Code amendment on construction debris and removal. California law requires construction waste management plans for new construction or additions costing $50,000 or more. Staff Report

The Police and Fire Pension Board meeting scheduled for Wednesday, July 22 at 4 p.m. in the Council Chambers was cancelled on July 16. A new date for the meeting has not been announced.