REPORT TO PLANNING COMMISSION
SUBJECT
Title
Recommend that City Council Introduce an Ordinance to Amend Title 19 (Zoning) of the Sunnyvale Municipal Code (SMC) and Update the Water-Efficient Landscaping Regulations per California Governor's Executive Order B-29-15 and make a Finding that the Project is Exempt from the Requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Sections 15307 and 15308
(Planning File: 2016-7032)
Report
BACKGROUND
Current Water-Efficient Landscaping Regulations and AB 1881
On May 12, 2010, the City adopted the water-efficient landscaping provisions in Sunnyvale Municipal Code Chapter 19.37 (RTC 10-104) to comply with the California Water Conservation in Landscaping Act of 2006 (AB 1881). That state law was passed in an effort to protect the state's increasingly limited water supply. The 2006 law tasked the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) with updating the model water-efficient landscape ordinance (MWELO) in 2009, which local jurisdictions were required to adopt in 2010, or adopt an ordinance that was at least as effective as the 2009 MWELO.
The City's current regulations are more stringent than those in the 2009 MWELO. The regulations were based on a regional model ordinance developed by the Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency (BAWSCA) and staff representatives from its member agencies, including Sunnyvale. BAWSCA is a state agency that represents the interests of 26 agencies in Santa Clara, San Mateo and Alameda counties that purchase water on a wholesale basis from the San Francisco Regional Water System. BAWSCA's regional model ordinance simplified the state requirements and was designed to achieve 25% in landscape water savings, exceeding the state mandated 20% reduction.
2015 California Executive Order
On April 1, 2015, California Governor Brown issued Drought Executive Order B-29-15, directing DWR to update the MWELO to address the current drought a...
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