Voluntary Electricity Conservation to Reduce Blackouts

The California Independent System Operator (ISO) issued a statewide Flex Alert, a call for voluntary electricity conservation through Wednesday, August 19, 3-10 p.m. each day.

ISO suggests simple actions to reduce energy consumption:

• Set your thermostat to 78° or higher between 3 and 10 P.M.
• Do not use major electric appliances between 3 and 10 P.M.
• Turn off unnecessary lights and electric appliances

The California Independent System Operator.manages 80% of California’s electric flow.  High temperatures have resulted in spikes related to air-conditioning demand.

Check the ISO current power outlook here.

The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) is highlighting ways Californians can conserve energy this week to avoid temporary energy service interruptions. Cal OES is also encouraging all Californians to take steps now to prepare themselves and their families should a temporary service disruption occur.

“Weeds, grass, vines, leaves, brush, diseased or dead trees, combustible growth, debris, or rubbish….

The second reading of the proposed stricter Piedmont Fire Code ordinance includes and broadens enforcement to all privately-held Piedmont property with expansive new regulations designed for Piedmont’s approximately 20% high fire hazard area.

“Standards for vegetation management described herein shall be applicable to and within private property located within the City bounds..”  Ordinance language

A second reading of the proposed ordinance for vegetation controls on all Piedmont private properties will be considered on:

Monday, August 17, 2020, 6:00 p.m., by the Piedmont City Council.

 California state law requires property owners in specific high fire hazard, wildland-urban border areas to maintain a 30 feet of open space cleared of vegetable fuel surrounding their homes, barns, garages and other structures. Most of Piedmont is not in the state defined high fire hazard zone, however the 30 foot distance will also be required by the ordinance of all Piedmont residential properties. See link in staff report below. 

The vast majority of Piedmont dwellings do not have a 30 foot open space perimeter between their homes, so it is not possible to have 30 feet of defensible space as specified in the ordinance. The City policy of allowing reductions in distances between neighboring structures presents a fire safety threat unaddressed in the ordinance. 

“In many cases in Piedmont, dwellings are situated less than 8 feet apart, and fires can easily spread from house to house and are more readily spread upslope in the direction of prevailing winds.”  Ordinance language

Landscaping, plant choices, site planning, fencing, and safety are regularly considered by the Planning and Park Commissions and Public Safety Committee. Piedmont’s applicable Commissions and Committee have not been asked to consider the ordinance.  

Removal is required of hazardous vegetation or combustible materials including, but not limited to weeds, grass, vines, leaves, brush, diseased or dead trees, combustible growth, debris, or rubbish capable of being ignited and endangering property. 

Currently, the Fire Department notifies property owners of identified fire safety threats. The proposed ordinance will subject violators to penalty fines. Decisions regarding compliance are made by the Fire Code Official, who will have “discretion in their enforcement, so as to be reasonable in their implementation.”  Exceptions are not noted within the ordinance.

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3. Penalties. Violations of this section shall be subject to penalties. Penalty amount may be established by resolution of the City Council. If penalty amounts have not been established by resolution of the City Council, violations of this section shall be punishable by fine in the amounts specified in Government Code section 51185.”

Items included in the proposed new ordinance:

“B. Vegetation management requirements.

Standards for vegetation management described herein shall be applicable to and within private property located within the City bounds, unless stricter requirements apply under section 8.14.050 due to being located in a designated very high fire hazard zone, and failure to maintain property in accordance with such standards shall subject the responsible person to fine and/or abatement in accordance with chapter 1 or chapter 6 of this code.

1. Developed parcels.

For any parcel developed with a dwelling unit, or developed with any other structure or structures required to obtain a building permit prior to construction, each responsible person for such parcel shall ensure that vegetation on Attachment A the parcel is maintained in accordance with the requirements below. Each responsible person shall:

a. Cut down, remove, or reduce any hazardous vegetation or combustible material. Hazardous vegetation or combustible materials include, but are not limited to weeds, grass, vines, leaves, brush, diseased or dead trees, combustible growth, debris, or rubbish capable of being ignited and endangering property.

[The following has been noted as impossible in most of Piedmont.]

b. Maintain a defensible space of at least 30 feet from the perimeter of each building or structure located on a parcel. The size of the defensible space area may be increased or decreased by the fire code official based on site-specific analysis of local conditions, which include, but are not limited to, considerations of: the size of the property, whether the property is located on a steep slope, whether property located in an exposed windswept location, the fire risk that the vegetation surrounding the property poses, the proximity of adjacent structures and risk to such adjacent structures, and whether the vegetation surrounding the property is regularly maintained or pruned. A responsible person is not required to manage vegetation located beyond the property line of the subject parcel.

c. Maintain any space that is within 3 feet from a roadway clear of any flammable vegetation, and maintain a 15-foot vertical clearance, free of vegetation, above roadways including streets, driveways and rights-of-way.

d. Remove or trim any vegetation that is deemed by the Fire Marshal to impede emergency vehicle access.

e. Remove all portions of trees within 10 feet of functioning chimneys or stovepipe outlets.

f. Maintain the roof and gutters free of leaves, needles, or other dead/dying wood.

g. Remove brush and tree limbs that are within six feet of the ground from mature trees.

h. Remove flammable vegetation and limbs from trees that may pose a fire and/or safety hazard to the home or property.

i. Install a spark arrestor on functioning chimneys or stovepipe outlets.

2. Vacant parcels.

For any vacant parcel in the city, each responsible person for such parcel shall ensure that vegetation on the parcel is maintained in accordance with the requirements below. Each responsible person shall:

a. For parcels with an acreage that is 0.5 acres or less, the responsible person shall clear the entire lot of flammable vegetation and maintain it to a height of 6 inches or less.

b. For parcels with an acreage that is greater than 0.5 acres, clear the area that is one hundred feet along the perimeter of the property line of flammable vegetation and maintain such vegetation to a height of 6 inches or less. A responsible person is not required to manage vegetation located beyond the property line.

c. Maintain any space that is within 3 feet from a roadway clear of any flammable vegetation, and maintain a 15 foot vertical clearance, free of vegetation above roadways including streets, driveways and rights-of-way.

d. Remove flammable vegetation and limbs from trees that may pose a fire and/or safety hazard from the property.

e. Remove brush and tree limbs that are within six feet of the ground from mature trees.

…….

“8.14.060 Definitions. In this division:

Defensible Space means the area adjacent to a structure or dwelling where wildfire prevention or protection practices are implemented to provide defense from an approaching wildfire or to minimize the spread of a structure fire to wildlands or surrounding areas, as provided in Government Code section 51177(a).

Flammable vegetation means: (1) vegetation, brush, or grasses, which is dry, dead, or dying and which is over six inches in height; or (2) vegetation which has a high resin or sap content including but not limited to Arborvitae, California Bay, Cedar, Cypress, Douglas Fir, Eucalyptus, Fir, Juniper, Palm, Pine, Spruce, Yew, California buckwheat, California sagebrush, Chamise or greasewood, Laurel sumac, Manzanita, Pampas grass, Rosemary, Scotch broom, Spanish Broom, Sugar bush, and Toyon and which is over six inches in height.

Responsible person means any natural person or a corporate entity that is the owner, occupant, lessor, lessee, manager, licensee, or other person having physical or legal control over a structure or parcel of land.

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To READ the proposed Piedmont ordinance and staff report, click below:

– Confirmed Covid-19 Positive Test Results Stand at 27* for Piedmont as of August 13, 2020 –  

*Updated to 29 positive results – August 19, 2020 – 

While the current figure appears to reflect a sudden August surge, that may not be the case.  In a Zoom presentation to supporters of San Francisco Opera on Wednesday evening, August 12, Piedmont Epidemiologist George Rutherford pointed out that the virus tracker system had broken and the data was being corrected.  Catching up with the figures can create the appearance of a surge that is actually a correction covering longer periods. Rutherford indicated there were surges in April and again in June.

Piedmont Police Department Press Release –

On July 19th, an armed robbery occurred on Caperton Avenue in Piedmont. The victim and his daughter were confronted by an armed suspect, who displayed a handgun, and demanded the victim’s wrist watch. The suspect fled with an additional suspect in a black sports type car.

Detectives were able to identify a possible suspect vehicle by utilizing the Department’s Public Safety Cameras. Further investigation revealed that this armed robbery vehicle was associated to several other robberies in Berkeley and Orinda. Detectives from the three agencies, working together, were able to confirm the same vehicle, and suspects had committed robberies in all three cities.

Search and arrest warrants were obtained and served on Wednesday, July 26, 2020.

SHANE DOWNS, JOHN DOWNS, and GRACE MURPHY were arrested on the 5800 block of Adeline Street in Oakland. The suspects were individually charged with several crimes including; robbery, probation violations, gang enhancements and firearms charges.

The following three suspects were booked into Santa Rita Jail:

SHANE DOWNS – Oakland resident born in 1997

JOHN DOWNS – Oakland resident born in 1995

GRACE MURPHY – Oakland resident born in 1964

Anyone with information and/or inquiries related to this case are asked to please contact Detective Jeff Spranza or John Lagios at (510) 420-3013.

Piedmont Police Announcement:

We are proud to announce that this week we have added seven Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) cameras to our fleet. ALPR software is a technology that uses cameras to automatically read license plate characters. The cameras capture license plate information and transmit plate data to a database, which can run a check for stolen vehicles, Amber Alerts, Silver Alerts, missing persons and wanted people.

The data is used for legitimate law enforcement purposes with a right to know and need to know reason, which is highly protected.

We are committed to keeping Piedmont safe for everyone by capitalizing on evolving technology and always striving to be more effective in our ability to protect our community.

Piedmont Police Department News Release

All Piedmont properties are potentially impacted.

A first reading of a newly proposed ordinance for vegetation controls for all Piedmont properties will be considered Monday, August 3, 2020, 6:00 p.m., by the Piedmont City Council.

The proposed fire code ordinance broadens requirements to include all of Piedmont, rather than specifically identified high fire hazard areas.  California state law requires property owners in high fire hazard, wildland-urban border areas to maintain a 30 feet of open space cleared of vegetable fuel surrounding their homes, barns, garages and other structures. 

The vast majority of Piedmont dwellings do not have a 30 foot open space perimeter between their homes, so it is not possible to have 30 feet of defensible space as specified in the ordinance. The City policy of allowing reductions in distances between neighboring structures presents a fire safety threat unaddressed in the ordinance.

Piedmont’s Park Commission, Planning Commission, and Public Safety Committee have not been presented as advisors with the ordinance prior to the Council consideration. Landscaping, planting choices, and safety are regularly agendized by the commissions and committee. 

“The City’s recommendations were developed with extensive research by staff including consultation with the State Fire Marshal’s Office as well as CalFIRE Planning and Land-use personnel. The specific elements of the Fuel Reduction and Vegetation Management standards were developed from National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), the California Fire Code, and extensive review of policies and practices from other regional jurisdictions as noted in Attachment B.” City Administrator report linked below

Items included in the proposed new ordinance:

a. Cut down, remove, or reduce any hazardous vegetation or combustible material. Hazardous vegetation or combustible materials include, but are not limited to weeds, grass, vines, leaves, brush, diseased or dead trees, combustible growth, debris, or rubbish capable of being ignited and endangering property.

b. Maintain a defensible space of at least 30 feet from the perimeter of each building or structure located on a parcel. The size of the defensible space area may be increased or decreased by the fire code official based on site-specific analysis of local conditions, which include, but are not limited to, considerations of: the size of the property, whether the property is located on a steep slope, whether property located in an exposed windswept location, the fire risk that the vegetation surrounding the property poses, the proximity of adjacent structures and risk to such adjacent structures, and whether the vegetation surrounding the property is regularly maintained or pruned. A responsible person is not required to manage vegetation located beyond the property line of the subject parcel.

c. Maintain any space that is within 3 feet from a roadway clear of any flammable vegetation, and maintain a 15-foot vertical clearance, free of vegetation, above roadways including streets, driveways and rights-of-way.

d. Remove or trim any vegetation that is deemed by the Fire Marshal to impede emergency vehicle access.

e. Remove all portions of trees within 10 feet of functioning chimneys or stovepipe outlets.

f. Maintain the roof and gutters free of leaves, needles, or other dead/dying wood.

g. Remove brush and tree limbs that are within six feet of the ground from mature trees.

h. Remove flammable vegetation and limbs from trees that may pose a fire and/or safety hazard to the home or property.

i. Install a spark arrestor on functioning chimneys or stovepipe outlets.

2. Vacant parcels. For any vacant parcel in the city, each responsible person for such parcel shall ensure that vegetation on the parcel is maintained in accordance with the requirements below. Each responsible person shall: Attachment A Agenda Report

a. For parcels with an acreage that is 0.5 acres or less, the responsible person shall clear the entire lot of flammable vegetation and maintain it to a height of 6 inches or less.

b. For parcels with an acreage that is greater than 0.5 acres, clear the area that is one hundred feet along the perimeter of the property line of flammable vegetation and maintain such vegetation to a height of 6 inches or less. A responsible person is not required to manage vegetation located beyond the property line.

c. Maintain any space that is within 3 feet from a roadway clear of any flammable vegetation, and maintain a 15 foot vertical clearance, free of vegetation above roadways including streets, driveways and rights-of-way.

d. Remove flammable vegetation and limbs from trees that may pose a fire and/or safety hazard from the property.

e. Remove brush and tree limbs that are within six feet of the ground from mature trees.

3. Penalties. Violations of this section shall be subject to penalties. Penalty amount may be established by resolution of the City Council. If penalty amounts have not been established by resolution of the City Council, violations of this section shall be punishable by fine in the amounts specified in Government Code section 51185.

“8.14.060 Definitions. In this division:

Defensible Space means the area adjacent to a structure or dwelling where wildfire prevention or protection practices are implemented to provide defense from an approaching wildfire or to minimize the spread of a structure fire to wildlands or surrounding areas, as provided in Government Code section 51177(a).

Flammable vegetation means: (1) vegetation, brush, or grasses, which is dry, dead, or dying and which is over six inches in height; or (2) vegetation which has a high resin or sap content including but not limited to Arborvitae, California Bay, Cedar, Cypress, Douglas Fir, Eucalyptus, Fir, Juniper, Palm, Pine, Spruce, Yew, California buckwheat, California sagebrush, Chamise or greasewood, Laurel sumac, Manzanita, Pampas grass, Rosemary, Scotch broom, Spanish Broom, Sugar bush, and Toyon and which is over six inches in height.

Responsible person means any natural person or a corporate entity that is the owner, occupant, lessor, lessee, manager, licensee, or other person having physical or legal control over a structure or parcel of land.

READ > Designating Very High Fire Severity Zones and Adding Additional Fuel Reduction and Vegetation Management Requirements to the City Code 

Oakland’s approach.

Oakland homes adjacent to the East Bay Regional Parklands are instructed to:

30 feet of Lean, Clean and Green

• Remove all dead plants, grass, weeds and overgrown brush.
• Clean leaves, needles, and debris from roofs and rain gutters.
• Keep tree branches 10 feet away from chimney, roof and other trees.
• Move firewood and fuel tanks 30 feet from house.
• Remove all items from under deck. Do not use this space for storage.
• Fire harden your home. Install fine wire mesh over roof, eave and foundation vents.

Piedmont does not border on East Bay Regional Parklands.  Oakland provides an exception for specimens of trees, ornamental shrubbery, and ornamental ground cover even on the Wildlife-Urban border.

City of Oakland Section 4907 Defensible Space – Amend Section 4907 as follows:

Add: 4907.2 Defensible Space. Persons owning, leasing, controlling, operating or maintaining buildings or structures in, upon or adjoining the Wildland-Urban Interface Fire Area and persons owning, leasing or controlling land adjacent to such buildings or structures, shall:

Maintain an effective 30-foot defensible space by removing and clearing away flammable vegetation and combustible growth from structures.

Exception: Single specimens of trees, ornamental shrubbery or similar plants used as ground covers, provided that they do not form a means of rapidly transmitting fire from the native growth to any structure.

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READ the proposed Piedmont ordinance below:

What is a Safe Social Distance?  Where did the 6 foot Rule Originate?

A Journal of the American Medical Association article by a particle fluid dynamicist at the Massachusetts Institutes of Technology suggests unmasked people might do well to stay more than 27 feet apart (8.2 meters) to avoid infecting one another.  It finds “wearing of appropriate personal protection equipment is vitally important for health care workers caring for patients who may be infected, even if they are farther than 6 feet away from a patient.”  See American Medical Association article here.

The World Health Organization recommends three-feet is wide enough social distancing based on the 1930s practice in treating tuberculosis.  But in 2003 it was found that SARS infections were communicated between people six feet apart—not three.  See December 2003 New England Journal of Medicine article here.

All of these distance reports focused on droplets, which fall.  However, the much smaller aerosols linger and move through the air as they are evaporating.

The Alameda County Public Health Officer ordered face coverings be worn at all times in public, if you are or are likely to be within 30 feet of another person outside of your household:

A person does not need to wear a Face Covering when outdoors alone or with a member of their Social Bubble and they have a Face Covering visible and immediately ready to cover the nose and mouth (such as hanging around their neck) and nobody else (other member of their own Social Bubble) is outdoors within 30 feet (10 yards) of them. It is recommended that people from the same household or living unit wear a Face Covering when outside, even if others are not nearby, any time others may appear without much notice.

Read the Alameda County Public Health Officer order on face coverings here.

On June 18, 2020  California’s Governor Newsom declared Californians must wear face masks in public under State coronavirus order.  A few days later the Governor threatened to withhold $2.5 billion in the upcoming budget from local governments if they don’t enforce the state’s orders on wearing masks, testing and other measures in place to slow the spread of COVID-19. 

From late May through July 2, 2020 Piedmont’s Confirmed Positive Covid 19 Test Results remained at a total of 13.  On July 3 an additional reported case brought the total to 14.  Some joggers, bikers, skateboarders, dog walkers, and others are still out and about in Piedmont without face coverings despite the Governor’s threat to withhold State funds from Cities that do not enforce masks/face coverings.

Our neighbor Oakland’s total has continued to grow, reaching  2,587 Confirmed Positive Covid 19 Test Results as of July 3.

The Coronavirus Tracker of the Bay Area reports daily the latest Positive tests.  Follow the numbers daily here.

Council Seeks Ways for Both Real Property Transfer Tax and General Obligation Bond on November Ballot.

At the Special Council meeting on June 29, 2020, the Council met a complicated set of financing options to deliberate.   After several hours of considering the pool closure and alternatives, a lawyer, financial advisor, Director of Finance, City Administrator and the Council attempted to provide a way of financing improvements to City facilities.

The Community Pool was considered primarily for a bond measure, however many roadblocks arose on the timing and advisability.  The cost for a new Aquatic Center has been roughly estimated up to twenty million dollars.

Some wanted public safety needs to be on the ballot separately from the recreation facility improvements, while others wanted all desirables together on the ballot.

Complex financing mechanisms were suggested from Certificates of Participation to lease back of City facilities. Problems with a bond measure preparation and timing appeared to be disappointing news for the Council, most of whom seemed unfamiliar with the various financing mechanisms.

It was noted that Piedmont would receive a AA+ rating for bonds, as “the City does not hold any debt.”  No mention was made of the money currently borrowed from the State to finance Piedmont’s sewer rehabilitation projects.

The Real Property Transfer Tax (RPTT) increase was discussed and is likely to be approved for the ballot.  Council members noted the RPTT  is levied only at the time a property is sold bringing them to believe the one time expense would be acceptable to voters.

A poll was professionally conducted to determine if voters would likely approve the taxes, and the poll showed passage would be difficult to pass at the 66 2/3 rds level.

Facing a tight August deadline for putting any tax measures on the November ballot, the Council will consider the measures at upcoming meetings.