HomeMy WebLinkAboutClimate Action Subcommittee Report 12 February 2025 1
Meeting Report:
Standing Subcommittee
on Climate Action
SUBCOMMITTEE MEETING DATE: 12 February 2024 SUBMITTED BY: Roy Clark, Chair
SUBCOMMITTEE NAME: Standing Subcommittee on Climate Action DATE SUBMITTED: 6 March 2025
SUBCOMMITTEE MEMBERS: Roy Clark (P), Kathy Cohn (P),
Bernard Rottner (P), P = Present, N = Not Present
NEXT SUBCOMMITTEE MEETING: 12 March
2025
PRESENTED FOR COMMISSION MEETING DATE: 18 March 2025
Subcommittee Goal: Develop and recommend policies and plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the City of
Palm Springs by 40% from 1990 levels by 2030. (Reference: Palm Springs Climate Action Roadmap, dated 28 October
2021) and develop and recommend policies and plans to assist Palm Springs residents adapt to ongoing climate change.
Summary of meeting
There were no public comments.
Staff Report
• Sustainability Specialist Wheeler provided a written report and additional comments.
• Earth Day and Arbor Day events will be at the end of April.
• The agreement for the Caltrans Heat and Shade Study has gone through legal review.
• The next shredding and e-waste event will be April 5 in the Convention Center parking lot.
• The next Community Clean-up will be March 29 at Racquet Club and Indian Canyon (District 2).
New Business
• Energy-Efficient Upgrade Ordinance
• CivicSpark Fellow Agtang provided an update on work on the ordinance.
• There have been meetings with stakeholders: Desert Valley Builders Association, Agua Caliente Tribal
Planning Council, PS Building Department
• Complexity of the ordinance and cost of projects are major concerns
Complexity issues are in the types of projects, enforcement, the points system, and implementation.
Cost issues are that compliance costs may be higher than original project costs for some project, and the
need for additional contractors may increase the time and cost of projects.
• The design criteria for the ordinance itself were discussed.
Previous criteria were to maximize GHG reduction and maximize cost savings for homeowners
Updated criteria are to minimize up-front costs and to minimize the complexity of implementation of the
ordinance.
• Next steps are to bring an updated ordinance to the Sustainability Commission, bring it as an information
item to the City Council, present it to the Tribal Planning Council, and (potentially summer 2025) bring it to
the City Council for a vote.
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• Heat and Shade Study
• Sustainability Specialist Wheeler is drafting an RFP for support on the study.
• It will include a heat study (hot zones); impacts of projections of increasing community temperatures in the
next ~30 years; canopy coverage to provide shade; shade equity; and identification of how people are
getting around.
• Potential solutions are trees, shade structures, and alternative transportation.
• RFP will be for consultants, management, transportation modeling, and urban design.
• Community engagement will be with committee meetings and working groups.
• Meeting time
• Climate Action Subcommittee meetings will be on the second Wednesday of the month (unchanged) at
1:00 pm (new time).
• Commissioner and Staff Comments
• Engage Palm Springs has a tool for providing input on road reconfiguration (bike lanes and sidewalks)
projects.
• The next meetings on road configuration on Racquet Club and South Palm Canyon will be February 25
and 26.
• Specialist Wheeler reported that CVAG is looking into adding connectors to the CV Link in the
communities it spans.
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Recommendations/Requests to Subcommittee
Continue to prioritize presentations to the subcommittee on organizations and on-going activities, internal and external to
the City
Airport expansion (Ref: Jan 25, 2024, City Council Meeting) (Airport General Manager)
Convention Center
Bicycle routes (Sustainability Specialist Wheeler and Engineering)
City fleet electrification (Director McCloy)
Sustainable transportation planning and EV charging
Parks Master Plan
New, as of March 13, 2024:
Energy-efficient construction, include LEED
Training to do energy audits, such as interface with the College of the Desert
Sustainability education program
Vehicle maintenance program with the College of the Desert
New as of May 8:
Commissioner Walker requested that the Office Sustainability look into potential community change grants under
the Inflation Reduction Act
Request To Commission Read this report and tell Subcommittee what you would like discussed
in more detail in Commission meeting
Request To Office of Sustainability Expand outreach and education to City Council, City staff, and other
commissions; meeting notices and written messaging; integrate
sustainability with other organizations
Support new activities:
Perform GHG inventory, 2020 update and new 2022 (CVAG and
PlaceWorks)
Identify the number of houses in the City with solar panels
Identify the number of electric vehicles registered in the City by
recent year
Survey how EV drivers in the City charge their vehicles
Investigate EV rideshare programs to serve disadvantaged areas
and Navigation Center
Potential Fiscal Impact/Request Unknown
Could be a lot of money required in the long term to implement
strategic activities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions