Agenda Report
Fullerton City Council
MEETING DATE: APRIL 2, 2024
TO: CITY COUNCIL / SUCCESSOR AGENCY
SUBMITTED BY: SUNAYANA THOMAS, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PREPARED BY: Taylor samuelson, senior administrative analyst SUBJECT: CALIFORNIA ENERGY COMMISSION GRANT AND APPROPRIATIONS FOR PERMIT STREAMLINING AND EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENTS
SUMMARY
City Council consideration to appropriate an $80,000 grant awarded by the California Energy Commission to support City compliance with Senate Bill (SB) 379, California’s solar permit automation statute.
PROPOSED MOTION
Appropriate receipt and use of $80,000 California Energy Commission grant award in Grant Fund (Fund 32).
ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS
Approve the Proposed Motion
No change
Other options brought by City Council.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the Proposed Motion.
CITY MANAGER REMARKS
The City Manager recommends appropriating $80,000 from the California Energy Commission grant.
PRIORITY POLICY STATEMENT
This item matches the following Priority Policy Statement:
Fiscal and Organizational Stability.
FISCAL IMPACT
Grant funding would provide year one coverage for features and initial $75,999 implementation cost for eReview digital permit workflow and Tyler Technologies licenses.
Annual software maintenance cost total approximately $12,000. The grant would offset $4,001 of maintenance costs in year two. Staff would incorporate subsequent years in future budget development processes.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
SB 379, also known as the Solar Permit Streamlining Act of 2014, is a California state law accelerating solar energy adoption by streamlining solar installation permitting processes. The law mandates local governments to implement an expedited and standardized permitting process for solar energy to reduce the time and costs to obtain solar installation permits and encourage adoption of solar energy technologies across the state. The City made significant strides in permit streamlining since the passage of SB 379, adopting a fully automated rooftop solar and energy storage system permit through partnership with SolarAPP+ and the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL). The City aims to implement an eReview feature for real-time collaborative plan-checking across all departments to further enhance these efforts, prevent redundant City business processes and ensure efficient coordination among stakeholders.
The City received an $80,000 grant from the California Energy Commission on May 18, 2023 to support SB 379 compliance. California Energy Commission funding may support subscription costs for permit tracking software in support of an adopted permit platform per Section 3-B (Attachment 1). The implementation covered under this contract would handle the primary business process for building permits, both residential and commercial, ensuring fully streamlined solar permits along with the 50 other permit types that fall under this category available for online submittal.
Staff anticipates implementation, training and roll-out would take four to eight weeks total, based on implementation in similar agencies.
Attachments:
Attachment 1 – California Energy Commission Grant Agreement Attachment 2 – Tyler Technologies eReviews Process
cc: City Manager Eric J. Levitt
California Energy Commission Grant
April 2, 2024 - Page 2