RESOLUTION NO. 24-168
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN CLEMENTE, CALIFORNIA, AMENDING THE EXISTING DEL MAR/DOWNTOWN AREA UNDERGROUND UTILITY DISTRICT NO. 02-01, CANCELING THE DEL MAR /DOWNTOWN AREA PHASE 2 UNDERGROUND UTILITY DISTRICT NO. 02-02, AND FINDING THE PROJECT CATEGORICALLY EXEMPT FROM THE CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT UNDER CLASS 2 (14 CCR 15302(D)) WHEREAS, on February 20, 2002, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 02-17 to establish the Del Mar/Downtown Area Phase I Underground Utility District No. 02-01 (UDD 02-01) and Resolution No. 02-18 to establish the Del Mar /Downtown Area Phase 2 Underground Utility District No. 02-02 (UDD 02-02) in accordance Chapter 13.36 of the Municipal Code of the City of San Clemente; and WHEREAS, on July 17, 2012, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 12-049 to expand UDD 02-01 and to include service connection and panel upgrades cost into the district; and WHEREAS, since December 31, 2023, SDG&E no longer provides funding allotments to cities to help fund Rule 20A undergrounding projects; and WHEREAS, the City’s current work credit balance for Rule 20A projects is $2,750,543 and SDG&E’s cost estimate for construction of Underground Utility District No. 02-01 is $19,056.727; and WHEREAS, on April 30, 2024, SDG&E requested that the City amend its Underground Utility Districts and/or cancel them per the time frame of the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) Decision D. 23-06-008; and WHEREAS, following notification to all affected property owners as required by law, a public hearing was held by the San Clemente City Council on November 19, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers, 910 Calle Negocio, San Clemente, California, to ascertain whether the public health, safety or welfare requires the removal of poles, overhead wires and associated overhead structures and the underground installation of wires and facilities for supplying electric, communication or similar or associated services, within the area shown in the attached Exhibit A; and WHEREAS, such hearing has been duly and regularly held, and all persons interested have been given an opportunity to be heard; and WHEREAS, Chapter 13.36 of the Municipal Code of the City of San Clemente provides that the supplying utility shall furnish all facilities and equipment as required by applicable rules, regulations and tariffs on file with the CPUC; and WHEREAS, the approved CPUC Rule 20A tariff for SDG&E allows, upon request by the City of San Clemente, use of the City of San Clemente’s Rule 20A allocations for the cost to: a) install no more than 100 feet of each customer's underground electric service lateral occasioned by the undergrounding; and/or b) convert a customer’s meter panel to accept underground service occasioned by the undergrounding, excluding permit fees; and WHEREAS, based on the Rule 20A allocation summary provided by SDG&E there are sufficient uncommitted allocations in the City of San Clemente’s Rule 20A work credit balance to provide for up to 100 feet of the expected cost of the customer service laterals, but not the private utility panel upgrades that may necessary.
NOW, THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of San Clemente does hereby find, determine and resolve as follows:
SECTION 1. That the above recitations are true and correct and incorporated fully herein.
SECTION 2. That based on a review of the record as a whole, the project is determined to be categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) under Class 2 (Replacement or Reconstruction, 14 CCR section 15302(d)) of the State CEQA Guidelines because it consists of replacement or reconstruction of existing structures and facilities where the new structure will be located on the same site as the structure replaced and will have substantially the same purpose and capacity as the structure replaced and there is no possibility of a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect significant effect on the environment. The project involves conversion of overhead electric utility distribution system facilities to underground including connection to existing overhead electric utility distribution lines where the surface is restored to the condition existing prior to the undergrounding.
SECTION 3. The City of San Clemente hereby finds and determines that the public health, safety, and welfare requires the removal of poles, overhead wires, and associated overhead structures and the underground installation of wires and facilities for supplying electric, communication, or similar or associated services, and that pursuant to Chapter 13.36 of the Code of the City of San Clemente, the Del Mar/Downtown Phase 1 Area Underground Utility District 02-01 (UDD 02-01) is hereby amended to the boundary area depicted in the attached Exhibit A, which is incorporated fully herein by this reference. Exhibit A is generally defined as the public alley approximately 150 feet west of El Camino Real between Avenida Cabrillo and Avenida Granada.
SECTION 4. The City Council does hereby order the removal of all poles, overhead wires, and associated overhead structures and the underground installation of wires and facilities for supplying electric, communication, or similar or associated services within the amended Underground Utility District 02-01 no later than December 31, 2033.
SECTION 5. The City Clerk is hereby instructed to notify all affected utilities and all affected property owners within said Underground Utility District of the adoption of this resolution. The City Clerk shall further notify the affected property owners that if they or any person occupying such property desires to continue to receive electric, communication, or other similar or associated service, they or any occupant at the property shall, by the date fixed in this resolution, provide all necessary facility changes on their premises so as to receive such service from the lines of the supplying utility or utilities at a new location, subject to applicable rules, regulations, and tariffs of the respective utility or utilities on file with the CPUC as of the date of adoption of this resolution. Such notification shall be made by mailing a copy of this resolution, together with a copy of said Chapter 13.36, to affected property owners as such are shown on the last equalized assessment roll and to the affected utilities.
SECTION 6. The City Council hereby finds that the Underground Utility District 02-01 herein amended is in the general public interest for the following reasons:
That undergrounding to be accomplished will avoid or eliminate an unusually heavy concentration of overhead distribution facilities; and That the Underground Utility District is in an area extensively used by the general public and carries a heavy volume of pedestrian or vehicular traffic.
SECTION 7. The City Council desires and formally directs that up to 100 feet of the customer service connections and associated costs related to the Del Mar/Downtown Area Phase I Underground Utility District No. 02-01 be provided by SDG&E using the City of San Clemente’s available Rule 20A allocations.
SECTION 8. The City Council desires and formally directs that the customer service panel upgrades and associated costs related to the Del Mar/Downtown Area Phase I Underground Utility District No. 02-01 be provided by SDG&E using the City of San Clemente’s available Rule 20A allocations only to the extent that cost savings of the project are available during design and construction.
SECTION 9. The City of San Clemente hereby cancels and terminates all aspects of the existing Del Mar/Downtown Phase 2 Underground Utility District No. 02-02.
SECTION 10. That City staff is authorized and directed to execute such documents and take such actions as are necessary and proper to accomplish the purposes of this resolution.
PASSED AND ADOPTED this _____ day of ____________________, 2024.
ATTEST:
___________________________ __________________________
City Clerk of the City of Mayor of the City of San
San Clemente, California Clemente, California
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF ORANGE ) §
CITY OF SAN CLEMENTE )
I, LAURA CAMPAGNOLO, City Clerk of the City of San Clemente, California, do hereby certify that Resolution No. 24-168 was adopted at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of San Clemente held on the _______ day of _______________________, _________, by the following vote:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the official seal of the City of San Clemente, California, this _____ day of _________________, ________. __________________________
CITY CLERK of the City of
San Clemente, California
Approved as to form:
___________________________
Elizabeth A. Mitchell, City Attorney
4882-9904-3949 v1
4882-9904-3949 v1
Resolution No. 24-168 Page 3
ATTACHMENT 1