San Luis Obispo City Council
April 7, 2026

General Plan Annual Report 2025
36 eventually be warranted, depending on the program’s ability to meet community needs, reduce LE and FS resource impacts, and decrease hospitalization and arrest/jail time.

In 2025, the MCU responded to a total of 143 calls for service and 2,234 field contacts. These field contacts enabled the MCU to provide transport to alternate facilities (other than local hospital emergency departments) a total of 69 times. Working with stakeholders, the MCU Team also facilitated the reunification of 25 individuals with their family, friends, or other out-of-area support networks.

Training
Climate Adaptation and Safety Element (CASE) Program OP-7.18 “Staff Training,” states that the City will train firefighters, police officers, building inspectors, and public works and utilities staff to levels appropriate for their tasks and responsibilities. As of 2025, the Fire Department employed 49 sworn positions and 12.5 non-sworn positions for a total of 57.5 full-time employees.

Fire Department employees logged nearly 19,121 hours of training in 2025. Employees eligible to participate in the Joint Apprenticeship Committee (JAC) registered a total of 9,942 hours in 2025. The JAC provides reimbursable funds back to the department. JAC training resulted in over $47,000 in funds returned to the department in 2025, a $15,000 increase from 2024. These funds are held by the JAC program and can be used to support the department’s training program upon approval from the sub-JAC committee, which is comprised of department and labor group leadership. The department has also reached an Instructional Service Agreement (ISA) with Allan Hancock College, which allows it to receive compensation for the training of personnel who do not qualify for the JAC program.

Non-sworn employees attended several key training courses in 2025 to maintain skill levels appropriate for their tasks and responsibilities. Some of this training included attendance at the biannual California Conference of Arson Investigators and State Fire Investigation training. Our Fire Mechanic staff attended training to maintain their certifications and to learn about new technologies in fire apparatus, including electric fire apparatus, which are becoming more common across the nation.

Training Officer: The Training Captain oversees the Injury Prevention Program, which has continued to show success in reducing hours lost to work-related injuries. Prior to the start of the program in 2019, the Fire Department recorded 11,550 hours of work comp time lost. In 2025, comp time hours lost decreased to 3,487 hours, a 70 percent reduction. The new positions help provide consistent and reliable administration and coordination of all mandatory, recertification, and recommended in-service training and safety programs for emergency response, which is necessary as the increasing complexity and evolving service demands call for specialized instruction. In addition, the Fire Training and Safety Officer responds to emergency incidents in the primary role of operational support and as the incident safety officer, identifying and addressing preventable accidents or potentially unsafe situations.

The Training Captain oversaw a four-person recruit academy and continues to provide oversight of probationary firefighters during their rotations and testing at the six- and twelve-month marks of their probation.

General Plan Annual Report 2025
37 As part of the Injury Prevention Program, a new vendor, Pinnacle Fitness, provides more comprehensive physical
examinations for all suppression members and fire
prevention staff. The vendor offers in-house blood
testing, physical exams, fitness assessments, cancer
screening, hearing screening, and vision screening. The increased cancer screening aligns with NFPA
recommendations for professional firefighters.

The Deputy Chief manages the Fire Intern Program. In
2025, the Fire Department employed five interns,
sponsoring two interns through a Firefighter 1 academy
at Allan Hancock College. The program was expanded to
include the fire prevention bureau, mechanic shop,
MCU, and emergency management division. Fire interns
were able to interview for areas in which they had particular interest or experience. Through the internship program, the Fire Department is a certified internship site for Cal Poly psychology students, currently providing a six-month internship for a psychology student.

Interagency Training: The Training Division coordinated joint training with inter and intradepartmental entities, preparing our employees for all types of emergencies. Those included:
• USAR H70 Helicopter Training - Irish Hills
• Open Space Mapping - City GIS Department
• County Structure Burn: Prepares members to extinguish and rescue victims from live structure fires.
• Cal Poly Response: Training on Cal Poly Campus for various disciplines including open space rescue, technical rescue on campus, industrial accidents at the new dorm construction site, and large scale MCI response.

Wellness and Fitness Initiative (WFI): The WFI program was created in 2018 to enhance the fitness, health, and wellness of Fire Department emergency response staff, strengthening the department’s ability to provide service to the community. In 2025, the wellness team helped provide funding for more comprehensive annual physical exams.

California Incident Command Certification System (CICCS): The California Incident Command Certification System (CICCS) is a cooperative effort between the State Fire Marshal’s Office and the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services, Fire and Rescue Branch. CICCS is an allhazard qualification and certification system that enhances the State of California’s ability to deploy firefighting resources to complex and catastrophic incidents with trained and qualified personnel. The system includes the development of personnel in key field positions of the ICS system, as well as minimum training standards, qualifications, and experience requirements when assigned to wildland/urban interface incidents.

To achieve these standards and qualifications, personnel must meet the minimum requirements for each ICS position they choose to work in. Prospective candidates are required to complete

General Plan Annual Report 2025
38 multiple week-long classes, then submit an application that includes certifications from the required classes, documentation of experience, and a letter of support from their respective fire department. This application is reviewed by the CICCS committee for approval to become a trainee in the position. Trainees are then required to open a task book, which involves participating in all-hazard incidents under the supervision of a trainer. During this period, trainees are taught and evaluated on specific aspects of the position. Completing the task book often takes two or more years and multiple incident assignments. Once the task book is complete, all documentation is submitted to the CICCS committee for final review and approval to work in the position.

These expanded roles provide personnel with greater depth of knowledge and qualifications, which further enhance departmental capabilities. By being qualified in multiple ICS positions, personnel can serve both within their department and in other jurisdictions in the event an incident, improving overall emergency response capacity.

Emergency Management
Climate Adaptation & Safety Element (CASE) Policy OP-7.1, Emergency Preparedness and Response, ensures that the City of San Luis Obispo and all relevant City departments maintain adequate planning, organization, and resources to effectively prepare for and respond to emergencies. In 2025, City staff made significant progress toward meeting this policy through coordinated planning, training, public education, and emergency readiness initiatives, as summarized below.

Coordinated Emergency Planning & Training: CASE Program OP-7.15 directs the City to operate within the Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS), the National Incident Management System (NIMS), the National Response Framework (NRF), and to participate in periodic, multi-jurisdictional disaster response exercises. CASE Program OP-7.18 further requires the City to conduct Emergency Operations and Emergency Services response exercises for nonnuclear hazards, while also coordinating participation in required nuclear disaster preparedness exercises.

In , the City’s Emergency Manager ensured that the Fire Department maintained an effective and comprehensive emergency management program, including emergency planning, training, staff preparedness, community preparedness, and hazard mitigation project support. During the year, the Emergency Manager and San Luis Obispo Fire Department staff participated in multiple functional and full-scale emergency exercises, including a FEMA-evaluated Emergency Monitoring and Decontamination (EMAD) drill coordinated by the San Luis Obispo County Office of Emergency Services, a Cal Poly full-scale Emergency Operations Center (EOC) exercise, a City of San Luis Obispo EOC drill, and a First Responder Point of Distribution (FRPOD) drill focused on vaccine administration. These exercises strengthened interagency coordination, tested emergency communications and decision-making processes, and reinforced operational readiness across departments and partner agencies.

The Fire Department continued close coordination with all City departments to ensure that employees, including City Council members, completed required SEMS and NIMS training.

Completion of this training is a prerequisite for eligibility for Federal Emergency Management

General Plan Annual Report 2025
39 Agency (FEMA) disaster assistance. Staff also worked closely with Human Resources to integrate required disaster training into onboarding for new employees. This program will continue to expand with additional Disaster Service Worker (DSW) training citywide.

The Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) describesthe City of San Luis Obispo’s policies and concept of operations for responding to major emergencies or disasters that could affect the health, safety, and property of the public within the City and exceed the capabilities of day-to-day city operations. The EOP includes hazard-specific annexes, including Earthquake, Hazardous Materials, Multiple Casualty, Transportation, Fire, Civil Disturbance-Terrorism-Active Shooter, Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, Adverse Weather, Extended Utility Disruption, and Pandemic. This plan will be reviewed and exercised periodically and revised as necessary to satisfy changing conditions and needs.

Preparedness Education: CASE Program MH-1.10
directs the City to work with community
organizations to educate residents and households
on strategies to increase preparedness for
emergency events and climate-related impacts. In
2025, the Fire Department conducted a broad range
of public education and outreach efforts to improve
community disaster readiness. These efforts included
wildfire preparedness events, community flood
readiness outreach, the Fire Department’s annual
Fire Prevention Week Open House, participation in a
Parks & Recreation Monday Meet-Up event, and
continued support of Firewise neighborhood
education and engagement activities, including the
countywide AlertSLO public notification program.

In addition, the Emergency Manager conducted
multiple preparedness-focused radio and television
interviews to provide timely safety messaging and
emergency preparedness information to the public.

Staff also delivered preparedness presentations to
the Downtown Business Association, church groups,
and other community organizations, helping to
extend preparedness messaging to residents, businesses, and vulnerable populations.

Staff continued to disseminate preparedness flyers and videos developed through the Prepare SLO campaign to ensure the public had access to current and reliable information. These resources are available through the Fire Department’s website and social media platforms and support ongoing community awareness and resilience efforts.

SLO Fire Dept. Preparedness Education

General Plan Annual Report 2025
40 Risk Reduction and Fire Prevention
Hazard Mitigation: The most recent update of the City’s Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP) was completed in 2025 as the Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan, which is
pending adoption by the City Council after review and
approval by the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA) and the California Office of Emergency Services
(CalOES). This HMP serves as the mandatory update to the City’s 2020 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan. The HMP is
incorporated by reference into the CASE and should be
consulted when addressing known hazards to ensure the
general health and safety of people within the City of San Luis Obispo. It provides guidance on how to reduce the
community’s vulnerability to natural hazards. The plan calls for annual stakeholder meetings at the County level to
review progress and identify collaborative opportunities.

The City is required to maintain a current HMP, which must be updated every five years, and in 2023 signed a letter of commitment to participate in the 2025 MJHMP update with the County of San Luis Obispo. Maintaining a current HMP allows the City to apply for State and Federal reimbursement in the event of a disaster.

Program FI-5.12 of the CASE states that the City should continue to implement the City’s Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) to reduce wildfire risk in the City’s wildland-urban interface, including implementation of the CWPP Tactical Policy Measures that focus on four key policy areas: community education, fuels management, planning, and emergency response preparedness. As part of hazard mitigation, SLOFD finalized the City’s first CWPP in July 9. The CWPP is a collaborative plan designed to guide the City in addressing fire protection planning efforts to minimize wildfire risk to watershed lands, assets, firefighters, and the public. It presents the City’s physical and social characteristics, wildfire history, and evaluates landscape-scale fire hazard variables; utilizes priority landscape datasets to assess wildfire risk; identifies strategic measures for reducing structural ignitability; provides guidance for public education and outreach; and identifies fuel reduction goals and techniques for minimizing wildfire risk. The CWPP is intended to be a living document, managed and updated by the Fire Department with stakeholder input and involvement.

Staff utilized the plan to act in 2025 to guide public education and fuel reduction efforts. City staff continued to provide wildfire preparedness tools to the community through news releases, webinars, social media, and a Wildfire Readiness Night held in June. The Fire Department also coordinated with the Office of Sustainability and Natural Resources and the Parks and Recreation Ranger Service to conduct fuel reduction efforts along San Luis Obispo Creek, the Irish Hills Open Space, San Luis Drive, and Cerro San Luis Open Space.

Multi-Dwelling Property Inspection Program: Under the direction of the Fire Marshal, the Fire Prevention Bureau inspects all multi-dwelling properties (three or more units) in the City to ensure that they meet fire and life safety standards set by the California Fire Code. This statePage 156 of 261 General Plan Annual Report 2025
41 mandated program helps safeguard residents and visitors who patronize local hotels and generates approximately $350,000 in annual revenue to offset implementation costs. The Fire Prevention Bureau conducted inspections of apartments, hotels, and fraternity and sorority houses in 2025, achieving 100 percent compliance.

Fire and Life Safety Inspections: In 2025, 1,800 inspections were completed in the City of San Luis Obispo. These inspections included new and existing businesses, annual inspections, and fire and life safety systems. The Fire Prevention Bureau (FPB) maintained a 97 percent compliance rate for all fire and life safety systems in the City. Life safety systems include fire sprinklers, fire detection systems, and commercial kitchen hood systems. FPB staff also completed 428.66 hours of plan review. A portion of these inspections resulted in Fire Code operating permits, generating approximately $100,000 in annual revenue.

Hazardous Materials Inspections: The Fire Prevention Bureau serves as a “Participating Agency” in the County’s Certified Unified Program Agency (CUPA). Businesses that use or store hazardous materials in appreciable quantities, generate hazardous waste, or operate underground or aboveground petroleum storage tanks are subject to inspection. The Hazardous Materials Coordinator conducted 325 facility inspections in 2025, an increase from 288 in 2024; of these, 109 were also Fire Department Operational Permitted Programs. The overall program generated approximately $214,000 in revenue in fiscal year 2024-2025.

Vegetation Management: In July 2025, the
Fire Prevention Bureau took a proactive
role in weed abatement. The Bureau
mailed 76 courtesy letters to property
owners with a history of enforcement. Due
to the early notification, only two dozen
follow-up enforcement actions were
required, resulting in compliance within 30
days. Vegetation management achieved
100 percent compliance across the City.

The Fire Department continued to support
the Natural Resources and Parks and
Recreation Ranger Service in fuelreduction projects within City-owned open space and creek corridors. In 2025, City staff conducted fuel reduction work along the Bob Jones Bike Trail and San Luis Obispo Creek between Prado Road, Los Osos Valley Road, and San Luis Drive. Staff removed dead and downed material and smaller vegetation from the creek, creating a shaded fuel break along the creek corridor behind the Water Resource Recovery Facility and other nearby critical facilities.

Fuel reduction efforts also continued in the Bowden Ranch Open Space and Cerro San Luis Natural Reserve, with support from Ranger Service’s Open Space Technicians (supplemental staff positions) and assistance from California Conservation Corps crews. In the fall of 2024, staff received notification of a grant award from CalFIRE to purchase two large woodchippers to Bob Jones Trail

General Plan Annual Report 2025
42 support hazardous fuel reduction in high-fire-risk creek areas. The chippers were received in late 2025 and will be fully implemented in 2026.

In 2025, the Fire Department worked closely with the County Fire Safe Council to support vegetation management projects through 2026, including planning and fuel-reduction efforts to reduce wildfire threats surrounding the City, with a strong focus on the Irish Hills, Miossi Ranch, and Reservoir Canyon areas. Grants secured through the Fire Safe Council funded hazardous tree removal throughout the City and grazing along San Luis Obispo and Prefumo creeks.

Fire Hazard Severity Zones and WUI Code Implementation: In March 2025, the State of California released updated Fire Hazard Severity Zone (FHSZ) maps reflecting the latest science on wildfire behavior, climate conditions, topography, and vegetation. These updated maps identify areas of elevated wildfire risk within the City of San Luis Obispo and serve as the regulatory basis for future wildfire-related planning, development standards, and community risk-reduction efforts. The maps identify more than 2,800 parcels within the City limits that fall within the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone (VHFHSZ).

Following the release of the maps, the 2025
California Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI)
Code was issued at the state level for
adoption and implementation by cities
beginning in January 2026. In October, City
staff held a public study session with the City
Council to explain the updated fire hazard
maps and WUI code requirements and to
clarify how state standards are applied and
interpreted locally. This session was
intended to support transparency, technical
understanding, and informed policy
decision-making.

In November 2025, the City Council formally
adopted the 2025 California WUI Code,
along with the updated 2025 California
Building and Fire Codes. Before and after
adoption, the City leveraged publications,
public messaging, and community outreach to inform residents, property owners, and development professionals about the changes and their future implications.

To further support community preparedness and compliance, the Fire Department was awarded a FEMA Fire Prevention and Safety Grant in 2025. This funding enables the Department to begin offering voluntary Detailed Home Assessments to property owners, providing site-specific guidance on defensible space and home-hardening measures. These assessments are intended to help residents prepare for future wildfire resilience requirements, including anticipated legislation related to Zone 0 ember-resistant standards. 2025 Local Responsibility Area Fire Hazard Severity Zone Map

General Plan Annual Report 2025
43 Critical Facilities Locations and Reducing Structural Hazards:

CASE Program OP-7.12 identifies City facilities that are essential to community function and emergency response and directs the City to avoid locating new critical facilities within designated flood hazard areas, wildfire hazard zones, earthquake fault zones, or other special hazard areas. Where critical facilities are already located within these zones, the program requires the City to identify and, where feasible, implement mitigation strategies to reduce associated hazard impacts.

In 2022, City staff initiated a project in coordination with the California Joint Powers Insurance Authority (CJPIA) to install seismic sensors in select critical facilities to support rapid postearthquake assessment of potential structural impacts. The sensors were installed, and the project was completed in 2024. In 2025, the devices were removed following the evaluation period, with lessons learned informing future approaches to post-earthquake structural assessment and critical facility resilience.

Police Department
CASE Program 9.4 states that the City will train police officers and other City employees to levels appropriate for their tasks and responsibilities. In 2025, the Police Department employed 63 sworn positions and 34 nonsworn positions, for a total of 97 full-time employees.

As noted in the 2018 Capital Facilities Fee Program
Nexus Study (i.e. AB 1600 Nexus Study), the service
population totals a combined 72,800 workers and
residents. With the current 63 sworn officers, the service level is a ratio of 0.87 sworn officers per 1,000 service population. At General Plan buildout, the service
population is forecasted to grow by approximately 15,500 persons. If the same service level ratio is applied, the City would need 13 additional sworn officers by 2035.

The Police Department had 59 sworn officers back in 2002 and has not experienced significant sustained growth in personnel over the past 20 years, while the City has continued to grow in area and population. In 2024, the Police Department completed a comprehensive staffing study that was presented to the City Council in January 2025. The study recommended 55 action items for the Department, including the addition of 14 full-time employees to enhance service delivery to the community, 11 of whom would be police officers.

In 2025, the Police Department completed its second year of work effort on the five-year strategic plan. Year 1 and 2 action items included completion of a department-wide staffing study; use of data-driven policing tools to reduce crime; establishment of an online recruitment portal to enhance hiring efforts; improvements to the Department’s physical fitness facility; development of a central resource guide for employee wellness information; updates to bodySafeHub Seismic Sensor

General Plan Annual Report 2025
44 worn and in-car camera systems; exploration of options to enhance community communication; expansion of community presence; and enhancement of the Department’s training program.

Staff Training: The California Commission on Peace
Officer Standards and Training (POST), which mandates
minimum content and hours for basic and in-service
training, also regulates the training of police officers and communication technicians. In 2025, the Police
Department maintained compliance with POST
requirements for in-service training hours by sending
employees to POST-certified courses on various topics - costs of which were reimbursed by POST - and by
providing in-house training. Employees utilized a
combination of online, in-person, and SLOPD-hosted
training to ensure all staff maintained their required
training hours.

In 2025, the Department continued its commitment to having 100 percent of staff trained in Crisis Intervention Training (CIT). New employees are sent to CIT training as soon as possible to maintain a fully trained CIT staff. The primary goal of CIT is to reduce injuries to officers and mental health consumers during interactions, while appropriately redirecting consumers from the judicial system to services and support needed to stabilize them and reduce future police contact. CIT training ranges from 8 to 40 hours depending on the course, and the San Luis Obispo Police Department is committed to ensuring all staff receive the full 40-hour course as soon as possible.

The San Luis Obispo Police Department (SLOPD) also conducts in-house training using employees who are certified instructors in a variety of police-related functions, including defensive tactics, mobile field force, active shooter response, and firearms use. In addition to standard police training, the Department continues to support training efforts related to the Peer Support Team, which was created to assist officers following tragic or traumatic events. The Peer Support Team istrained to address a wide variety of issues and can provide direct counseling or refer individuals to appropriate resources. The team also produces a monthly employee wellness newsletter to provide ongoing outreach and information to staff. Additionally, Peer Support has shared its expertise and experience with surrounding law enforcement agencies in response to critical incidents in those jurisdictions.

Mutual and Automatic Aid – Police: Section 9.10 of the CASE indicates that the City will work with other jurisdictions to obtain and maintain adequate mutual-aid and automatic-aid agreements. The Police Department provides officers to assist surrounding law enforcement agencies with various special events, including parades, protests, and large-scale investigations.

Typically, officers assist many local police departments, including Santa Maria, Pismo Beach, Paso Robles, Morro Bay, Atascadero, the California Highway Patrol, and the County Sheriff’s Department. In return, many of these agencies assist SLOPD with several of itslarge-scale events, including St. Patrick’s Day and the annual Holiday Parade.

General Plan Annual Report 2025
45 Since 2008, the City has participated in a regional Special Weapons and Tactics Team (Regional SWAT). The Regional SWAT team allows participating cities to leverage limited resources and maximize coordination and specialized expertise during critical incidents. The SWAT team responds to incidents throughout the county and conducts twice-monthly training exercises, along with scenario-based training days in conjunction with the City’s Crisis Negotiation Team.

Community Action Team (CAT): The CAT Team continues to identify problems and crime trends that negatively impact the quality of life for residents, business owners, and visitors. The Team works collaboratively with patrol officers, investigators, the Neighborhood Outreach Manager, other City departments (Fire, Ranger Service, Public Works and Utilities, Community Development), social service providers, business groups, and other governmental agencies as appropriate to provide a trauma-informed care approach that connects the City’s most vulnerable residents to resources and services. The CAT Team hasfocused on individuals involved in adverse and repetitive criminal activities that negatively affect the community. In 2025, CAT engaged with 798 individuals and made 164 treatment referrals to mental health and substance abuse services. Additionally, CAT facilitated two family reunifications for individuals experiencing homelessness.

The CAT Team includes one police officer, a Community Resources Officer, a Licensed Psychiatric Technician from County Behavioral Health, and a Community Resources and Services Specialist.

Community Service Officers: The growth and
rebranding of the Community Services Officer
(CSO) program, formerly known as Field Service
Technician (FST), was a strategic expansion aimed
at tripling the program's capacity and enhancing
the City’s commitment to the well-being of the
Downtown Core and the broader community.

Since then, the CSO program has played a pivotal
role in delivering personalized services to the
business community, residents, and visitors.

The primary objective of CSOs is to address
quality-of-life issues efficiently. These non-sworn
officers promptly respond to both non-criminal
and criminal infractions, including, but not limited
to, drinking, smoking, noise disturbances, blocking
the right-of-way, and minor disturbances of the peace. In 2025, the CSO program demonstrated significant impact and success in addressing crime and quality-of-life issues. CSOs have effectively responded to infractions and misdemeanors, contributing to a safer and more harmonious downtown environment. That year, CSOs issued 443 citations for offenses such as public alcohol consumption, littering, smoking, and unregistered vehicles, along with 189 cite-and-release arrests for alcohol, drugs, theft, tows, and trespassing. While many of these incidents reflect their dedicated efforts downtown, enforcement has been carried out citywide, and their presence has been felt through the rapid resolution of incidents.

Community Service Officer Team, 2024

General Plan Annual Report 2025
46 CSOs have actively engaged in building effective partnerships with various community stakeholders. This collaborative approach not only fosters a sense of community but also allows sworn police officers to concentrate on more serious calls for service. The CSO team maintains a visible presence in the community, utilizing a range of patrol tactics, including bikes, vehicles, and predominantly foot patrols. CSOs have proven to be a force multiplier for the Police Department, and the strategic allocation of these resources has improved overall service delivery, providing assistance more efficiently.

The success of the expanded CSO program over the past few years represents a significant step toward creating a safer, more vibrant downtown community. This initiative has strengthened the bond between law enforcement and the community, fostering a collaborative and secure environment for all.

Neighborhood Wellness
Land Use Element Program 2.14 states that the City will help identify neighborhood problems and undertake a wide range of focused development review, capital improvement, and code enforcement efforts to help residents preserve and enhance their neighborhoods.

Code Enforcement – Community Development Department
The City’s Code Enforcement Office reports directly to the Community Development Department’s Chief Building Official and is responsible for prioritizing, responding to, investigating, and enforcing the validity of all reported violations relating to several regulations.

It is the goal of code enforcement to gain compliance utilizing the lowest level of enforcement mechanisms and techniques possible. Staff is responsible for ensuring compliance with state and local laws relating to:
• Building and Zoning Requirements
• Property Maintenance
• Graffiti
• Abandoned Shopping Carts
• Conditional Approvals and Permits
• Setbacks, Fence Height
• Polystyrene/ Straws/Water bottle
• Signs
• Land Use
• Health & Safety Concerns
• Unpermitted Construction
• Improper Occupancy
• Substandard Buildings
• Dangerous or Unsecured Buildings
• Animal & Waste
• Noise & Odor
In 2025, Code Enforcement staff responded to 1,259 requests for investigation. This represents a 9.9% decrease compared to the previous calendar year; however, compared to the last five years, it represents a 121% overall increase from 2021-2025. In total, 163 Neighborhood Preservation cases and 183 additional Code Enforcement cases were opened during 2025.

Additionally, 278 investigation requests resulted in confirmed violations and were resolved without escalated enforcement, resulting in a total of 624 cases addressing confirmed violations, as shown below in Table 15.

General Plan Annual Report 2025
47 Table 15 - Code Enforcement Statistics, 2021-2025
Source: Community Development Department, 2025
Neighborhood Outreach – Police Department
Police Department SNAP employees (Student Neighborhood Assistance Program) continue to conduct parking enforcement and respond to noise complaints in neighborhoods during evening hours. In 2025, SNAP responded to 570 noise complaints and issued 300 Disturbance Advisement Cards (DACs). DACs are formal warnings that carry no financial penalty but place the property on the noise “no warning” list; future noise complaints are investigated by patrol. SNAP also continued parking enforcement in residential districts, issuing 3,626 citations in 2025 for violations such as no permit, fire lanes, blocking hydrants, and parking in disabled spaces without placard.

In June 2025, Wilshire Community Services declared bankruptcy and closed. The SLO Solutions community mediation program, run by Creative Mediation was part of Wilshire, ceased operations with the closure. In December 2025, the Police Department, in collaboration with City Administration, Cal Poly, and Cuesta College, began discussions on revitalizing the community mediation program.

Data for the first six months of 2025 for the SLO Solutions program was not available.

Noise abatement in neighborhoods continues to be a priority for maintaing civility and community wellness. Figure 3 below provides a monthly overview of noise complaints throughout the year.

Voluntary party registration remains an effective tool for residents hosting social gatherings at their homes. Registration allows residents to notify SLOPD of their event so that, if a noise complaint is received, police dispatch can call the host and issue a 20-minute warning to reduce noise. In 2025, 4,453 party registration applications were received, 353 applications were approved, 50 warning calls were made, and six citations were issued to party hosts who did not heed their warning.

General Plan Annual Report 2025
48 Figure 3 - Monthly Noise Party Calls for Service, 2025 Conservation & Open Space
Conservation and Open Space Protection was identified as a Major City Goal (Climate Action, Open Space, and Sustainable Transportation) in the Fiscal Year 2023-2025 Financial Plan, as well as the new 2025-27 Financial Plan (Open Space, Climate Action, and Resilience). The General Plan includes numerous goals, policies, and programs focused on open space protection. These policies apply to sensitive lands within the City’s urban reserve, as well as to land in the San Luis Obispo Greenbelt that is protected for its biological, agricultural, aesthetic, and watershed protection value. Further details are provided in the Land Use and Circulation Element and the Conservation and Open Space Element. Highlights for 2025 include:
• Righetti Hill: On May 13, 2025, the
City hosted a ribbon-cutting
ceremony for Righetti Hill Open
Space and officially opened the 51-
acre property to the public. The site,
one of San Luis Obispo’s striking
Morros, features over two miles of
sustainably built trails. The City
received a dedication of Righetti Hill
within the Orcutt Area Specific Plan
and Natural Resources, along with
the Ranger Service staff to establish
a new open space and trail system. The Righetti Hill Open Space Conservation Plan was Righetti Hill Open Space Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony

General Plan Annual Report 2025
49 adopted by the City Council in 2023. Phase 1 of the trailsystem and trailhead was completed in early 2024, with additional trails finished in 2025. • City Farm SLO: The City continued to support and partner with City Farm SLO to deliver sustainable agriculture education for students and the community, while producing healthy local food. In early 2022, a 40-year lease extension was granted to City Farm SLO reflecting the successful long-term partnership and City Farm SLO’s plans for significant capital improvements at the property. In 2024, City Council authorized a financial contribution by the City of San Luis Obispo to complete additional road maintenance on the driveway access from the end of Calle Joaquin to provide a 20-foot-wide all-weather access road on the City owned property. City Farm is currently constructing a 2,000 square foot agricultural pole barn structure onsite for storage and wash/pack operations for the farm. Architectural review was completed by the City in 2025 and 2026, as required by the lease agreement, and Building permits were issued for the new structure. The pole barn is being funded by a grant from the State of California Department of Food and Agriculture. In 2025, the City Council approved a lease amendment with City Farm SLO to include an additional 1.5 acres to their area, and City Farm SLO was successful in securing a $75,000 grant from the California Farmland Conservancy Program, to activate this site for farming. The City will continue to further augment the efforts at the City Farm site with in-kind services and support as part of the Major City Goal work program.
• Invasive Species and Restoration: The City continued invasive species vegetation control, focusing on French broom along Froom, Prefumo, and San Luis Obispo Creeks. Once the invasive plants were removed, native trees and vegetation were planted to restore habitat.

Restoration efforts included the installation of butterfly gardens in City and neighborhood parks and medians to support the Mayor’s Monarch Pledge, a partnership with the National Wildlife Federation. With the installation of educational signage (in English and Spanish) and a demonstration nectar garden in Mission Plaza to educate visitors, staff plan to expand planting and educational efforts along the Mission Plaza Walkway with grant funding secured.
• Cultural Fire: In December 2025, the City
hosted a cultural burn at Johnson Ranch
Open Space. The burn was conducted by the
yak titʸu titʸu yak tiłhini Northern Chumash
Tribe (ytt) with support from CalFIRE. It was
the third Indigenous-led cultural fire hosted
on City Open Space since the first burn in
June 2024. In 2022, the City adopted the
Climate Adaptation and Safety Element
(CASE), which aims to incorporate
traditional ecological knowledge - such as
cultural burns- to help the community adapt
to climate change. Good fire reduces fuel
loads and decreases the likelihood of catastrophic wildfires that can cause safety risks, Cultural Burn at Johnson Ranch Open Space

General Plan Annual Report 2025
50 property damage, and poor air quality. Tinɨtyu ("Good Fire") can also enhance biodiversity, increase the abundance of foraged food, encourage the growth of high-quality plant material, reduce plant diseases and insect infestations, and improve hunting conditions. • Johnson Ranch Riparian Restoration: In
2025, the City continued implementing
restoration work at Johnson Ranch. This
project is funded by a $250,000 grant from
the Wildlife Conservation Board and Point
Blue Conservation Science. The approach
relies heavily on City partners, such as ytt,
who are leading perennial grassland
restoration efforts on the banks of Dry
Creek, while Nature’s Engineers installed
and are maintaining 30 Beaver Dam Analogs
(BDAs) in Dry Creek to retain water longer into the dry season, improve groundwater recharge, and improve steelhead habitat. ECOSLO is leading volunteer-driven native tree and shrub plantings in the creek corrridor. Together, these restoration activities sequester carbon while making Dry Creek and Johnson Ranch more resilient to climate change. Staff also continue to engage Cal Poly professors and students to provide hands-on education through the “Learn by Doing” approach in open space monitoring and restoration projects. • Staff continued to support the Public Works and Utilities Department in implementing the Stormwater Management Program as required by the Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB). The program focuses on improving stormwater quality through Best Management Practices (BMPs), including construction site monitoring, municipal operations, development review, litter control, installation of projects addressing the Pathogen TMDL, and public participation to reduce pollution runoff.
• Staff continued steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and Pacific lamprey (Entosphenus tridentatus) surveys along San Luis Obispo and Stenner Creeks with biologists from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Staff collaborated with CDFW to tag juvenile steelhead to better understand migratory patterns, timing, and population trends, and to expand future monitoring efforts. • Staff also began cataloging potential sites for new oak trees planting and initiated installation of oaks to expand the existing oak forest on several City open space properties, including Terrace Hill, Bowden Ranch, and Cerro San Luis. These projects were completed in collaboration with Rotary clubs, volunteers, and the California Conservation Corps and will support the City’s “ Tall” goal of planting , trees by . • City staff partnered with the California Conservation Corps (CCC) through the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) program to help implement the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) and Integrated Vegetation Management Plan for Open Space Lands of San Luis Obispo.

Through this partnership, CCC members worked in Bowden Ranch to remove dead, downed, Johnson Ranch Open Space

General Plan Annual Report 2025
51 and burned material as well as ladder fuels following the October 2023 Lizzie Fire. Staff also collaborated with the FireSafe Council and PG&E on a major fuel reduction and cleanup effort in response to the fire and continue to additional projects to enhance community protection along the WUI.

Parks & Recreation
Throughout 2025, the Parks and Recreation Department offered programs and activities in senior programming, youth activities, and family-friendly community events, with an emphasis on community building to support objectives associated with the Parks and Recreation Blueprint for the Future (Element and General Plan), Major City Goals, and Local Revenue Measure G . The following sections highlight the divisions and programs that support the Major City Goals and the Parks & Recreation Blueprint for the Future.

Community Programming
Youth Sports: The City provides accessible recreational youth sports opportunities for children of all abilities and experience levels through instructional clinics and sports leagues that focus on building confidence, teamwork, integrity, and leadership skills. The City continues to work collaboratively with local youth sports groups, the San Luis Coastal Unified School District (SLCUSD), and the SLO County YMCA to meet community needs.

Youth Sports Clinics, offered by Parks and Recreation staff, continued to provide a variety of sports and fitness activities in 2025. Throughout the year, eight separate clinics were offered twice a week, including pickleball, soccer, basketball, t-ball, and volleyball, serving over 125 youth athletes.

Community Services staff provided two and a half weeks of full-day Summer Sports Camp during the summer, with 180 youth participants. This camp has quickly become a favorite summer option and is offered during the weeks when the Youth Services traditional summer camp is not in session, providing continuous childcare opportunities for the community.

The Sports Division continued the longstanding San Francisco Junior Giants summer program (baseball and
softball), serving 175 youth athletes and
over 50 volunteer coaches. This free,
non-competitive, eight-week program
focused on skills and drills, training,
gameplay, and weekly Junior Giants
topics designed to build resiliency.

Other annual youth leagues, offered in
partnership with the Channel Islands
YMCA (San Luis Obispo County), include
the Basketball and Futsal leagues. The
winter youth basketball league enrolled nearly 700 children, with 110 volunteer coaches. City Youth Futsal Game

General Plan Annual Report 2025
52 staff served as weekly referees for Saturday games at five locations throughout the City. The spring Futsal program had over 370 youth participants and 55 volunteer coaches. The Division also provided focused, hands-on sports officials training before the start of the season and distributed communications to families and coaches outlining expected and appropriate conduct.

Adult Sports: Adult recreational sports
continue to provide the community with
a variety of activities for both adult and
senior populations. These activities
include drop-in opportunities such as
boomer softball, ultimate frisbee, table
tennis, volleyball, dodgeball, and
basketball. Scheduled community sports
programs include adult soccer, offered
in partnership with Central Coast Soccer,
and affordable pickleball lessons
through the SLO Pickleball Club. New in
2025, the Division launched an adult
volleyball league, serving 80 players across 10 teams.

The largest and most staff-intensive adult league is the year-round softball league, which consists of three seasons (Spring, Summer, and Fall) serving between 700 and 730 participants with 45- 50 teams per season. Games are held four nights per week, with Sports staff serving as umpires at all locations throughout the City.

Community Building Programs:

The Department continued to assess and
expand accessible, low-cost activities that allow
the community to connect and enjoy all that San
Luis Obispo has to offer through enhanced yearround programming.

Throughout 2025, staff coordinated popular
community events, including the Leprechaun
Lost event at the Farmer’s Market in March, the
Spring Fling and Egg Hunt at Meadow Park, and
the summer “Monday Meet-Up” nights at local
parks, featuring music, food trucks, public art
and activities. Highly attended fall events
included the September Scramble, with over
600 participants, and the October Boo Bash,
which featured a movie and haunted house and set a record attendance of over 600 community members of all ages.

Contract Classes: The City’s external instructor partners offer a range of classes for youth and adults. Parks and Recreation staff coordinated over 750 class registrations for courses in art, dance, fitness, financial planning, and even surfing.

Leprechaun Lost Event at the Farmer’s Market
Softball League Champions

General Plan Annual Report 2025
53 Community Gardens: The five Community Gardens in the City continued to bloom with the support of staff through regular maintenance. Staff coordinated six volunteer workdays, as well as free composting days for gardeners through the City’s Hitachi Zosen Inova (HZI) program. With support from the garden intern, a quarterly gardening newsletter was produced, providing important reminders, seasonal tips and tricks, recipes, service opportunities, and highlighting a “favorite” garden plot.

SLO Senior Center: The City continued
to support senior programming and the
Senior Center Board with a half-time
Coordinator who continues to expand
programs and services in partnership
with the Senior Board. In 2025, City
funded and coordinate programs
included:
• Family Trivia Nights: a multiage event
held 19 times throughout the year.
• Around-the-Town staff led tours; six different tours led throughout the year, including Dalidet Adobe Gardens and a downtown public art tour.
• Family Barbecue events during the summer and winter.
• Music and dancing events: six events including a partnership with the SLO Winds Orchestra.
• Hiking and Walking Program: 12 SLO Hikers events and 10 SLO Walkers events, each led by City staff.
• New Yoga for Seniors (and all ages) 11-month program.

Jack House and Gardens: The Jack House Gardens event season was closed for most of 2025 due to a roofing project from March to August. During this time, the Volunteer Coordinator worked with the Jack House docents to inventory house items, prepare for upcoming tours, research other historical properties, and develop a framework for succession planning for a program that relies heavily on a volunteer docent coordinator. When the House reopened in the winter, it hosted the annual Holidays at the Jack House over a two-month period, with weekly attendance exceeding historical numbers, including over 120 visitors on any given Sunday.

Youth Services
School Year Childcare: During the 2024-2025 school year, childcare continued to be offered before and after school to children enrolled in grades TK through 6th grade at five San Luis Coastal Unified School District (SLCUSD) elementary school sites: Bishop Peak, CL Smith, Hawthorne, Pacheco, and Sinsheimer Elementary Schools (except for Teach Elementary, whose students are bussed to the nearby Pacheco Elementary site). To keep childcare costs low, increase access, and Family Barbecue Event

General Plan Annual Report 2025
54 promote inclusion, staff continued to use a drop-in care registration system, allowing families to pay only for the time their child attends rather than registering by week or month. While this system requires more staff time and administrative effort, it benefits families by charging only for care used, rather than a flat “use it or lose it” rate, and allows more children to enroll despite fluctuating schedules.

Programs continued to operate during
traditional time frames: before school,
midday for TK and Kindergarten
students, and after school. Due to
limited facility space at each campus,
waitlists were managed throughout
the school year. District construction
projects at all of the school sites
continued, resulting in shifting spaces to provide care. At two school sites, the licensed childcare program operated on the school stage, creating additional challenges, as the stage is a central location used for lunch, PE, or other programming while children were present.

For the 2024-2025 school year, the District continued its partnership with the City to support younger students. Instead of the City providing family-paid childcare during traditional TK/Kinder program hours (8:30 a.m. to the start of the school day and from school dismissal until 2:50 p.m.), the District used Extended Learning Opportunity Program (ELOP) funds to cover childcare for all TK/Kindergarten students during this time. The District also extended the school day for Kindergarten students. This arrangement resulted in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), with the District paying directly for the costs associated with children attending during these program hours.

During the 2024-2025 school year, 564 children were enrolled into the City’s licensed before- and after-school program (paid for by families or subsidized through CAPSLO or City scholarships), with 777 time slots of care provided. In addition, 438 TK/Kindergarten children received care during the District-paid hours (8:30 a.m.– 2:30 p.m.). Combined, the City provided daily care to more than 863 children - the highest number to date.

Challenges in increasing attendance continued, as the school district is currently undergoing construction at all school sites using funds from a recent bond measure. As a result, some childcare programs have been confined to operating on a stage in a multipurpose room or sharing a classroom, with the understanding that opportunities for growth will follow once construction is complete.

Summer and School Break Care:

In summer of 2025, the City provided two camp models: the traditional summer camp program (Ultimate Day Camp, or UDC) and a summer school option offered in partnership with SLCUSD (Summer Fun Day Camp, or SFDC). UDC included seven weeks of full-day camp for approximately 105 children each week, featuring field trips, swim outings, and special on-site events.

General Plan Annual Report 2025
55 Staff coordinated field trips to locations
throughout the City and County, including
Mustang Waterslides, Avila Beach, the Santa
Barbara Zoo, Boomers, and Mustang Lanes,
as well as biweekly trips to the SLO Swim
Center and Sinsheimer Park. Since the
pandemic began, City transit and local buses
have not been available for summer camp
transportation. As a result, the program
incurred additional costs to hire a charter
bus, allowing children to participate in
traditional field trips, including twice-weekly
visits to the SLO Swim Center. Prior to the
pandemic, the camp was held at Sinsheimer
Elementary School, which allowed campers to walk to the SLO Swim Center. However, in summer 2025, Sinsheimer was unavailable due to construction, requiring the use of a charter bus for swim trips. For many campers, these outings provide their only opportunity to swim recreationally during the summer, as their families work and are unable to take them outside of camp hours.

Enrollment in the package-price program
decreased slightly in 2025, while
participation in the District’s free summer
school program increased. For SFDC,
enrollment grew as the City partnered with
the District to provide before- and aftersummer-school care at two school sites.

Although the program was free for
participating children, the District paid the
City directly for services using ELOP funds,
with more than 400 children participating at
the two sites before and after summer
school.

New this year, the District asked childcare
staff to provide a two-week “extended day”
program at SFDC. During this period, City
staff delivered curriculum for summer
school students as part of their educational
experience, rather than solely providing
before- and after-school care, Due to the
District’s need for additional staffing
support. For those two weeks, the City
served nearly 200 registered children and an additional 400 non-registered students for the full day, while also continuing to operate the full-day UDC program.

Ultimate Day Camp Attendees
Summer Camp 2025 Enrollment Advertisement

General Plan Annual Report 2025
56 Other programs during the school year included Teacher Workday Camps and a week-long Spring Break Camp for school-aged youth, collectively serving 285 participants. In addition, the Division provides extended childcare hours during the District’s early release days, as well as numerous onsite special events. The Division also hosted its third annual “Family Fest” in December, where families made gingerbread houses and participated in a silent auction featuring items donated by local businesses, with all proceeds supporting Youth Scholarships.

Subsidized Childcare: The City continues to partner with Community Action Partnership (CAPSLO) and Childcare Resource Connection to provide subsidized childcare. Children who qualify through CAPSLO may attend childcare at no cost, and the City applies to CAPSLO for reimbursement (unlike other participants, who are required to pay prior to attendance). In 2025, 62 children received subsidies through CAPSLO.

The Youth Services Division also manages a registration scholarship program. In the 2023-2025 Financial Plan, the City Council approved $20,000 for youth scholarships. In 2024-2025, 38 families received $33,500 in scholarship support.

Childcare Staff: All Youth Services programs are supported by up to 70 supplemental staff, ranging from entry-level Childcare Aides to Childcare Head Teachers and full-time Site Directors.

Staff turnover since fall 2024 has resulted in the hiring of 200 part-time staff members during the year. Each time a supplemental staff member is onboarded, the Youth Services administrative team and Parks and Recreation administrative staff spend approximately 60 hours total per employee on onboarding and training.

Staff receive ongoing instruction to ensure programs remain consistent with Department and State licensing standards. Training topics include Positive Guidance, Safety and Accountability, Mandated Child Abuse Reporting, and Pediatric CPR/First Aid. In addition to supplemental staff, each school site is supervised by a Site Director who is responsible for up to 150 children throughout the day, ensuring state licensing compliance and staff oversight. Due to current staff shortages, all Site Directors, along with full-time positions such as Program Assistant, Recreation Coordinator, and Recreation Supervisor, are providing direct care to children.

Volunteers & Training
The Citywide Volunteer Program continued to
expand under the leadership of the
Coordinator. Volunteers support the
advancement of City projects and Major City
Goals, working alongside staff on a regular
basis, at single-day events, and through
recurring opportunities. In 2025, an average
of 150 volunteers served each month,
contributing more than 8,600 volunteer
hours. Fifteen different City teams engaged
volunteers throughout the year.

Volunteer opportunities included recurring
administrative support across several City Volunteer Assisting with Administrative Duties

General Plan Annual Report 2025
57 departments, regular Trail Service Days with the Rangers, and service with the dedicated Jack House docents. Several groups continued to participate in the Adopt-A-Park program, and due to its success under the Volunteer Coordinator’s management, additional initiatives expanded to include Adopt-A-Trailway and Adopt-A-Storm Drain.

Volunteers served throughout the City as visual arts volunteers, supported graffiti abatement efforts, assisted at Whale Rock Reservoir, promoted recycling education at downtown events, and provided coaching through sports leagues, among many other roles. Single Day of Service opportunities included Pumpkin Smash, September Scramble, Boo Bash, Leprechaun Lost, garden service days, public art maintenance, and more.

Open Space Maintenance
The Ranger Service accomplished significant goals in 2025, including creating new and upgraded trails, and continued to provide educational and recreational opportunities to the San Luis Obispo community. The City's 4,050 acres of designated open space and more than 68 miles of trails are designed to provide access for a variety of abilities and experiences, ranging from easy to rugged hiking trails, introductory to advanced mountain biking, and scenic pathways located within minutes of residences and businesses.

The Ranger Service led monthly educational hikes throughout City open spaces, hosted more than 50 community and volunteer workdays, promoted educational “Wilderness Wednesdays” through social media to engage and educate the community, and conducted Junior Ranger Camps during the summer. In 2025, more than 1,000 hours were devoted to public education, focusing on conservation and the local history of flora and fauna specific to each open space property.

Dedicated community volunteers worked alongside Ranger staff on trail maintenance projects at Johnson Ranch and Miossi Open Spaces, the Irish Hills Natural Reserve, and a new switchback trail in Bowden Ranch. Ranger staff also partnered with Natural Resources and the Fire Department to support a second collaborative cultural burn with the Chumash Tribes at Johnson Ranch Open Space in fall 2025.

A major internal project - the creation of the first
formal bike park at Laguna Lake Park - continued into
2025 with additional phases and upgrades. The project
fulfills a key objective outlined in the Parks &
Recreation Blueprint for the Future (Master Plan and
General Plan Element), as bike park amenities ranked
among the top five community requests.

The bike park includes the Mountain Bike Loop, a Kids
Pump Track, and two jump lines (Progressive and
Advance). The next phase will add an intermediate (allages) pump track. In fall 2025, the Laguna Lake Bike Park received a Facility Design Award for Innovation
from the California Parks and Recreation Society,
Laguna Lake Bike Park District 8.

General Plan Annual Report 2025
58 The popular Winter Evening Access (WEA) Program at Cerro San Luis Natural Reserve allows for extended evening hours of passive recreational use along approximately 4.9 miles of Citymanaged trails during the winter months (November – March), when daylight savings time is not in effect. During this period, public use is extended to one hour before sunrise and until 8:30 p.m.

During daylight saving time, public use hoursreturn to one hour before sunrise through one hour after sunset. Nighttime use is by permit only and limited to 65 people per evening, based on prior conservation review. Free permits for biking and hiking are available up to one week in advance through the City website. Ranger staff are present at the trailhead to check permits and educate the public during the Winter Evening Access program.

Mission Plaza Concessionaire Kiosk
After bringing the RFP forward for approval in May 2025, the City received nine vendors, five of which were selected to move forward with in-person interviews. In late August 2025, a committee of City staff, SLO Chamber of Commerce representatives, and Downtown SLO staff selected Linnaea’s Café as the preferred vendor for the kiosk. The lease agreement was finalized in December 2025. Staff anticipate that tenant improvements to the kiosk will take 3-4 months, with a projected opening in Summer 2026. The concessionaire will collaborate with organizations hosting special events in the plaza to support plaza activation.

Laguna Lake Dog Park
The long-awaited new dog park project
was approved for construction in fall 2024
and opened in May 2025. The three-acre
park features full perimeter fencing with
separate areas for small and large dogs.

Each area includes ground improvements
such as turf and mulch, as well as an
improved drainage system for year-round
use. New dog agility structures were
assembled through a partnership with
local organizations and schools to provide
features for play and training. The project
received a park design award from the
California Parks and Recreation Society
District 8 in November 2025.

A Good Dog Enjoying the New Agility Course

General Plan Annual Report 2025
59 Orcutt Area Parks (Righetti Park System)
In July 2021, the City Council approved the development of a multi-park system as part of the Orcutt Area Specific Plan, specifically within the Righetti Ranch
Neighborhood. The design process continued with an
in-person community workshop in April 2023, which
provided updated construction designs. The proposed
parks in this area include a comprehensive community
park, a linear park, a pocket park, and a formal trail
junction. An RFP for the project was issued in summer
2025, and the project was approved for construction,
including funding authorization for the first three of five phases, in December 2025. Construction is set to begin
in late spring 2026, with pickleball courts, a multi-age playground, restrooms, athletic turf fields, and bike
park features planned for completion in fall 2027. The
recreation amenities support the Parks and Recreation
Blueprint for the Future (General Plan and Element), with future phases to include tennis courts, basketball courts, additional restrooms and parking, a dog park, and community gardens.

SLO Swim Center
In 2025, the popular SLO Swim Center continued
to provide a wide range of community-focused
aquatic opportunities, including lap swimming,
recreational swimming, group and private swim
lessons for all ages, aquatic fitness classes,
SCUBA, and various programs for the warmwater pool. In summer 2025, the Swim Center partnered with three nonprofit organizations -
GALA, Central Coast Autism Spectrum Center,
and SLO County Friday Night Live - to offer
unique recreational swim opportunities and
modified swim lessons throughout the year,
increasing lesson availability for the community.

The Super Rec Saturdays featured an inflatable obstacle course and family-focused themed activities, with attendance averaging 500 to 800 participants per event. Staff also partnered with the SLO Seahawks to operate a snack bar during each event. The Aquatics Division continues to promote water safety through social media and the “Designated Water Watcher” program, which can be used at alternate water locations. This program provides tools to enhance water safety through proper swim instruction and education.

Orcutt Area Park System
Swim With Pride Rec Swim Event

General Plan Annual Report 2025
60 The SLO Swim Center currently serves as the lifeguard training hub for San Luis Obispo County, with the Aquatic Coordinator acting as the regional Red Cross Instructor Trainer. This prestigious certification allows the Swim Center to be a focal point for water safety within the region.

Laguna Lake Golf Course
The Laguna Lake Golf Course (LLGC) provides affordable
programs and servicesseven days per week. During the past year, community use continued to grow, with just under
25,000 rounds played in 2025. Staff implemented a variety of community programming at the golf course, including
upgraded mats at the driving range, seating and pitching area improvements, all-ages golf lessons, Laguna Middle School PE classes, the SLO High School golf program, Cal Poly kinesiology classes, free classes for the SLO County Special Olympics, free youth golf clinics through the First Tee program, and hosting special events such as the
September Scramble and a county-wide cross-country
youth competition.

General maintenance and operations of the golf course
continue to be impacted by aging irrigation systems, which require additional maintenance and increase operational costs, as well as rising water expenses. The Pro Shop facility remains closed due to major flooding from a significant winter storm in December 2021. Golf Operations are currently conducted from a temporary onsite office trailer, supporting golf reservations, rentals, and merchandise sales.

Design of the new Pro Shop is scheduled to begin in mid-2026, with construction anticipated in 2026-2027.

Winter 2023 storms created a significant safety hazard for the pedestrian wooden bridge, as creek embankments were compromised. The bridge connects holes one and two and provides access to holes three through five. Staff modified the course to provide alternate access and resume play for golfers. Bridge replacement is currently scheduled for summer 2026.

Public Art Program
Outreach: The City Public Art Program plays a key role in the community and supports the Major City Goals of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and Economic Development. City collaborations included internal partners - Public Works and Utilities, Community Development, Tourism, Communications, and DEI - as well as external partners and collaborators, including the SLO History Center, GALA, SLO Arts Council, The Bunker, SLO Senior Center, regional, state, and nationwide Public Art Administrators groups (all coordinated by the City’s Public Art Coordinator), numerous local artist groups, the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, and many more.

Upgraded Mats at the Driving Range

General Plan Annual Report 2025
61 Public Art staff were invited to speak at both Laguna Middle School and SLO High School during tutorial periods to provide an overview of the Box Art program, ways to get involved, and opportunities for careers in the arts. Staff were also invited to present at other local and statewide events, including the California Parks and Recreation Society Fall Forum.

Box Art Program: 2025 marked the 15th year
of the Box Art program in San Luis Obispo,
the oldest in California. This year also served
as a revitalization of the program, beginning
with the definition of “cultural districts” for
box assignments. A call for artists in the
winter/spring of 2025 resulted in over 80
submissions for 20 spots.

Prior to the close of the call, City staff, along
with local photographers, representatives
from the vinyl wrap company, and tech
experts, held workshops to support artists in submitting their work. A jury of 16 community members - including representatives from the Chumash Tribe, local Chinese-American community, GALA, the SLO History Center, downtown businesses, and others - spent a full day selecting pieces based on cultural representation, diversity of expression and medium, and overall aesthetics.

Once all boxes were installed, the City
continued to celebrate the 15th anniversary
with new swag, including playing cards and
coloring books. Additionally, the first-ever
“Meet the Artist” event was held downtown
in October 2025, during National Arts and
Humanities Month, and the annual Artist
Appreciation event in December 2025
recognized both new and deaccessioned
Box Art artists. Throughout the year, City
staff hosted numerous walking tours of Box
Art for the community, with over 20
attendees participating.
15th Anniversary of the SLO Box Art Program
Artist Melisa Beveridge with her Box Art Mural

General Plan Annual Report 2025
62 Other City installations and projects: The North Chorro Street underpass project was completed, featuring the mural “In the Shadow of the Mountain” by local group Marmalade Mural Co. and bronze work by Thiessen Metal
Works. This collaborative mixed
media art installation
celebrates one of the most
locally treasured natural
landmarks, Cerro San Luis
Obispo Mountain. The mural
depicts flora and fauna native
to the surrounding open spaces,
with each column of the
overpass highlighting a vibrant
plant or animal in a night scene
on the north side of the street or
a day scene on the south side.

Public Art staff also spent part of 2025 preparing for the community mural to be installed at Newport Street, the first-ever community painting project. In addition, staff focused on developing the first-ever Poetry Walk, celebrating public art in a variety of mediums.

Staff collaborated with SLO Rep staff as they began identifying a piece of art to fulfill private development requirements, and also guided the developers of San Luis Square through the installation of a privately funded public art piece, “The Alley Cats - All 9 Lives.” Community Programming: Continuing the trend of community building, an artist was commissioned to create an interactive community mural, which was transported to multiple programs and events throughout the summer, including the four Monday Meet-Up events. This provided opportunities for discussion and engagement.

For the second year, the City partnered
with the SLO Arts Council to offer a free
summer artist lecture series, featuring
four lectures throughout the season.

New this year, the City hired a local artist
to provide two weeks of daily art lessons
for children attending Summer Fun Day
Camp, in partnership with SLUCSD. The
artist engaged over 200 budding artists,
who created artwork inspired by the
summer camp theme.

A Portion of “In the Shadow of the Mountain”
City Volunteers Assisting with Cleaning and Waxing Downtown Bronze Sculptures

General Plan Annual Report 2025
63 In 2025, the City hosted four separate service days to engage the community with art. On MLK Day of Service, a group of individuals from the African Black Caucus participated in cleaning art.

In the spring, nearly 20 Cal Poly volunteers worked with City staff and two local fabricators, learning how to clean and wax all the downtown bronze sculptures. Later in the fall, City staff led another volunteer group through the cleaning and waxing of the popular Mission Plaza Bears sculpture. Finally, volunteers spent a day with City staff cleaning downtown Box Art.

Maintenance and Infrastructure: In 2024, an artist was hired to assess and provide recommendations for artwork with deferred maintenance. In 2025, City staff worked with local fabricators and repair professionals to determine the priority and costs of needed repairs, identifying two top projects based on safety concerns and deterioration: The Greys in Between and Puck. The Seven Sisters railing on the Santa Rosa bridge received a much-needed refresh.

Ongoing graffiti abatement of murals continued throughout the year. As stated above, staff also worked with volunteers to complete overdue cleaning and waxing of downtown sculptures.

SLOMA Partnership: In 2025, the City entered its third two-year community partnership agreement with the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art (SLOMA). In February 2025, the public art piece Along the Way was installed in Garden Street Alley as a temporary installation for one to two years. SLOMA staff also worked with City staff to prepare for the installation of Shift at San Luis Ranch, as well as the next temporary sculpture rotation at the Mission Plaza Lawn upon completion of the Mission renovation project.

Conclusion
The City’s General Plan guides the use and protection of the City’s various resources to meet community needs. The General Plan reflects consensus and compromise among a wide diversity of citizen preferences within a framework established by state law. The General Plan is published as separately adopted elements, each containing its own policies and programs. The 2025 General Plan Annual Report summarizes the progress made in 2025 on major programs specified in the elements of the General Plan.

One purpose of the annual report is to evaluate whether actions taken during the year indicate a change in the community’s overall vision that would require a more comprehensive update of the General Plan. In review of the work reported on in this annual report, such a comprehensive update is unnecessary at this time. Substantial progress was made by the City in 2025 related to implementation of key General Plan elements. These efforts were undertaken in pursuit of the City Council’s Major City Goals for FY 2023-2025. With the end of the 2023-2025 Financial Plan, the City, with extensive community engagement, established the 2025-2027 Financial Plan with a new set of Major City Goals that, as per usual, are aligned with the City’s General Plan. With these new goals, City staff will continue to implement policies and programs related to Cultural Vitality, Economic Resilience, and Fiscal Sustainability; Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; Homelessness Response; Housing and Neighborhood Livability – Healthy, Safe, and Affordable; Infrastructure and Sustainable Transportation; and Open Space, Climate Action, and Resilience.

General Plan Annual Report 2025
64 Progress on implementation of these goals and objectives will be further reported in the 2026 General Plan Annual Report.

City of San Luis Obispo, Council Memorandum
DATE: March 27, 2026
TO: City Council
FROM: Timmi Tway, Community Development Director
VIA: Whitney McDonald, City Manager
PREPARED BY: Ethan Estrada, Associate Planner and David Amini, Senior Planner SUBJECT: City’s Growth Management Regulations – Status Update Memorandum-in-Brief
This memo provides an overview of the history and background of the City’s Growth Management Regulations, as well as discussion regarding the City’s growth rate exceeding the one percent average annual growth rate threshold established in the Land Use Element for the first time in 2024. As described in this memo, there is no requirement for Council to take any specific action to address the one percent threshold being exceeded in 2024. Based on finaled building permits for the construction of new housing units for 2025, the average annual growth rate has dropped back to one percent in compliance with the threshold. Due to a decline in building activity citywide, as well as the significant progress and completion of construction in specific plan areas such as Orcutt Area and San Luis Ranch, staff anticipates that the growth rate will lower further when final housing permit data is collected for 2026.

Purpose
The purpose of this memo is to provide Council with information and background regarding the City’s Residential Growth Management Regulations. As outlined in the 2024 General Plan Annual Report that was presented to the City Council on April 1, 2025, the City’s average annual growth rate was 1.03 percent per year between 2015-2024, which slightly exceeded the one percent threshold established in Land Use Element Policy 1.11.2. This growth rate is based on finaled building permits for the construction of new housing units (except those in the Downtown, Accessory Dwelling Units, and deed-restricted affordable housing units). Within the same timeframe, the City’s average annual population growth remained under one percent. This means that the housing unit growth did not directly correspond with a proportionate level of population growth. This could be due to the average number of persons per household shrinking over time, in addition to transient populations such as students and second home owners not being tracked by population data. Between 2015-2024, the average household size in the City decreased from 2.64

Growth Management Council Memorandum

to 2.50 persons per household1.

Since 2024 was the first time the City exceeded the one percent average annual growth rate, a number of questions arose around the threshold, including questions regarding whether the city was obligated to take action. These questions required additional research and the staff report for the 2024 General Plan Annual Report indicated a Council study session would be held to discuss the status of the City’s Growth Management Regulations. Additionally, the City’s 2025-27 Housing Major City Goal Work Program includes an item to conduct a study session on the growth management regulations. At the February 17, 2026 City Council meeting, staff presented the Q2 Budget Report which recommended presenting this work plan item to Council as a memo rather than a study session due to emergent community needs and an impacted agenda. Additional opportunities for Council discussion will be provided when the 2025 General Plan Annual Report is presented at a public hearing on April 7, 2026.

Policy Context
General Plan Land Use Element Policy (LUE) 1.11.1 states that the City shall manage its growth rate to provide for the balanced evolution of the community and the gradual assimilation of new residents. Growth must be consistent with the City's ability to provide resources and services and with State and City requirements for protecting the environment, the economy, and open space.

LUE Policy 1.11.2 sets the growth rate of the City’s housing supply so that it does not exceed an average of one percent per year over the ten-year Housing Element planning period.

The City’s Residential Growth Management Regulations in Chapter 17.144 of the Municipal Code are intended to assure that the rate of population growth will not exceed the City’s ability to accommodate new residents and to provide municipal services consistent with the maximum growth rates established in the General Plan. Also, these regulations are meant to ensure that those projects which best meet the City’s objectives for affordable housing, infill development, open space protection, and provision of public facilities will be allowed to proceed with minimum delay.

Background
The City has had a Growth Management policy since 1978, and Growth Management regulations since 1982. Though these terms sound the same, there are distinct differences between the policy and the regulations. The Growth Management policy lives in the Land Use Element, and requires the City to manage its growth rate so that it does not exceed an average of one percent per year.

The City implements this policy through the Growth Management regulations in the Municipal Code. The regulations have been subject to various modifications and exceptions over the years and a brief history of the regulations are included below. 1 U.S. Census American Community Survey,
https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT1Y2024.B25010?q=B25010:+Average+Household+Size+of+Occupied+Housi ng+Units+by+Tenure

Growth Management Council Memorandum

Over time, the applicability of the Growth Management regulations has narrowed. The City’s current Growth Management Regulations only apply to development in specific plans in areas that have been or will be subject to annexation. Developments are required to adopt a construction phasing plan so that the one percent growth threshold is not exceeded. Figure 1 shows the areas subject to the phasing plan requirements of the Regulations outlined in various colors relative to each specific plan. These areas include San Luis Ranch, the Orcutt Area/Righetti Ranch, Airport Area, Margarita Area, Edna-Islay, and Froom Ranch.

Figure 1: Specific Plans/Annexation Areas
History of Growth Management Regulations
• 1977: Council adopts General Plan Land Use & Growth Management Element. The Growth Management Objectives were set to achieve a gradually reduced rate of population growth, compatible and coordinated with the County’s growth rate reduction, both aimed at stabilizing and balancing with that of the State by 1990. The Objectives set the following average growth rates for each subsequent decade:
o 4% annual average growth during the 1970s
o 2% annual average growth during the 1980s
Avila Ranch Orcutt Area San Luis Ranch Froom Ranch
Edna-Islay Area Airport Area Margarita Area
Margarita Area
Airport Area
Avila Ranch
Froom Ranch
Edna-Islay
Orcutt Area
San Luis
Ranch

Growth Management Council Memorandum

o 1% annual average growth during the 1990s
o The resultant, anticipated 1997 population was approximately 55,000. • 1978: Citizen Advisory Committee recommends permanent regulations regarding growth management
• 1982: Council adopts permanent growth management regulations through Ordinance 940, placing limits on the amount of permits that can be issued for housing units, with the following exemptions:
o Single family homes or duplexes
o Replacement of damaged or destroyed dwellings
o Additions or remodels which result in not more than two dwellings • 1983: Council exempts Mustang Village Addition (300 units) from the Growth Management Regulations (Resolution 5239)
• 1984: Council amends regulations through Ordinance 1013. This allows building permit pauses under the growth management ordinance to be based on staff counting a 24-month rolling average period of building permits rather than 18 months. • 1985: Council exempts three projects from the Growth Management Regulations:
o Southwood Apartments – 168 units (Resolution 5640)
o Pine Creek Condominiums – 36 units (Resolution 5616)
o Willowbrook Condominiums – 28 units (Resolution 5809) • June 1986: Council amends regulations through Ordinance 1068 to add the following:
o Tabulation and ranking of building permits to be calculated every 3 months rather than monthly
o Exception for student housing is removed
o Any planned-development or specific plan with its own growth management provision is now exempt
o Scoring standard for projects changed (scoring standards are to evaluate projects against each other for permit issuance if yearly allocation of permits is exceeded) o In first quarter after amendments, 100 units are to be allocated, then allocations move back to 75 units per quarter.
• August 1988: Council adopts Ordinance 1119 implementing Water Allocation Regulations (Chapter 17.89) into the Municipal Code. The new water regulations suspend the Growth Management Regulations during quarters where water-use increases are limited pursuant to the water use regulations. During these quarters, the water allocation process restricts growth in the City. This process establishes specific water reserve amounts for residential development (initially 101 acre-feet) which cannot be exceeded.

After these reserves have been exhausted, no further development can occur until the reserves are replenished by “safe annual yield” amounts determined by the Utilities Manager.
• The City population grows on average, at the rate of 2.2% per year from 1980 through 1988.

Growth Management Council Memorandum

• 1989: Council votes to place an advisory measure on the ballot asking residents whether the City should amend the Growth Management Regulations to apply to all development in the City. The measure passes. In 1994, the City updates the Land Use Element with a policy that focuses the 1 percent growth threshold towards annexation areas. In 1999, Council amends regulations to only apply to annexation areas. While these changes are contrary to the approved ballot measure, staff currently believes the focus on expansion areas was of a practical nature given that this is where the majority of new housing unit production occurs.
• 1994: Council adopts new General Plan Land Use Element. Program 1.11.3 states that before a residential expansion area is developed, the City must have adopted a specific plan or development plan that provides for phased development that does not exceed the 1 percent average annual growth rate.
• 1999: Council adopts Ordinance 1359, containing new growth management regulations which now only apply to housing annexation areas of the City consistent with the updated Land Use Element. The ordinance requires the City to adopt a Phasing Schedule allocating potential residential construction among these areas. Council adopts Resolution 8972 establishing Phasing Schedule. Development in these areas is subject to specific plans or development plans that shall contain provisions consistent with the Phasing Schedule. Dwellings affordable to very-low and low income residents are exempt from the regulations.
• October 2004: Council adopts Ordinance 1459, exempting downtown residential development and affordable moderate-income housing from Growth Management Regulations.
• June 2010: Council adopts Ordinance 1550, amending growth management regulations.

Instead of adopting a Phasing Schedule, each specific plan is required to adopt its own phasing schedule that allocates timing of construction consistent with the general plan and regulations. The Water Allocation Regulations are also repealed, as multiple projects have taken place resolving water and wastewater capacity issues in the City that necessitated the regulations.
• September 2018: Council adopts Ordinance 1650, which includes amendments to growth management regulations to include accessory dwelling units as exempt from the regulations.

The City’s approach to growth management has evolved over time to reflect development patterns, the community’s needs, and City Council goals with regard to housing. The Growth Management Regulations have been amended over time to effectively accommodate planned, phased growth in specific plan developments in annexation areas in compliance with the Growth Management policy and associated 1 percent growth threshold.

Growth Management Council Memorandum

Previous State Review of Growth Management Policy
In the process of certifying the City’s 6
th Cycle Housing Element, the California Department of
Housing and Community Development (HCD) reviewed the City’s Growth Management Regulations, in particular the one percent growth rate set in the Land Use Element. HCD warned the City that the Housing Crisis Act, specifically Government Code Section 66300(b)(1)(D) does not allow affected jurisdictions to adopt new or enforce existing limits on the number of land-use approvals or permits for housing. HCD further states that the City should evaluate consistency with these requirements and if necessary, immediately void or suspend the annual growth cap.

The City responded to this direction by stating that per state law, an affected county or affected city may enforce a limit on the number of approvals or permits or a cap on the number of housing units that can be approved or constructed if the provision of law imposing the limit was approved by voters prior to January 1, 2005, and the affected county or affected city is located in a predominantly agricultural county. For the purposes of this subparagraph, “predominantly agricultural county” means a county that meets both of the following, as determined by the most recent California Farmland Conversion Report produced by the Department of Conservation: (i) has more than 550,000 acres of agricultural land; and (ii) at least one-half of the county area is agricultural land. The City of San Luis Obispo resides within a county that has over 550,000 acres of agricultural land and at least one-half of the county area is agricultural land. As noted above, the 1989 ballot measure was advisory and therefore is not a binding restriction of the City’s subsequent policy or regulatory actions. HCD did not inquire further regarding the ballot measure.

On September 3, 2021, HCD certified the City’s 6th Cycle Housing Element.

Current Growth Management Regulations
The City’s current Growth Management Regulations state the following:

17.144.010 Purpose and justification.

A. The regulations codified in this chapter are intended to assure that the rate of population growth will not exceed the city’s ability to accommodate new residents and to provide municipal services consistent with the maximum growth rates established in the general plan. Also, these regulations are to assure that those projects which best meet the city’s objectives for affordable housing, infill development, open space protection, and provision of public facilities will be allowed to proceed with minimum delay.

B. San Luis Obispo is a charter city, empowered to make and enforce all laws concerning municipal affairs, subject only to the limitations of the city charter and the constitution and laws of the state. Regulation of the rate of residential development is a reasonable extension

Growth Management Council Memorandum

of municipal authority to plan overall development in furtherance of the public health, safety, and general welfare.

C. According to the general plan land use element, the city should achieve a maximum annual average population growth rate of one percent. The reserve of developable land within the city and the capacity of proposed annexations could sustain growth rates which would exceed the objectives of the general plan.

D. The growth rate policies of the general plan reflect the city’s responsibility to accommodate a reasonable share of expected state and regional growth.

E. To avoid further imbalance between the availability of jobs and of housing within the city, the general plan also manages expansion of growth-inducing activities. The burdens of growth management are not being placed solely on the residential sector since it largely responds to demands caused by other sectors.

F. Considering the likely levels of housing demand and construction throughout the housing market area, nearly coinciding with San Luis Obispo County, these regulations are not expected to affect the overall balance between housing supply and demand in the market area. These regulations will not impede and may help meet the needs of very low-, low-, and moderate-income households.

17.144.020 Allocations.

A. Each specific plan that authorizes residential development shall adopt a phasing schedule that allocates timing of potential residential construction, including phasing of required improvements, consistent with the general plan and with these regulations.

B. The limitations on residential development established by these regulations apply to new residential construction within certain areas that have been annexed to the city2or that will be annexed to the city. Development in such areas is subject to development plans or specific plans which shall contain provisions consistent with these regulations.

C. Allocations shall be implemented by the timing of issuance of building permits.

D. Dwellings affordable and enforceably restricted to residents with extremely low, very low, low, or moderate incomes, as defined in the city’s general plan housing element, new dwellings in the Downtown Core, and legally established accessory dwelling units shall be exempt from these regulations. Enforceably restricted shall mean dwellings that are subject to deed restrictions, development agreements, or other legal mechanisms acceptable to the city to ensure long-term affordability, consistent with city affordable housing standards. In expansion areas, the overall number of units built must conform to the city approved phasing plan.

E. It shall not be necessary to have dwellings allocated for a particular time interval or location to process and approve applications for general plan amendment, zoning 2 The Regulations do not define a date by which annexation has occurred for the growth limitations to apply. This language has been in the Regulations since 1999.

Growth Management Council Memorandum

regulations amendment, or other zoning action, subdivision application, or architectural review.

17.144.030 Periodic city council review and consideration of revisions The community development department shall provide status updates to the council concerning implementation of these regulations, coordinated with the annual report on the general plan. The status update will describe actual construction levels and suggest if revisions are necessary to maintain the city’s one percent growth rate.

Discussion
The City’s average annual growth rate slightly exceeded the one percent threshold for the first time in 2024. This was presented to Council with the General Plan Annual Report on April 1, 2025.

During the time period between 2021-2024, several specific plan areas experienced significant housing construction, including Avila Ranch, Orcutt Area/Righetti Ranch, and San Luis Ranch.

Avila Ranch and Orcutt Area are subject to phasing plans created to phase building permits in order to not exceed the one percent growth cap. San Luis Ranch was initially subject to a phasing plan, but was subsequently allowed to proceed with unphased construction based on a revised project description and the 2018 Supplemental EIR, which demonstrated that unphased construction of this 580-unit development would not exceed the growth cap. The unphased construction of San Luis Ranch, along with the phased construction of Avila Ranch and the Orcutt Area, as well as increased infill construction, all contributed to the growth rate slightly exceeding one percent in 2024.

Based on finaled building permits for the construction of new housing units for 2025, the average annual growth rate has dropped back to one percent in compliance with the threshold. This information is included in the 2025 General Plan Annual Report that will be presented to Council at a public meeting on April 7, 2026. Due to a decline in building activity city-wide, as well as the significant progress and completion of construction in specific plan areas such as Orcutt Area and San Luis Ranch, staff anticipates that the growth rate will lower further when final housing permit data is collected for 2026.

As previously discussed, HCD has cautioned the City against imposing a limitation on building permits as it could constitute a violation of state law. While the City did provide information as part of the 6th Cycle Housing Element asserting that enforcing the growth cap is allowed per a provision in the state law that was ultimately accepted by HCD, future enforcement could still be subject to action from the state. It is clear based on continuing legislation, housing related legal challenges and State level pro-housing policy that local policies such as the Growth Management Regulations have and are likely to continue to come under close scrutiny by HCD during the upcoming 7th Cycle Housing Element certification process in 2028. Through this process, Council may be directed to remove the growth management policies and regulations that are perceived to

Growth Management Council Memorandum

present a barrier to housing production, including the one percent threshold included in the Land Use Element, in order to receive housing element certification from HCD.

In addition to the analysis above, the City’s rationale for maintaining the cap in the previous 6 th
Cycle Housing Element may not be upheld by HCD for the 7th Element, as the 1989 ballot measure was advisory and does not expressly prohibit contrary Council policies or regulations that would remove the current growth cap. The City still meetsthe criteria for being in a primarily agricultural county, which is a portion of the state law requirement and it is important to note that the City has not denied any housing development application or permit on the basis of the growth cap.

Council Actions to Address Growth Management Threshold
The growth management regulations do not require Council to take any action if the average annual growth rate exceeds one percent. The regulations proactively address the one percent threshold by requiring specific plans in areas subject to the regulations to contain phasing schedules for the timing of building permit issuance. Timing and implementation of phasing schedules in specific plan areas are the only currently allowable mechanism by which Council may address the growth management threshold in the Land Use Element consistent with the Growth Management Regulations. Council could amend the Regulations to address the growth management threshold differently; however, denials of development approvals or permits based solely on growth management regulations of any kind raise state law conflict concerns, as well as potential issues during the Housing Element process as described above, and would require careful analysis and coordination with HCD prior to taking any action that could be perceived as increasing restrictions on housing development.

Recommendation
The average annual growth rate is currently one percent and in compliance with the threshold.

There is no action for Council to take at this time. Staff will continue to implement phasing schedules for new and existing specific plan areas as required by the regulations. Staff will address any Growth Management Regulations as part of the 7th Cycle Housing Element work program.

City of San Luis Obispo, Council Memorandum
City of San Luis Obispo
Council Agenda Correspondence
DATE: April 7, 2026
TO: Mayor and Council
FROM: Greg Hermann, Deputy City Manager
Prepared By: Chris Read, Sustainability Manager
VIA: Whitney McDonald, City Manager
SUBJECT: ITEM #8a - COMMUNITY CLIMATE ACTION PLAN PROGRESS REPORT AND 2027 PLAN UPDATE STUDY SESSION
Staff received the following questions, shown in bold. Staff’s responses are shown in italics.
1) Is there any data on the number, rate of growth, utilization, or demand for EV charging at apartment complexes, businesses, and “destinations” (such as grocery stores)? In general, is there more to be done here and what is the role for the City?
The number and rate of growth for EV charging at “destinations” is answered on

“Using the best available public data, the number of publicly accessible EV charging ports within San Luis Obispo city limits has increased steadily over the same period. Estimates indicate roughly 109 public ports in 2020, rising to about 130 in 2021, 154 in 2022, 183 in 2023, and 217 in 2024. By 2025, the total is estimated at approximately 258 public ports, more than doubling local public charging capacity since 2020.”
The estimated 258 public ports are entirely at publicly accessible commercial or public locations. Less is known about the privately available ports at apartment complexes or businesses, but those ports would be in addition to the publicly available chargers listed above. As noted in the same section of the report:
“This growth is in addition to privately accessible chargers on private property. City permitting records show roughly 400 private charging heads in use, a conservative estimate that excludes charging equipment installed as part of larger development projects, unpermitted chargers, or lower-level chargers that do not require permits.”
Demand and utilization is harder to measure directly, however, the same section in the report goes on to note:

Item 8a. COMMUNITY CLIMATE ACTION PLAN PROGRESS REPORT & 2027 PLAN UPDATE Page 2 "This rapid expansion in charging infrastructure aligns with continued growth in EV ownership. According to California Energy Commission and DMV data, residents purchased more than 11,000 electric vehicles in San Luis Obispo County through 2025. EVs accounted for 24%, 22%, and 22% of all light-duty vehicle sales in the County in 2023, 2024, and 2025, respectively. With the elimination of federal tax credits, continued growth in local adoption of EVs and EV chargers will face new headwinds. However, durable local and regional rebates exist, including 3CE’s Electrify Your Ride, which since 2020, has issued over $2.2 million in rebates for electric vehicles and home charging projects in the city.”
The greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions forecasts presented in the Council Agenda Report depend-on high rates of electric vehicle adoption through 2035 and beyond.

The City’s current approach is to include EV chargers in new City facilities, connect community members and businesses with rebates and incentives provided by regional agencies, and remain open to grant-funded initiatives or other innovative opportunities as they arise. Given the rapid build out of infrastructure seen to date, staff recommend continuing this approach.
2) What assumptions are in the sequestration forecast? Is it just accounting for our tree planting program or does it include other forms of sequestration? The Natural Solutions’ sector sequestration snapshots for 2035 and 2045 include projected carbon sequestration from tree planting, regenerative grazing and grassland restoration, and compost application. Other land stewardship practices are being monitored for future inclusion, such as creek restoration projects and cultural burns, however there is not yet a widely accepted quantification method for all the City’s land management practices.
3) What is the jobs-housing balance number for the City, the other cities in the county, and the county as a whole?
The most recent data available for jobs-housing balance comes from the San Luis Obispo Council of Governments (SLOCOG) effort conducted in advance of the current Housing Element cycle in 2019. Since then, there have been substantial changes to the community including the construction of large residential and commercial development projects, growth in jobs and housing adjacent to the City (e.g., Cal Poly, the SLO County Airport, etc.), and the changing nature of work to include a larger share of telework. To be responsive to this question, staff pulled jobs and housing data for 2024 (the most current year with complete available data) from the U.S. Census American Community Survey (ACS) (Table 1). Due to margins-of-error associated with ACS data, and the changes in work and regional development as described above, staff cautions against using this data as anything other than a snapshot in time. Given the importance and complicated nature of this question, staff recommends that it be included as one of the research questions to be addressed during development of the Housing Element update in 2027.

Item 8a. COMMUNITY CLIMATE ACTION PLAN PROGRESS REPORT & 2027 PLAN UPDATE Page 3 Table 1. 2024 Jobs-Housing Estimates for San Luis Obispo County Jurisdictions
Jurisdiction Jobs Housing Units
Jobs/Housing
Ratio
Arroyo Grande 8,700 8,138 1.07
Atascadero 15,000 12,180 1.23
Grover Beach 6,600 5,872 1.12
Morro Bay 5,100 6,531 0.78
Paso Robles 14,300 12,910 1.11
Pismo Beach 3,800 6,147 0.62
San Luis Obispo 26,400 23,984 1.10
SLO County 132,300 127,243 1.04
Source: U.S. Census American Community Survey
4) How are transportation emissions calculated and could the City consider a per capita metric?
As described in the Council Agenda Report, the City follows state recommended protocol for its greenhouse gas emissions inventories and forecasts. The best practice for transportation related emissions is to account for:
 100% of the vehicle trips that begin and end in the City,  50% of the trips that begin in the City and end elsewhere, and  50% of the trips that begin elsewhere and end in the City.

Regarding communitywide metrics, the City has historically reported absolute (also referred to as “mas”) GHG emissions. Staff could easily also include per-capita emissions in the 2027 CAP and subsequent progress reports should Council so direct.

Item 8a
Department: Administration
Cost Center: 1005
For Agenda of: 4/7/2025
Placement: Study Session
Estimated Time: 60 minutes
FROM: Greg Hermann, Deputy City Manager
Prepared By: Chris Read, Sustainability Manager
SUBJECT: COMMUNITY CLIMATE ACTION PLAN PROGRESS REPORT AND 2027

PLAN UPDATE STUDY SESSION

RECOMMENDATION

1. Receive and file the 2026 Climate Action Plan Progress Report.

2. Provide strategic direction on the 2027 Climate Action Plan update.

3. Direct staff to join the Local Government Climate Alliance to advocate for preapproved positions via the City’s adopted Legislative Action Platform to advance Council goals related to the Climate Action Plan, and delegate City participation in the organization to the City Manager or their designee.

REPORT-IN-BRIEF
This Council Agenda Report provides the 2026 Climate Action Plan Progress Report1 (Report) and provides background information to support Council’s strategic guidance on the upcoming 2027 Climate Action Plan update. The Report provides updated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventory and forecast snapshots, reports on implementation progress to date, identifies implementation headwinds and momentum, and looks ahead to how the City can enable continued emissions reductions in support of its goal of carbon neutrality by 2035.

The Report finds that while the City has made real progress, emissions reductions related to natural gas and transportation are falling behind previous projections, and as a result, the City is not on target to meet original projections. The report also notes that the City is on track to achieve local reductions consistent with the state’s 2030 targets, but projections show implementation of the current CAP falling short of the new legislatively mandated statewide goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by no later than 2045 (AB 1279).

1 The progress report covers communitywide greenhouse gas emissions. While this report references the City’s municipal operations climate action work, known as Lead by Example, it does not go into detail on Lead by Example, nor does it provide new analysis on Lead by Example. The Lead by Example: A Plan for Carbon Neutral Municipal Operations progress report was presented to Council in May of 2024, and the Plan update was adopted by Council in February of 2025. The next progress report for Lead by Example is scheduled to be presented to Council in 2028.

Item 8a
Staff conducted community outreach, engaged with stakeholder groups and regional agency partners, and sought input from technical experts in advance of this Study Session. This research will support the 2027 Climate Action Plan update (2027 CAP update) by affirming successful actions that should be continued, identifying actions that should be modified or tried again, and proposing initial new ideas that could meaningfully reduce emissions through 2035 and beyond.

Potential actions proposed to be modified or tried again include: (1) re-evaluation of mobility innovations related to bikeshare, carshare, and micro-transit, (2) enhanced support for regional transit and EV charging infrastructure, (3) re-evaluation of a large building energy efficiency program, (4) evaluation of the new single-family Home Energy Score program, and (5) proactive legislative advocacy. Potential new ideas that could be considered include: (1) evaluation of bulk purchasing and direct installation programs for rooftop solar, batteries, and heat pump water heater and HVAC units, and (2) support for “plug-in” solar and battery energy storage systems.

This Council Agenda Report includes three key questions for Council:

1. Which of the potential actions described above, and summarized below, should be further evaluated as part of the 2027 Climate Action Plan Update?

2. Does Council want to retain its local 2035 target?

3. Does Council have further direction or feedback on the proposed outreach, engagement, and plan update approach to the 2027 CAP Update? Following the Study Session, staff will transition to preparation of the 2027 Climate Action Plan, which is expected to be presented for Council’s consideration in early 2027.

POLICY CONTEXT
The City’s General Plan includes numerous policies and programs related to clean energy, energy efficiency in buildings, housing, mobility, transportation, landfilled solid waste, and natural resource management topics included in the Climate Action Plan. For brevity, this policy context section references only General Plan policies that directly mention or are related to climate action planning, including:
 Land Use Element of the General Plan Policy 9.4 (Climate Action Plan) - The City shall maintain and implement its Climate Action Plan to reduce community and municipal GHG emissions consistent with State laws and objectives.  Conservation and Open Space Element of the General Plan Policy 2.2.1 (Atmospheric Change) - City actions shall seek to minimize undesirable climate changes and deterioration of the atmosphere’s protective functions that result from the release of carbon dioxide and other substances.
 Housing Element of the General Plan Policy 9.1 - Residential developments should promote sustainability consistent with the Climate Action Plan (CAP) and California Building Energy Efficiency Standards (Title 24) in their design, placement, and functionality.

Item 8a
 Circulation Element of the General Plan Transportation Goal 1 – Maintain accessibility and protect the environment throughout San Luis Obispo while reducing dependence on single-occupant use of motor vehicles, with the goal of achieving State and Federal health standards for air quality.

These General Plan policies are implemented as follows:
 Resolution 11159 (2020 Series) adopted the Climate Action Plan for Community Recovery with the goal of community carbon neutrality by 2035 and a sub-goal of 50 percent reduction in emissions from existing buildings by 2030, and  Resolution No. 11381 (2022 Series) reaffirmed these goals and adopted a work program for fiscal years 2023-27, including Administrative Action 2 (Monitor and Report Plan Implementation) and Administrative Action 3 (Regularly Update the Climate Action Plan).

Currently, the Climate Action Plan Update is a work program item in the 2025-27 Financial Plan’s Major City Goal for Open Space, Climate Action, and Resilience. Action 1.c directs staff to complete the 2027-2031 Climate Action Plan and GHG Inventory Update by early 2027. Though the Major City Goal Work Program for the 2025-27 Financial Plan organizes its work into five discrete topic areas (economic resilience, diversity equity and inclusion, housing, infrastructure and sustainable transportation, and sustainability), these goals are cross-cutting, and many of the tasks within the goals depend on and reinforce each other.

DISCUSSION
Background
The City of San Luis Obispo has a long history of energy and resource conservation and has been taking intentional action on these topics since at least the early 1980s. More recently, in 2017, Council made Climate Action a Major City Goal, and since then, staff and community members have worked to make substantial greenhouse gas emissions reductions and advance local climate solutions, while supporting related goals (i.e., housing, diversity, equity and inclusion, economic development, and community resilience).

In 2020, the Council adopted the Climate Action Plan for Community Recovery (CAP), which set a goal of communitywide carbon neutrality by 2035. The CAP charted a course for an approximately 70 percent reduction in emissions by 2035, while acknowledging that the remaining 30 percent had no known reduction pathway and would require technological breakthroughs, significant new external funding sources, and unprecedented alignment across federal, state, and regional governments to get to full carbon neutrality. In adopting a goal of carbon neutrality by 2035, Council acknowledged the value of having an aspirational goal, despite the uncertainty associated with full achievement of that goal.

Item 8a
As outlined in the 2020 CAP, the City commits to providing a progress report to the community and City Council every four years. These progress reports are scheduled ahead of each plan update, which also occur every four years. The most recent CAP update, adopted by City Council on December 13, 2022, is the 2023-27 Climate Action Plan Work Program.
2026 Climate Action Plan Progress Report
The 2026 Climate Action Plan Progress Report (Report) (Attachment A) includes information about the City’s Climate Action Plan, an updated greenhouse gas emissions inventory and forecast snapshot, and a detailed review of implementation progress from the 2023-27 Climate Action Plan Work Program. The Report is organized into the following Chapters:
 Chapter 1 - Progress Report Background shares information about the history of climate action in San Luis Obispo and provides the context for the progress report.  Chapter 2 - Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory and Forecast Snapshots updates historic greenhouse gas emissions inventories, provides a 2024 inventory update, and forecasts emissions for 2030, 2035, and 2045.  Chapter 3 - Climate Action Progress by Pillar explains the different sectors of the Climate Action Plan, reports on implementation progress to date, identifies implementation headwinds and momentum, and looks ahead to how the City can support continued emissions reductions in support of its goal of carbon neutrality.  Appendix A - provides detailed information about the implementation status of all 48 actions in the 2023-27 Climate Action Plan Work Program.

GHG Inventory Snapshot
In 2020, the City estimated that approximately 60% of inventoried communitywide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions were from transportation, with nearly 80% of those emissions attributable to regional travel. The remaining inventoried emissions were from electricity, natural gas, and landfilled solid waste. The 2020 CAP projected that by 2035, electricity and organic waste emissions could be nearly eliminated, approximately 50% of natural gas emissions could be reduced, and roughly two-thirds of transportation emissions could be reduced.

Updated analysis projects 2035 electricity and solid waste emissions reductions to occur roughly as projected. However, natural gas and transportation emissions are declining more slowly than anticipated, and regional travel, where emissions reductions are having to overcome higher than expected regional growth, remains the largest source of remaining emissions in the updated 2035 forecast. While the 2020 CAP anticipated that the City could reduce overall emissions by about 70% by 2035, given these slower than anticipated reductions in natural gas use and regional transportation emissions, staff estimate that the City is on track to reduce emissions by about 50% by 2035.

Item 8a
It should be noted that, as described in Attachment A, the City inventories and forecasts GHG emissions consistent with guidance provided by the California Air Resources Board.

The GHG emissions sectors included in the City’s inventory are required sectors under state guidance and exclude optional sectors associated with off-road equipment, wastewater treatment, and aviation, among other things.2 The “narrow and deep” approach to pursuing ambitious action (i.e., focusing on deep reductions in the required emissions sectors only) is consistent with direction Council provided at the December 14, 2022 adoption of the 2023-27 Climate Action Work Program.

Implementation Progress
As part of the progress report, staff reviewed all 48 CAP actions. The City has seen success in all emissions sectors, with the deepest reductions coming in clean electricity (via Central Coast Community Energy) and solid waste (via SB 1383 implementation). In these sectors, early action has driven substantial reductions and set the foundation for deep reductions through 2035 and 2045.

Even where emissions reductions are falling short, CAP implementation is significantly reducing emissions relative to “no-action”. Actions ranging from investing in active transportation infrastructure to supporting low-income energy efficiency upgrades are driving measurable progress towards carbon neutrality. However, external factors are playing a larger-than-expected role and are presenting new constraints. For example, anticipated federal grant funding for a large building energy retrofit program was cancelled in 2025, leaving commercial natural gas use on track for only modest declines through 2035. Regional growth is also expected to increase regional single-occupancy car trips into San Luis Obispo through 2035, leading to an increase in regional vehicle miles travelled (VMT), which is the emissions source that the City has the least ability to influence. While the City plays an important role in reducing transportation emissions through strategies like housing production (so people can live closer to where they work), active transportation, and transit investments, many of the factors that shape how far people travel in the region are outside the City's control, including the rural nature of the area, regional economic growth, and jobs and housing production in adjacent communities. In addition to continued focus on areas the City has direct control over, enhanced coordination with regional transportation partners will be necessary to address these trends.

California’s Legislative Climate Targets
The City’s 2035 carbon neutrality goal is a local policy preference, and it sits inside California’s evolving greenhouse gas emissions legal framework. The City’s climate action efforts are now informed by two statewide GHG emissions targets that have been adopted or clarified since the adoption of the 2020 CAP:
 SB 32 sets a 2030 regulatory goal to reduce statewide greenhouse gas emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels. Since 2020, new best practices have emerged on how cities should operationalize this goal and the City’s current analysis finds

2 The Lead by Example Plan provides an estimate of direct emissions from wastewater treatment for informational purposes. For more information, see the Lead by Example Council Agenda Report at:
https://opengov.slocity.org/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=218409&dbid=0&repo=CityClerk&cr=1.

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that with implementation of the existing CAP, the City is on track to achieve this goal.
 AB 1279 sets a 2045 regulatory goal of achieving net‑ zero emissions “as soon as possible,” and no later than 2045, with at least an 85 percent reduction in emissions by that date.3 The City’s analysis shows that the implementation of the current Climate Action Plan puts the City on track for approximately a 75% reduction by 2045, which is nearly consistent with AB 1279’s requirements of an approximately 85% reduction by 2045, but a gap of about 10% remains.
2026 Progress Report Key Findings
Based on the work completed for the Report, staff have identified four key takeaways:

1. The City’s leadership and investments in climate action produce measurable results, invite outside resources (including over $57 million in external funding for CAP implementation actions since 2020), and demonstrate the effectiveness of sustained local leadership.

2. Regional, state, and federal policy changes are introducing new constraints on local climate progress.

3. Regional vehicle trips and natural gas use in existing buildings remain the most significant obstacles to achieving Council’s 2035 community carbon neutrality goal.

4. Persistent local innovation and creativity will be required to reach carbon neutrality. 2027 Climate Action Plan Update
Given the information provided above, a key task of the CAP update is identifying a work program that puts the City on a trajectory to achieving it’s adopted carbon neutrality target, in addition to ensuring that the City is on track to reach California’s 2030 and 2045 statewide legislative targets.

To set the stage for the 2027 CAP update, staff prepared comprehensive information on implementation progress for Council’s consideration, as well as findings from stakeholder outreach and technical research on how to increase the pace of emissions reductions.4 Staff, with support from participants in the community outreach process, identified which actions might be paused or continued, as well as which actions merit revisiting that did not succeed the first time. In addition, some new ideas were considered that could further reduce emissions through 2035 and beyond. The remainder of this report identifies the types of actions that could be enhanced, reimagined, or newly proposed as part of the 2027 CAP update.

3 The guidance for establishing an 85% reduction assumes statewide carbon sequestration initiatives achieving the other 15% as modeled by the California Air Resources Board and included in its 2022 Climate Scoping Plan.
4 Technical analysis conducted ahead of this Study Session includes comparative review of 15 of the most ambitious and effective Climate Action Plans in California, conversations with staff from cities with similar carbon neutrality goals throughout the US, review of research prepared for state agencies including the California Energy Commission, Public Utilities Commission, CalRecycle, and the California Air Resources

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Implementation of Climate Action Plan actions occurs collaboratively across multiple City departments and divisions. As the 2027 Climate Action Plan Update is developed, staff will continue to evaluate how proposed actions align with departmental work programs and operational capacity. The ideas below represent an illustrative but not exhaustive list of potential actions, and additional analysis and outreach may result in different or additional recommendations.

Actions to Improve, Expand, or Retry
Based on technical analysis and community feedback, the following actions exemplify the types of 2020 CAP actions that staff recommends improving, expanding, or retrying.

Actions in this category would be subject to additional analysis prior to inclusion in the 2027 CAP update and fall into three main categories:

1. Transportation
a. Mobility Innovations. There are opportunities to re-evaluate innovative programs that complement SLO Transit, including the further evaluation of bikeshare, carshare, and micro-transit programs. Bikeshare and carshare programs can play an important role in supporting households with one or zero personal vehicles and in facilitating a transition away from singleoccupancy vehicle travel. Micro-transit, which can take a wide range of forms, but has typically operated in other California cities like a public ride share service, can further support transit ridership by providing strategically targeted service in areas or times where overall fixed-route ridership is low.

To date, neither bikeshare nor carshare programs have demonstrated longterm viability in San Luis Obispo under a model that requires no financial contribution from the City. However, conditions may be shifting for bikeshare, and staff will continue to monitor market developments and provide updates to the community and City Council as appropriate.

Carshare services remain more challenging to implement under the current model, but emerging approaches, including the development of autonomous vehicles, have the potential to disrupt existing business structures and may improve the feasibility of similar services in San Luis Obispo in the future.5
Micro-transit is being used in other California cities to serve low-ridership areas or times. A micro-transit program could potentially enable fixed-route networks to shift more from coverage to ridership growth. Given the wide range of program design options and related costs, the viability of a microtransit program that would be optimal in San Luis Obispo is currently unknown. A study is underway to evaluate operational considerations and constraints of a potential pilot program.

Board, and review of articles by national technical experts at the forefront of issues like clean energy and mobility.
5 As noted in the 2026 Progress Report, private carshare providers previously shared with staff that the City lacks the population required to operate a program. Staff are currently reconnecting with providers to test whether that assumption is true in 2026.

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Staff recommends further analysis and potential inclusion of these actions in the 2027 CAP due to their ability to reduce vehicle miles travelled (VMT), support increased transit ridership and transportation mode integration, and make continued progress on the City’s mode split goals. b. Regional Transit. Regional transit remains a critical tool for reducing vehicle miles traveled across San Luis Obispo County and the broader region.

There is a continuing need for increased and stable funding to support ongoing transit operations. While the City does not directly administer regional transit, it does have representation on regional transportation agencies that provide transit service. Staff recommends further analysis and potential inclusion of actions that support regional transit, as well as other actions that have the potential to reduce the City’s largest source of emissions (regional VMT) such as continued support of electric vehicle (EV) uptake and associated EV charging infrastructure.

2. Existing Buildings – In 2025, staff conducted a Study Session for Council discussing the different building energy retrofit policy options that are available to a City for emissions reductions.6 Since then, staff have been implementing Council’s strategic direction to develop voluntary energy reporting programs as described below and opportunities for accelerated emissions reductions exist in the following areas:
a. Large-Building Retrofits: As previously noted, the City had expected to be competitive for a Department of Energy grant that would have covered the cost of developing and staffing a large-building retrofit program (commonly referred to as a “Building Performance Standard”). With the dissolution of the funding source in 2025, staff pivoted to completing initial tasks that could be conducted with existing resources, including identifying approximately 100 buildings that exceed 50,000 square feet and approximately 150 buildings between 25,000 and 50,000 square feet. Staff have also set up the no-cost digital infrastructure that can enable initial voluntary reporting of energy performance for buildings of this size. Voluntary disclosure can provide education and awareness about cost savings associated with retrofits and can connect building owners with rebates and incentives to complete those retrofits.7 As discussed at the July 2025 Study Session, if emissions reductions from voluntary disclosure are not sufficient to meet the City’s goals, the City could consider mandatory reporting or retrofit requirements. Additional resources would be required to transition to a mandatory reporting program. Further, any program that requires mandatory retrofits would need substantial additional resources and staffing. In the near term, staff anticipates developing relationships with

6 For more information about existing building retrofit policy options and considerations, see the Council Agenda Packet developed for Council’s July 15, 2025 Study Session on the topic at: https://pubslocity.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=20844 7 Examples of current rebates, incentives, and technical assistance for commercial building retrofits include the 3C-REN Commercial Energy Savings Program, the PG&E on-bill financing program, and the Central Coast Leaders in Energy Action Program- Energy Advisor Service.

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building owners and sharing resources that support voluntary retrofits as discussed in the July 2025 Study Session. Staff recommends further analysis and potential inclusion of a Building Performance Standard action in the 2027 CAP update that focuses on assessing voluntary disclosure success and, if needed to reach the City’s goals, identifying and securing grant funding to support further program development.
b. Single Family Home Energy Disclosure. The City has successfully advocated to the Bay Area Regional Energy Network (BayREN) to bring the statewide Home Energy Score program to San Luis Obispo. The Home Energy Score provides homeowners with a standardized assessment of their home's energy performance, rated by a certified, independent assessor. The assessment evaluates current energy consumption and associated costs, and produces tailored recommendations for cost-effective efficiency improvements. As with large-buildings, voluntary disclosure can provide education and connect homeowners with resources to support energy retrofits. The program is expected to launch in mid-2026, and staff will assess its effectiveness in its initial years of operation. A potential action in the 2027 CAP could direct staff to assess the effectiveness of the voluntary disclosure program, and if results are insufficient to achieve the City’s goals, to evaluate the potential costs and benefits of a mandatory disclosure or retrofit program.

3. Proactive Legislative Action – The 2023-27 CAP Work Program includes an action to advocate for legislation supporting CAP implementation. The City has since updated its Legislative Action Platform to reflect local climate priorities and submitted letters in support of and opposition to state legislation accordingly. To more effectively influence legislative outcomes, staff recommend joining the Local Government Climate Alliance (LGCA), a new consensus-based organization currently hosted by the City of Santa Barbara. An informational sheet about LGCA is provided as Attachment B. As of March 6, the LGCA has 10 member cities and counties representing 4% of California's population. Membership provides access to a lobbyist with deep energy sector expertise and a collective local government approach to shaping climate-specific legislation, with particular focus on electricity affordability. Because the LGCA is consensus-based, if the City were a member, the organization would only formally take a position on legislation if the City and all other LGCA members approve of the position. City staff would use the City's adopted Legislative Action Platform to evaluate whether to support legislative positions considered by LGCA. If Council approves joining LGCA and delegates authority to the City Manager’s designee, it is suggested that the role be staffed by the Office of Sustainability and Natural Resources. Membership would cost $1,500 annually, which staff believe can be covered by reallocating existing budget from memberships in lower-impact sustainability-focused professional organizations.

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New Ideas
A recurring theme throughout technical analysis and the outreach conducted to date is a shortage of new transformative ideas capable of rapidly reducing emissions. This reinforces the significance of the "Improve, Expand, or Retry" category. Nonetheless, several new ideas did emerge and are provided below as an example of the types of things the City could explore as part of the 2027 CAP Update. New ideas include:

1. Energy and Buildings – The City could explore a municipally supported program for bulk-purchasing and direct installation of solar panels, battery storage, and heat pumps, modeled on similar programs in Ann Arbor, MI, and Palo Alto, CA. This program could address two key barriers to building electrification retrofits: price uncertainty for customers and inconsistent demand for local installers by offering fixed-price purchasing to property owners and tenants, while providing a reliable pipeline of work for local installers. Because start-up costs, operating costs, and staffing needs require further evaluation, a 2027 Climate Action Plan (CAP) action would likely take the form of directing staff to conduct an initial feasibility study.

Staff recommends further analysis and potential inclusion of this action in the 2027 CAP because of its potential to make voluntary retrofits more accessible and reduce the cost and complexity of complying with any future retrofit requirements.

2. Energy and Buildings – There is currently a national movement in support of solar and battery energy storage systems that can be purchased “off the shelf” and plugged into standard wall outlets, providing cost savings and resiliency benefits for community members (renters, mobile and manufactured home residents, and apartment occupants, among others) that have not traditionally been able to benefit from clean energy. The City could play a role in streamlining local rules to ensure these systems, which are not grid connected, are installed safely with limited administrative and permitting obstacles. These systems generate local renewable energy, reduce electricity demand during peak hours, and can increase the long-term cost effectiveness of efficient electric appliances for consumers. In addition, new technologies are available that provide low-cost window heat pump units for zero emissions heating and cooling, and induction cooktops that plug in to standard outlets, among other things. As over 60% of San Luis Obispo residents are renters, these off the shelf systems provide a whole new segment of the community with access to green buildings solutions. The City can also advocate to regional rebate incentive providers (e.g., 3CE and 3CREN) to provide renter focused programs. Staff recommends further analysis and potential inclusion of a “plug in solar” supporting action in the 2027 CAP update because of its potential to reduce emissions and support issues related to renters’ access to clean energy and energy affordability.

Updated Ideas and Progress to Carbon Neutrality
Based on initial quantification estimates conducted by staff, should the actions above prove feasible, it is expected that implementation of the current CAP, together with these actions, could improve the margin by which the City complies with the statewide 2030 target and put the City on track to achieve the 2045 target. In this scenario, staff forecasts an approximately 65% reduction in emissions by 2035 relative to baseline, 35% short of the carbon neutral by 2035 target. Similar to the discussion had in 2020, closing this gap

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would require technological breakthroughs, significant new external funding sources, and deep alignment across federal, state, and regional governments. Staff recommends that all of the ideas presented above be further evaluated for potential inclusion in the 2027 CAP and requests that Council flag any actions that they think should not be further evaluated. Should Council direct staff to continue updating the Climate Action Plan, the rest of 2026 will be spent evaluating these ideas, along with new ideas to further reduce emissions that might be provided by community outreach or additional technical research.

Additional details about schedule and next steps are provided at the end of this report.

Previous Council or Advisory Body Action
 July 17, 2012 – City Council adopted the community’s first Climate Action Plan.  September 18, 2018 – City Council directed staff to pursue the 2035 carbon neutrality goal and directed staff to update the Climate Action Plan with strategies and options to achieve the 2035 goal.
 August 18, 2020 – City Council adopted the Climate Action Plan for Community Recovery, which included the goal of carbon neutrality by 2035.  May 18, 2021 – Staff presented the 2020-21 Climate Action Progress Report to City Council, which highlighted key Climate Action Plan implementation milestones achieved in 2020 and 2021.
 July 6, 2021, Council adopted Lead by Example: A Plan for Carbon Neutral Municipal Operations, which identified goals, objectives, and actions for achieving the City’s municipal operations climate goal.
 December 13, 2022 – Council adopted Resolution No. 11381 (2022 Series) and adopted the 2023-27 Climate Action Plan Work Program, which identified 48 CAP actions for fiscal years 2023-27.
 June 6, 2023 – Council adopted the 2023-25 Financial Plan, prioritizing "Open Space, Climate Action, and Sustainable Transportation" as a major city goal.  May 21, 2024 - Lead by Example: A Plan for Carbon Neutral Municipal Operations progress report was presented to Council in May of 2024  February 4, 2025 - Lead by Example: A Plan for Carbon Neutral Municipal Operations plan update was adopted by Council.
 June 17, 2025 – Council adopted the 2025-27 Financial Plan, prioritizing "Open Space, Climate Action, and Resilience" as a major city goal.

Public Engagement
2026 Progress Report Outreach
Staff have conducted the following public engagement efforts to inform that 2026 Progress Report and to begin looking ahead to the 2027 Climate Action Plan Update. The engagement conducted for this study session builds on recent engagement efforts conducted for the “Existing Building Energy Efficiency Retrofit Policy Options” study session conducted by Council on July 15, 2025, and the “Lead by Example” business item conducted by Council on February 4, 2025.
 Community Roundtables – Staff convened community-based organizations (e.g.,

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ECOSLO, SLO Climate Coalition, the Diversity Coalition of San Luis Obispo, Chamber of Commerce, Sierra Club, etc.), regional public agencies (e.g., SLO APCD, SLOCOG, Central Coast Community Energy, Cal Poly, etc.), and community experts for seven roundtable meetings between December and February. The meetings focused on connecting organizations on the topic of Climate Action, providing educational information about the City’s approach to carbon neutrality, and hosting generative discussions on what actions the City should stop doing, keep doing, or improve, as well as big new ideas for the City to consider. In total, over 50 community members and regional agency representatives participated in the stakeholder forums.  Community Workshops – Staff conducted an in-person communitywide workshop on March 10 and an on-line communitywide workshop on March 11. The workshops provided the background and context information in this report and sought feedback on topics related to GHG emissions reductions goals, recommendations for improving implementation success, and ideas for achieving additional emissions reductions. Stakeholder groups were invited to attend, including the Developers’ Roundtable, local realtors, and Active Transportation Committee members. In total, 31 community members participated in the workshops.
 Presentations to local organizations - Staff provided an overview of the Progress Report and highlighted strategic questions that will be presented to Council at the following meetings:
o Chamber of Commerce Economic Development Committee (March 5), and o Climate Coalition Executive Director and Board Chair Meeting (March 9).

The public engagement directed the content of the 2026 Progress Report and this Council Agenda Report in the following ways:

1. Each of the roundtable meetings provided community members with an exercise to provide feedback on which CAP actions should be set aside, which actions were working as currently conceived, which actions should be amended, enhanced, or tried again. Additionally, participants were asked to share new ideas that might be included in the 2027 CAP. Combined with technical research. this feedback was critical in identifying the initial set of actions that could be included in the 2027 CAP, as described above. The feedback also affirmed that the City’s current approach to carbon neutrality is supported and that the 2027 Plan Update should look more like small changes and refinements to the existing plan rather than a comprehensive rethinking of the City’s approach.

2. In each of the outreach events, staff shared the progress that is expected to be made by 2035, described the gap between that progress and the 2020 CAP’s goal, and shared information about the new statewide goal of carbon neutrality “as soon as possible, but no later than 2045” (AB 1279). Staff tested whether the City should continue with the 2035 goal given the known gap and the general feedback was aligned with the sentiment that the value of having an aspirational goal is worth the uncertainty that comes with it.

3. In each of the outreach events, staff also asked for ideas on how to have an

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excellent community outreach program that supports the 2027 CAP update. Staff found that community members, community-based organization leaders, and regional agency staff shared enthusiasm in collaborating on unique, fun, informational, and effective events.
2027 Climate Action Plan Update Outreach
The outreach described in this report represents the initial phase of engagement and will be complimented by extensive additional outreach during the CAP update process which will occur throughout 2026. In addition to standard community workshops, surveys, and conversations with stakeholders, notable planned outreach events include:
 Pop-up outreach efforts at existing neighborhood and community level-events such as Monday Meetups, Earth Fest, and neighborhood farmers’ markets.  Collaborating with existing community cultural events such as Building a Better SLO’s lecture series.
 Community service events where participants take action to improve their community while learning about and providing feedback on the 2027 CAP.  Offering presentations and conversations with civil society organization boards such as the Rotary Club and the Lions Club.

It should also be noted that, consistent with the approach taken in support of the 2020 CAP, staff broadly interprets what “stakeholder” means in the context of climate action planning and intends to engage with a wide cross-section of the community (e.g., builders, developers, realtors, mobile home park residents, students, renters, seniors, and nonEnglish speakers, among others).

CONCURRENCE
The City’s Green Team collaborated on the development of the 2026 Progress Report and concurs with the content therein.8 This Council Agenda Report also has concurrence from leadership in Public Works and Utilities, and Community Development.

ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The California Environmental Quality Act does not apply to the recommended action in this report, because the action does not constitute a “Project” under CEQA Guidelines Sec. 15378. The updated 2027 Climate Action Plan is a “Project” and will be subject to environmental review prior to being presented to Council for approval. The City adopted an Initial Study/Negative Declaration in 2021 prior to adoption of the Climate Action Plan Update, and any subsequent updates require review of this previous document to determine the appropriate environmental documentation and associated required findings (i.e., findings of consistency with the adopted IS/ND, Addendum to the IS/ND, or

8 The City’s Green Team is a cross-departmental group of staff that helps coordinate efforts across City functions. The Green Team enables shared ownership of climate goals, integrates sustainability into dayto-day operations, and supports an all-City approach to achieving municipal and communitywide emissions reductions.

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subsequent or supplemental documentation). The City has already retained the services of an environmental consultant to conduct the environmental review in 2026, ahead of returning to Council with the plan update in 2027.

FISCAL IMPACT
Budgeted: Yes Budget Year: 2025-26
Funding Identified: Yes
Fiscal Analysis:

Funding
Sources
Total Budget
Available
Current
Funding
Request
Remaining
Balance
Annual
Ongoing
Cost
General Fund $30,000 $ $ $
State
Federal
Fees
Other:

Total $30,000 $ $ $
As anticipated in the 2025-27 Financial Plan, staff have the internal capacity to complete the Climate Action Plan “in house,” except for environmental review which is anticipated to cost $30,000. This amount is budgeted and available to cover the scope of work.

The 2027 CAP Update is intended to be presented to Council in early 2027 to inform the deliberative process being undertaken as part of the 2027-29 Financial Plan and will provide staff’s recommendation for the tasks required to achieve state GHG reduction goals and make progress on local GHG reduction goals. The City’s budget development occurs via a separate process, and inclusion of any projects or programs in the City’s budget are subject to Council approval. Funding for tasks included in the 2027 CAP Update would require additional Council deliberation and approval and would not preemptively approve or otherwise imply that they are automatically included in future budgets.

QUESTIONS FOR COUNCIL

1. Which of the potential actions described above, and summarized below, should be further evaluated as part of the 2027 Climate Action Plan Update? The purpose of this Study Session is to provide strategic direction that will inform development of the 2027 Climate Action Plan Update. Specific policies, programs, and implementation strategies will return to Council for consideration as part of the draft plan. Staff recommends further evaluation of all seven items included below and requests that Council flag any actions they believe should not be further evaluated for the 2027 CAP update.

Potential actions proposed to be modified or tried again include:

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1. Re-evaluation of mobility innovations related to bikeshare, carshare, and microtransit.

2. Enhanced support for regional transit and EV charging infrastructure.

3. Re-evaluation of large building energy efficiency programs.

4. Evaluation of the new single-family Home Energy Score program.

5. Proactive legislative advocacy.

Potential new ideas that could be considered include:

6. Evaluation of bulk purchasing and direct installation programs for rooftop solar, batteries, and electric heat-pump water-heater and HVAC units.

7. Support for “plug-in” solar and battery energy storage systems.

2. At a minimum, the City will be required to adopt the AB 1279 goal of carbon neutrality “as soon as possible,” but no later than 2045. Does Council want to retain its local 2035 target as well?

2.a. If so, is Council comfortable with staff returning with a 2027-31 Climate Action Plan that does not identify a path to carbon neutrality by 2035, thus retaining the goal as an aspirational target?

2.b. If not, should staff include recommendations for what “as soon as possible” could mean in practice?

2.c. Does Council want to retain its existing “narrow and deep” approach to covered greenhouse gas emissions (focusing on energy, transportation, and landfilled solid waste)?

3. Does Council have further direction or feedback on the proposed outreach, engagement, and plan update approach to the 2027 CAP Update?

SCHEDULE AND NEXT STEPS
Staff is prepared to incorporate Council’s strategic direction into the outreach and work program for the 2027 Climate Action Plan update based on the following schedule:
 April-October 2026 – Staff will conduct community outreach and engagement, conduct technical research, and further evaluate potential CAP actions. The findings from these efforts will be used to develop the 2027 CAP.  December 2026 – Staff will publish a public review draft of the 2027 CAP.  Spring 2027 – Staff will present the 2027 CAP to Council for approval.

ALTERNATIVES

1. Council could provide strategic direction not included in the “Questions for Council.”

2. Council could direct staff to cease work on the Climate Action Plan Update and reprioritize planning efforts to implementation. This alternative would allow staff to spend more time in 2026 working on CAP implementation actions.

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Staff does not recommend this as the updated Climate Action Plan is an important tool for ensuring staff work programs are aligned with the City’s needs to achieve state targets related to SB 32 and AB 1279.

ATTACHMENTS
A - 2026 Climate Action Plan Progress Report
B - Local Government Climate Alliance Information Sheet

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CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO COMMUNITY CLIMATE ACTION PLAN
2026 PROGRESS REPORT APRIL 2026

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
City Council
Erica A. Stewart, Mayor
Michelle Shoresman, Vice Mayor
Emily Francis, Council Member
Jan Marx, Council Member
Dr. Michael Boswell, Council Member
City Management
Whitney McDonald, City Manager
Scott Collins, Assistant City Manger
Greg Hermann, Deputy City Manager
Green Team Contributors
Kiersten Anderson; Volunteer Coordinator, Lucia Baesemann; Sustainability & Natural Resources Analyst, Meg Buckingham; Solid Waste & Recycling Program Manager, Dan Clancy; Financial Analyst, Jacqui Clark-Charlesworth; Tourism Analyst, Greg Cruce; Deputy Director, Maintenance Operations, Ethan Estrada; Assistant Planner, Amy Fletcher; Human Resources Specialist, Benefits, Adam Fukushima; Active Transportation Manager, Adria Griggs; City Attorney, Nico Gurney; Engineering Technician II, Natalie Harnett; Policy and Project Manager, Alejandro Hernandez; Facilities Maintenance Supervisor, Bob Hill; Sustainability & Natural Resources Official, Devin Hyfield; Recreation Manager, Basile Inman; Ranger Service Worker, Juanita Iriarte; Communications Coordinator, Madeline Kacsinta; Engineer III, Riley Kuhn; Principal Budget Analyst, Chris Lehman; Deputy Director, Wastewater, Joe Little; Emergency Manager, Teresa McClish; Housing Policy and Programs Manager, Patrick McGrath; WRRF Supervisor, Freddy Otte; City Biologist, Rachelle Paris; Solid Waste & Recycling Coordinator, Matt Pennon; DEI Manager, Chris Read; Sustainability Manager, Jennifer Rice; Deputy Director, Mobility Services, Keith Schwanemann; Stormwater Program Manager, Shawna Scott; Assistant Director of Utilities, Jesse Stanley; Transit Coordinator, Whitney Szentesi; Public Communications Manager, Nick Teague; Water Resources Program Manager, Bryan Treanor; Lieutenant.

CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO COMMUNITY CLIMATE ACTION PLAN
2026 PROGRESS REPORT APRIL 2026

TABLE OF CONTENTS
PROGRESS REPORT SUMMARY............................................................................................ 2

1. PROGRESS REPORT BACKGROUND ................................................................................ 4

2. GHG INVENTORY AND FORECAST SNAPSHOTS............................................................. 8

3. CLIMATE ACTION PROGRESS BY PILLAR.......................................................................12 Pillar 1: Lead By Example..............................................................................................12 Pillar 2: Clean Energy Systems .....................................................................................15 Pillar 3: Green Buildingss ..............................................................................................18 Pillar 4: Connected Community .....................................................................................22 Pillar 5: Circular Economy .............................................................................................27 Pillar 6: Natural Solutions ..............................................................................................31 Administrative Actions ...................................................................................................34 APPENDIX A. CLIMATE ACTION PLAN IMPLEMENTATION MATRIX............................. - 35 -

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PROGRESS REPORT

SUMMARY
Introduction
The City of San Luis Obispo (City) and the community have been working hard to reduce pollution, create more clean energy, provide more ways to move around the community, and do so in a way that supports other goals related to housing, diversity, equity, and inclusion, economic development, and community resilience. In 2020, the City Council adopted the Climate Action Plan for Community Recovery (Climate Action Plan, or “CAP”) that set forth and established an ambitious communitywide goal of carbon neutrality by 2035. Consistent with the schedule adopted with the 2020 CAP, staff provide the City Council and community with a progress report every four years.

What’s Inside
The 2026 Progress Report (the “Report”) includes information about the City’s Climate Action Plan, updated greenhouse gas emissions trends, and detailed information about implementation progress since the adoption of the Climate Action Plan. The Report is organized into the following Chapters:

1. Progress Report Background shares information about the history of climate action in San Luis Obispo and provides the context for this progress report.

2. Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory and Forecast Snapshots updates historic greenhouse gas emissions inventories, provides a 2024 inventory update, and forecasts emissions for 2030, 2035, and 2045.

3. Climate Action Progress by Pillar explains the different sectors of the Climate Action Plan, reports on implementation progress to date, identifies implementation headwinds and momentum, and looks ahead to how the City can support continued emissions reductions through 2045.

CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO PROGRESS REPORT
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Progress Report Summary Findings
Based on the work completed for the Report, staff have identified four key findings:

1. The City’s leadership and investments in climate action produce measurable results, invite outside resources (including over $57 million in external funding for CAP implementation actions since 2020), and demonstrate the effectiveness of sustained local leadership. Staff across City departments and programs are aligned in advancing CAP strategies and have reduced community emissions in partnership with local organizations and residents. Our local electricity provider is committed to providing 100% carbon-free electricity by 2030, enabling more homes and vehicles in our community to transition from fossil fuels and plug into a cleaner grid. The City is investing in essential active transportation infrastructure, making it safer and more convenient to walk, bike, and use transit. Citywide organics recycling is reducing emissions from the landfill, and climate-forward management of City open spaces, parks, and the urban forest is increasing carbon sequestration.

2. Regional, state, and federal policy changes are introducing new constraints on local climate progress. While local climate programs and projects are gaining momentum, factors outside of the City’s direct control are making it more challenging to reduce emissions. These factors include funding limitations for regional transit and regional lowcarbon mobility options, statewide legislative and regulatory decisions affecting electricity affordability and clean energy deployment, and significant shifts in federal priorities that have disrupted the funding landscape for green buildings and low-carbon transportation.

3. Regional vehicle trips and natural gas use in existing buildings remain the most significant obstacles to achieving Council’s 2035 carbon neutrality goal. The external challenges described above, combined with higher-than-anticipated regional growth projections, indicate that there will be more fossil fuel powered buildings and vehicles in the future than originally forecasted. Without additional intervention, this trend will widen the gap between current trajectories and adopted targets. The 2027 Climate Action Plan update can respond directly to these findings and identify practical strategies to close that gap.

4. Persistent local innovation and creativity will be required to reach carbon neutrality goals. The City’s role as a leader in local climate action remains clear. Maintaining momentum will require deliberate policy direction and sustained investment. New tactics are required for successful collaboration with regional and state partners, including leadership on regional boards and commissions, and new forms of advocacy on the state level. Internally, the City will need to find creative solutions to go further with the resources available, and community organizations will need to continue playing a major role in local success.

CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO PROGRESS REPORT
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1. PROGRESS REPORT

BACKGROUND
Background
In 2012, City Council adopted the City’s first Climate
Action Plan (CAP), which established (and achieved) the goal of reducing greenhouse (GHG) emissions by 15%
by 2020. In 2020, Council adopted a comprehensive
update that included a communitywide goal of carbon
neutrality by 2035. The 2020 CAP set a long-term vision for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, while also
helping achieve local resilience, economic development, housing, and social equity goals. In 2022, Council
adopted the 2023-27 CAP Work Program that reaffirmed
the 2035 carbon neutrality target and refined the City’s strategies in response to evolving state policy,
implementation experience, and updated emissions data.

This 2026 Climate Action Progress Report (2026
Progress Report) provides a snapshot of the City’s
implementation efforts since adoption of the 2020 CAP
and its subsequent update. The Progress Report
provides findings from an updated greenhouse gas
emissions inventory and forecast, summarizes progress
across each of the six CAP pillars, highlights key
implementation trends, and identifies areas where
additional action may be needed. A detailed, action-byaction implementation review that reflects work completed through March 2026 is provided in Appendix
A. This Report is intended to act as a “check-in” in
advance of the comprehensive Community Climate
Action Plan update, scheduled for early 2027.

Climate Action Plan & Progress
Report Development Process
The Climate Action Plan organizes actions into six pillars that address the City’s primary sources of greenhouse
gas emissions. Implementation follows a regular and repeating cycle of evaluating emissions

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through inventories, advancing priority
actions, monitoring progress, and
adjusting strategies over time. This
approach allows the City to respond to
changing conditions while maintaining
focus on its long-term carbon neutrality
goal.

The planning and implementation of
the Climate Action Plan occurs over
four repeating steps, including
evaluating existing conditions via a
greenhouse gas emissions inventory,
identifying key actions to eliminate
greenhouse gas emissions,
implementing those actions, and
monitoring progress via this progress
report. This cycle is intended to be
completed every four years until the community achieves its goal of carbon neutrality.

The 2026 Progress Report was informed by extensive community outreach including seven roundtable workshops with community-based organizations and regional public agencies, a community meeting and webinar, and conversations with boards or committees at numerous organizations including the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce and the San Luis Obispo Climate Coalition.

Green Team
Climate action planning and implementation are
supported by the City’s Green Team, a crossdepartmental group of staff that helps coordinate efforts across City functions. The Green Team
enables shared ownership of climate goals,
integrates sustainability into day-to-day
operations, and supports an all-City approach to
achieving both municipal and communitywide
emissions reductions.

Local, Regional, Statewide, and National Collaboration
Since the 2020 Climate Action Plan was adopted, City staff have been collaborating with cities throughout California and the United States to ensure lessons learned in other places allow the City to do the work as efficiently as possible. Examples of collaboration include:
 Green Cities California is a network of around 30 California cities and counties that collaborate on projects related to local energy reach codes that require buildings to be more efficient, electric vehicle chargers, and renewable energy, among other things.  Urban Sustainability Network is a network of over 200 U.S. and Canadian cities and counties that also collaborate on best practices for achieving local climate goals.

February 2026 Green Buildings Stakeholder Forum
Staff from the City’s Green Team

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 The Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Climate Compact is an informal working group comprised of staff from the City of Santa Barbara and the City of San Luis Obispo. Both cities have carbon neutral by 2035 targets and collaborate on approaches to achieve those goals.

Photo of 2025 Green Cities California Annual Meeting
Implementation Resources
A central principle of the 2020 CAP is that leadership brings resources, and since 2020, the City also brought in substantial funding from outside resources to help achieve the actions in the Climate Action Plan, totaling over $57 million. The amount provided in this section is conservative, may not be inclusive of all grants or rebates received, and doesn’t account for the grant funded work completed by community-based organizations and regional public agencies (e.g., 3C-REN, 3CE, and APCD). Table 1 provides a summary of major grants, rebates, and incentives that the City has received by sector.

Table 1. External Funding for Climate Action Plan Implementation (2020-25) Sector Total
Lead by Example $11,531,876
Clean Energy and Green Buildings $956,798
Connected Communities (Transportation) $44,159,489
Solid Waste $259,078
Natural Solutions $656,996
Total $57,564,238
Note: the “Lead by Example” total includes $7,332,979 in tax credit funds pending final review by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and $76,790 in formula funds committed to the City by the US Department of Energy (DOE).

Disbursements from the Federal Government are delayed in both instances.

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2. GHG INVENTORY AND

FORECAST SNAPSHOTS
GHG Inventory Background
A greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory is a measure of GHG emissions that have occurred as the result of activity in a jurisdiction or a geographic area in a calendar year. Greenhouse gas emissions are modeled by multiplying data about activity (e.g., the amount of electricity consumed, the number of miles travelled in fossil fuel powered vehicles, the tons of solid waste sent to the landfill, etc.) by the greenhouse gas emission content of a typical unit of that activity (e.g., the average greenhouse gas emissions content per unit of combusted natural gas).

Consistent with California Air Resources Board guidance and related reporting protocols, this inventory accounts for three common greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N20). Since methane and nitrous oxide are substantially more potent greenhouse gases than carbon dioxide (86 and 265 times more potent, respectively), the emissions modeled from their release into the atmosphere are multiplied by their respective potential to warm the atmosphere relative to CO2 The reporting unit for greenhouse gas emissions is “Metric Tons of Carbon Dioxide Equivalence”, or MTCO2e.

The City’s inventory includes emissions related to electricity and natural gas used in buildings and facilities (including electricity used to treat and move water), energy used for vehicles, and pollution for landfilled solid waste. The GHG emissions sectors included in the City’s inventory are required sectors consistent with California Air Resources Board guidance and do not include optional sectors associated with off-road equipment, wastewater treatment, and aviation, among other things. The “narrow and deep” approach to pursuing ambitious action in the required sectors is consistent with direction Council approved at the December 14, 2022 adoption of the 2023-27 Climate Action Work Program. This section provides a snapshot of the most recent San Luis Obispo communitywide GHG inventory and forecast work.

The inventories and forecasts are subject to change as the City updates them with best available data throughout the 2027 CAP update process. In particular, the forecasts are subject to change as new economic and regional growth forecasts become available. As such, the snapshots provided in this report are best used as an indicator of the general scale and direction of emissions through 2045.

GHG Inventory and Forecast Snapshot
According to the City’s current GHG inventory and forecast snapshots, San Luis Obispo’s 2024 GHG emissions decreased by approximately 20% from 2005 levels and are expected to continue to decrease through 2035. As shown in Table 2, emissions in 2035 are expected to be at 218,810 MTCO2e (approximately 50% below 2005 levels). Chapter 4 provides additional inventory and forecast detail and findings for each of the inventoried emissions sectors.

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The 2027 CAP will include a technical GHG inventory and forecast memorandum that will provide extensive detail about the methods and data used to calculate the City’s GHG emissions estimates.

Table 2 GHG Emissions Inventories and Forecasts, 2005-2045 (MTCO2e).

Sector 2005 2016 2023 2024 2030 2035 2045
%
Change
(2005-
35)
Buildings
(Electricity) 59,580 32,690 75,950 43,690 470 440 390 -99% Buildings (Gas) 57,120 51,310 58,780 54,170 51,400 39,920 24,300 -30% Transportation
(Internal Trips) 83,720 67,760 44,800 44,800 40,520 33,160 14,560 -60% Transportation
(Regional Trips) 191,690 155,140 180,330 180,330 166,740 138,710 62,690 -28% Solid Waste 47,740 42,630 28,950 29,480 11,100 6,580 3,590 -86% Total 439,850 349,530 388,810 352,470 270,230 218,810 105,530 -50% % Change from
2005 -21% -12% -20% -39% -50% -76%
Note: The figures reported in this table reflect the best available analysis as of March 2026.

These numbers may be revised ahead of the 2027 CAP update pending additional data or updated economic and demographic forecasts.

Local and Statewide GHG Emissions Reduction Goals
The City’s 2035 carbon neutrality goal is a local policy preference that sits inside the California legal framework related to greenhouse gas emissions. The City’s climate action efforts are now informed by two statewide GHG emissions targets that have been adopted or clarified since the adoption of the 2020 CAP:
 SB 32 sets a 2030 regulatory goal to reduce statewide greenhouse gas emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels. Since 2020, new guidance on how cities should calculate this as a local goal has been issued and the City’s current analysis is that with implementation of the existing CAP, the City is on track to achieve this goal.  AB 1279 sets a 2045 regulatory goal of achieving net‑ zero emissions “as soon as possible,” and no later than 2045, with at least an 85 percent reduction in emissions by that date.1 The City’s current analysis shows that the implementation of the Climate Action Plan does not put the City on track to achieve local reductions consistent with AB 1279.

Figure 1 illustrates the GHG emissions provided in Table 2 in relationship to the 2030 target (SB 32), the 2035 target (Council’s adopted goal), and the 2045 target (AB 1279). The gap between the forecasted emissions and the City’s goals represents the gap that the 2027 Climate Action Plan needs to address.

1 The guidance for establishing an 85% reduction assumes statewide carbon sequestration initiatives achieving the other 15% as modeled by the California Air Resources Board and included in its 2022 Climate Scoping Plan.

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Figure 1. GHG Emissions Relative to State and Local Goals (2005-2045 in MTCO2e) 2005
2016
2018
2023
2024
2030
2035
2045
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2030 Target (SB 32)
2045 Target (AB 1279)

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3. CLIMATE ACTION

PROGRESS BY PILLAR
The following section presents progress updates for each of the six Climate Action Plan pillars, which together organize the City’s approach to reducing community-wide greenhouse gas emissions. Each pillar summary provides a snapshot of where the City is making progress, where challenges remain, and how current efforts align with the City’s long-term carbon neutrality goal.

Where this section describes progress on a particular pillar action, the action is identified in parentheses. More details about each action and the entirety of the 2023-27 CAP Work Program can be found at the end of this report in the CAP Implementation Matrix (Appendix A).

Each section concludes with a look to the future, reflecting on the remaining emissions-reduction gap and identifying opportunities, emerging strategies, and policy considerations that may be necessary to achieve the City’s community carbon neutrality target.

PILLAR 1: LEAD BY EXAMPLE
Pillar Overview
The City of San Luis Obispo is a highly visible
organization whose climate commitments and
results can inspire others to take similar action.

The City is reducing greenhouse gas emissions
across municipal operations (e.g., in City
buildings, facilities, and fleet vehicles), while
also integrating climate action into economic
development, and community partnerships.

The City has adopted a goal of carbon-neutral
operations by 2030, five years ahead of the
community target. By reducing municipal
emissions, the City is demonstrating that carbon
neutrality is achievable and can share lessons
with residents, businesses, and other local
governments.

Since 2021, the municipal operations emissions
reduction strategies have been moved to a
separate planning document: Lead by Example:

Goal
Carbon neutral government operations by
2030
Progress
Projected 84% reduction in covered
municipal operations emissions by 2030
Headwinds
 Elimination of federal rebates and
incentives
 Fluctuation in the EV truck market
Momentum
 Ongoing rebates and incentives from
3CE
 Fleet continues to electrify and the
charging depot at the Corp Yard is now
in design

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A Plan for Carbon Neutral Municipal Operations. The plan’s progress report was presented to Council in May of 2024, and the Plan update was adopted by Council in February of 2025. As illustrated in Figure 1, the updated Lead by Example Plan reports progress between 2022 and 2024 and forecasts an 84% reduction in municipal operations emissions by 2030.2 Sector Emissions Inventory and Forecast
Figure 2 shows activity data and historical emissions trends for municipal operations from 2022 to 2024, alongside forecasts through 2030. Emissions from City buildings and facilities are expected to decrease rapidly by 2030 while other sectors, such as employee commute and fleet face greater challenges and are expected to decrease less rapidly.

Figure 2. Municipal Operations Emissions Inventory (2022-2024) and Forecast (2025-2030) Implementation Progress
As noted above, the 2025 Lead by Example plan reports that the City is on track to achieve an 84% reduction in covered municipal operations emissions by 2030 (for more detail, see the Lead by Example 2025-29 Work Program). In addition to municipal operations decarbonization, the Lead by Example pillar also includes actions related to community leadership and partnerships and capacity building.

Visibility and Community Leadership
Leading by Example only works if people are aware of what work is being completed and why it is a priority. To enhance visibility, the City created the Sustainable SLO brand, which has been applied to electric

2 The Lead by Example Plan addresses required emissions sectors per the Local Government Operations Protocol (LGOP), which includes electricity and natural gas consumption, solid waste, and transportation.

The Lead by Example Plan also provides an estimate of direct emissions from wastewater treatment for informational purposes. For more information, see the Lead by Example Council Agenda Report at:
https://opengov.slocity.org/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=218409&dbid=0&repo=CityClerk&cr=1 0 500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031
Building & Facility Energy Fleet Employee Commute Solid Waste MTCO2e

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fleet vehicles, buses, waste infrastructure, and trailheads, among other things. This branding is supported by ongoing communication through social media, newsletters, and in-person events, translating technical progress into accessible stories.

Partnerships and Capacity Building
Beyond City operations, the “Lead by Example” pillar emphasizes capacity building and partnerships. The City has invested in and collaborated with community-based organizations to expand the reach of climate action, including low-income energy programs delivered through CAPSLO, urban forestry with ECOSLO and Rotary de Tolosa, watershed restoration with Creek Lands Conservation, sustainable agriculture education with City Farm SLO, and cultural fire and ecological restoration in partnership with yak titʸu titʸu yak tiłhini Northern Chumash Tribe (Leadership 3.1.A). Through these partnerships, the City can help other organizations make progress on the community’s climate action goals while benefiting from their unique expertise.

While as a small municipality, the City lacks the capacity and leverage to meaningfully influence regional workforce efforts, the City benefits from broader efforts led by REACH and the Workforce Development Board (Leadership 2.2.A).

Reaching Carbon Neutrality
As City operations approach carbon neutrality, the role of Lead by Example will be to maintain the emissions reduction progress achieved to date, while also investing more time and support into community organizations that seek to do the same.

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PILLAR 2: CLEAN ENERGY SYSTEMS
Pillar Overview
A carbon-neutral, affordable, and reliable
electricity system is the foundation of the City’s
greenhouse gas reduction strategy. Clean
electricity reduces emissions from current
electricity use and enables a zero-emissions
alternative for fossil-fuel appliances, equipment,
and vehicles.

As illustrated in Figure 2, in 2024, electricity
used in San Luis Obispo generated an
estimated 43,690 MTCO2e, about 12% of total
communitywide emissions. This reflects a 27%
reduction from 2005 levels.

Implementation Progress
Since 2020, the City has pursued a goal of
carbon-free electricity. The Climate Action Plan
primarily advances this goal by supporting
Central Coast Community Energy’s
commitment to provide carbon-neutral electricity by 2030. The Plan also includes strategies to improve grid reliability, access, and affordability in coordination with PG&E, and to explore potential decarbonization pilot programs with SoCal Gas.

Clean energy actions focus on transforming the electricity supply that underpins nearly all other decarbonization strategies. The foundation of local climate action is that the electricity grid will continue to get cleaner over time, and through efficiency and transitioning from fossil fuel appliances to electric appliances, the community will reduce and eventually eliminate emissions.

Community Choice Energy Participation
The City continues to support and participate in Central Coast Community Energy (3CE), with over 96% of local electrical load served by the community choice aggregator (Clean Energy

1.1.A). Since launch, more than $4.1 million in incentives and rebates have flowed back to the community for electric vehicles, charging infrastructure, and building electrification, reinforcing the local benefits of participation.

After a temporary increase in reported 3CE emissions intensity between 2021 and 2023 driven by the transition from purchasing carbon credits to the direct investment in new renewable energy projects, emissions declined in 2024 as new renewable projects came online and reset the trajectory to carbon neutral electricity by 2030.
3CE is governed by a Policy Board composed of elected officials and an Operations Board composed of City Managers. The City of San Luis Obispo shares a board seat with the City of Morro Bay and per a memorandum of agreement between the agencies, alternate representation every two years. San Luis Obispo represented the seat in 2019 through 2024 and will do so again in 2027 and 2028.

Goal
100% carbon free electricity by 2020
Progress
27% reduction in electricity emissions since
2005; expected to reach goal by 2030
Headwinds
 Federal Regulatory and Financial
Incentive Changes
 California Regulatory Changes
 Increased Construction Costs
Momentum
 3CE’s new renewable energy projects
are coming online
 Batteries prices continue to decrease
while making the grid cleaner and more
resilient

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Grid Reliability and Affordability
Grid reliability concerns have shifted over time. Earlier fears related to Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) have eased, with no PSPS events affecting the City in recent years (Clean Energy 2.1.A). Instead, the primary challenge has become the pace of interconnection for new housing, EV charging, and renewable projects, combined with steep electricity rate increases.

PG&E rates have nearly doubled since 2018, largely due to required and deferred distribution system maintenance and wildfire mitigation costs, creating affordability concerns as electrification accelerates.

Sector Emissions Inventory and Forecast
Figure 3 shows activity data and historical emissions trends for the electricity sector from 2005 to 2024, alongside forecasts through 2045. Electricity emissions are forecasted to reach zero by 2030 as 3CE invests in renewable energy projects.

Figure 3. Electricity kWh and Emissions Inventory (2005-2024) and Forecast (2025-2035) Headwinds and Momentum
The following headwinds emerged since 2020 that have slowed or threaten to slow progress:
 Federal Regulatory and Financial Incentive Changes - the elimination of tax credits and other financial incentives, combined with permitting obstacles makes rapid deployment of renewables more difficult.
 Regulatory Changes - California Public Utilities Commission’s decisions related to PG&E rates, non-by-passable fees, and resource adequacy, among other things, continue to make 3CE’s business of providing low-cost clean electricity unnecessarily difficult. 0 10,000
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 Increased Construction Costs - High material costs, interest rates, and labor costs translate to higher energy costs.

Despite these challenges, momentum exists for progress, including:
 3CE's new renewable energy projects are coming online and the organization continues to reach new levels of organizational and financial maturity.  Batteries continue to become more affordable, and the California grid has over 17,000 megawatts of battery storage — a 2,100% increase in capacity since 20193.  Statewide clean energy progress continues; in 2025 there were 279 days when 100% clean energy met or exceeded demand for a portion of that day, with an average of 5.1 hours of 100% clean energy per day (this is a rapid increase from 42 days in 2022, 136 in 2023, and 219 days in 2024)4.

Reaching Carbon Neutrality
Clean electricity remains essential to achieving carbon neutrality and future progress will depend on affordability as much as supply. Rising rates risk slowing adoption of electric vehicles and appliances, particularly for low-income households. While the purpose of this report is to provide a progress report, staff also asked community members and stakeholders during the outreach component for ideas that might bend the emissions curve towards carbon neutrality. Innovative new ideas include engaging in legislative advocacy in support of affordable and reliable clean electricity, as well as creating more accessible pathways for community members to install solar or battery energy systems at their homes or businesses.

Photo of a geothermal plant near the Mammoth Lakes area that provides clean electricity to 3CE customers

3https://www.energy.ca.gov/data-reports/energy-almanac/california-electricity-data/california-energystorage-system-survey 4https://www.energy.ca.gov/data-reports/clean-energy-serving-california/tracking-progress-toward-100- clean-energy

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PILLAR 3: GREEN BUILDINGSs
Pillar Overview
A carbon neutral San Luis Obispo is one in
which nearly all energy used in buildings and
facilities comes from clean electricity. In 2024,
energy use in buildings and facilities (electricity
and natural gas) generated an estimated 97,860
MTCO2e, about 27% of total communitywide
emissions. This represents a 16% reduction
from 2005 levels.

Since 2020, the City has pursued a goal of
reducing building-related emissions by 50% by
2030. The strategy focuses on two core actions:
1) minimizing emissions from new construction
through building codes and 2) reducing
emissions from existing buildings through
energy efficiency retrofits. Work on existing
buildings also includes supporting voluntary
electrification and evaluating regulations that
would require efficiency upgrades in certain
situations.

CAP Implementation Progress
Low Emissions New Construction
The City has made strong progress reducing
emissions from new buildings. In 2022, the City adopted all-electric requirements for new construction and implemented them through 2023. After federal law limited local authority to require electrification, the City shifted to targeted amendments to the California Energy Code that strongly encourage low- and zero-emissions buildings (Green Buildings 1.1A).

Between 2021 and mid-2025, approximately 79% of permitted buildings reporting energy data were all-electric. Most of the remaining new buildings had only a single major appliance connected to natural gas.

Existing Building Energy Retrofits
As anticipated in the 2020 Climate Action Plan, reducing emissions from existing buildings has been more challenging. Permit data shows early signs of market transformation, with growing adoption of electric heat pump water heaters and HVAC systems, compared to virtually no permits for these technologies in 2020.

Overall natural gas use has declined only modestly, with a 5% decrease between 2005 and 2024.

During that period, residential gas use decreased by approximately 14% and non-residential use increased by 8%.

Goal
No net new building emissions from onsite
energy use by 2020; and a 50% reduction in
existing building emissions by 2030
Progress
16% reduction in electricity emissions since
2005; reductions in existing building
emissions are slower than expected.

Headwinds
 CPUC regulatory decisions have
devalued solar and increased the cost of
electricity
Momentum
 Efficient electric appliances are readily
available to consumers
 Relative cost of electricity compared to
natural gas is projected to decrease over
time
 Local governments nationwide have
tested viable new ideas for market
transformation
 California continues to enforce ambitious
climate policies across regulatory spaces

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As detailed in Appendix A, the City has completed multiple actions to support existing building retrofits, including:
 Piloting high-visibility, equity-focused retrofit projects, particularly in manufactured housing communities, through partnerships with CAPSLO and the Diversity Coalition. These efforts provided energy audits, weatherization, heat pump installations, and ongoing energy coaching, providing information installation cost, feasibility, and utility bill impacts (Green Buildings 2.1B).
 Implementing permitting and process improvements such as permit discounts, rebate referrals at application, SolarAPP+, and access to technical assistance through 3C-REN’s Code Coach (Green Buildings 2.1C).
 Partnering with 3CE to simplify access to rebates, resulting in more than $1 million in community rebates since 2020 for building energy efficiency, electrification, batteries, and all-electric new construction (including ADUs) (Green Buildings 2.1.B).  Advancing regulatory exploration through study sessions on additions-and-alterations requirements, voluntary time-of-sale energy disclosure, and early evaluation of building performance standards for large buildings (Green Buildings 2.1E). The City has adopted energy efficiency requirements for major single-family additions and alterations, plans to launch a voluntary home energy score program in spring 2026, and has identified the approximately 100 buildings that exceed 50,000 square feet in floor area and the approximately 150 buildings that are between 25,000 and 50,000 square feet that could be included in a large-building energy disclosure program.

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Sector Emissions Inventory and Forecast
Figure 4 shows activity data and historical emissions trends for the buildings sector from 2005 to 2024, alongside forecasts through 2045. Electricity emissions are forecasted to reach zero by 2030 as the grid becomes cleaner, while emissions from natural gas use in buildings are expected to persist over time.

Figure 4. Green Buildings Sector Emissions Inventory and Forecast Headwinds and Momentum
While the emissions reductions associated with this sector were always expected to be challenging, the following headwinds emerged since 2020 that have slowed or threaten to continue slowing progress.
 Changes to California Public Utilities Commission rules have substantially reduced the value of rooftop solar, which previously had been a key component of cost-effective electrification.
 California Public Utilities Commission’s decisions related to PG&E’s rates and to allowing PG&E to change certain fees that impact 3CE customers has made it more challenging to address the price gap between electricity and natural gas in the short term.  Changes to the federal tax code, as well as changes to state rebates and incentives, have reduced the funding available for energy efficiency retrofits. 0 20,000
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Despite these challenges, some momentum exists for progress, including:
 The appliance market has undergone the early phases of transformation, with heat pump equipment and induction cooking appliances now readily available at retail and distribution locations.
 National innovation continues, with two notable examples being the launching of public utility in Ann Arbor, MI focused on providing solar and battery systems using local contractors at a fixed low cost and the emergence of “plug in” solar as a cheap way for almost every person with an outlet and access to the sun can participate in the clean energy transition.
 The State of California continues to make progress towards its own 2030 and 2045 climate goals, including through the 2025 California Energy Code that encourages new buildings to be all-electric and the California Air Resources Board’s Zero-emissions Appliances rulemaking process that would prohibit natural gas appliances from being sold in California starting in 2030.

Reaching Carbon Neutrality
Existing buildings represent the second largest remaining emissions gap. Voluntary programs alone are unlikely to achieve the scale and speed of retrofits required by 2035. Closing this gap may require new policy tools, such as mandatory energy disclosure, phased performance standards, or targeted retrofit requirements, paired with robust financial assistance and technical support. Ensuring affordability
and health benefits, particularly
for low-income households and
renters, will be essential to
maintaining continued progress.

While the purpose of this report
is to provide a progress report,
staff also asked community
members and stakeholders
during the outreach component
for ideas that might bend the
emissions curve towards carbon
neutrality. Innovative new ideas
include engaging in legislative
advocacy in support of
affordable and reliable clean
electricity and evaluating the
feasibility of Ann Arbor’s
Sustainable Energy Utility
model.

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PILLAR 4: CONNECTED COMMUNITY
Pillar Overview
Transportation remains the City’s largest source
of emissions. The City tracks local emissions
from internal trips that originate and end within
City limits, but also takes responsibility for half
of the emissions from regional vehicle trips,
which account for 80% of emissions in this
sector. In 2024, emissions from transportation
generated an estimated 225,130 MTCO2e –
about 63% of total communitywide emissions.

This represents an 18% reduction from 2005
levels.

Since 2020, the City has pursued a goal of
reaching a mode split of 50% (or less) single
occupancy vehicle trips, with the remaining trips
occurring via transit (7%), biking (20%), walking
(12%), and carpool and other (11%). Progress
in this sector looks like a community where
people can comfortably walk, bike, or take
transit for daily trips, and where remaining car
travel increasingly occurs in electric vehicles
supported by convenient, reliable charging. The
City’s strategy for reaching this mode split
includes building active transportation
infrastructure for walking and biking, investing in
innovative transit solutions and models, and
enabling a robust EV charging network, all while
supporting compact development patterns.

CAP Implementation Progress
Mode Shift
As of 2025, surveys show that the City has reached General Plan mode split objectives for walking and carpooling (including other) but is behind on the percentage of trips taken by bike and transit.

As seen in Table 3, 15% of citywide trips are taken on foot, 12% by biking, 3% by transit, 12% though carpools and other modes, and 59% in single occupancy vehicles.

Table 3. Progress Towards Mode Split Objectives
Mode 2019 Household
Survey
2024 Household
Survey
2025 Household
Survey 2030 Goal
Walking 11% 15% 15% 12%
Bicycle 16% 11% 12% 20%
Transit 2% 2% 3% 7%
Single-Occupancy Vehicle 61% 62% 59% 50%
Carpool and Other 10% 11% 12% 11%
Goal
Achieve General Plan Mode Split Objective
by 2030; 40% VMT by electric vehicles by
2030
Progress
18% reduction in transportation emissions
since 2005. The City achieved mode split
objectives early for walking and carpooling,
but is behind on increasing transit and bike
use, and on reducing rates of driving alone
Headwinds
 SLO Transit and RTA ridership declined
in the early 2020s as a result of the
pandemic
 Federal funding priorities have shifted
away from sustainable transportation.

Momentum
 Rapid construction of 1/3rd of the Tier 1
active transportation network
 SLO Transit ridership increases year after
year and is at 77% of the annual ridership
prior to the pandemic
 Internal walking, carpool, and other trips
surpassed the City’s mode split objectives
five years early

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Walking and Biking
The City continues to implement the Active Transportation Plan, prioritizing projects that improve safety, connectivity, and comfort for people walking and biking (Connected 1.1.A). Since 2021, the City has completed approximately one-third of the Tier 15 active transportation network. When including projects that are currently in design or planning, more than 60% of the Tier 1 network is either complete or actively advancing. Recent investments include the North Chorro Neighborhood Greenway, shared-use paths on Madonna Road, pedestrian and bicycle improvements in the Cerro San Luis development, and upgraded crossings on high-profile corridors.

Together, these projects reduce barriers to short, non-car trips and improve access for all ages and abilities. As the City’s active transportation network improves, programs like a public bikeshare program can attract new riders
and audiences to bicycling in SLO. The
City explored launching a bikeshare in
2024, but market changes and funding
risks emerged during the procurement
process that resulted in not selecting a
vendor (Connected 1.2.A). To support
accountability, walking and biking mode
share is now tracked through the biennial
Active Transportation Plan Report Card,
strengthening the link between
infrastructure investment and outcomes
(Connected 2.1.A).

Transit
The City operates SLO Transit in City
limits and the Cal Poly University campus.

Challenges that emerged during the
COVID-19 pandemic, alongside a
nationwide bus operator shortage, made
it difficult for SLO Transit to quickly restore
pre-pandemic service levels. These
headwinds are evident in measurements
of transit service: the number of
passenger-trips per vehicle-service-hour
has decreased by 52% over the last ten
years and by 33% over the last five years.

Despite these challenges, SLO Transit
has steadily recovered. As of 2026, approximately 95% of pre-pandemic service has been restored, and ridership has increased by double-digit percentages annually for the past four years.

While ridership in FY 2024-25 remains below FY 2018-19 levels, it continues to trend upward as service improvements are implemented.

5 The Tier 1 network includes the improvements identified with the greatest potential to increase bicycle and pedestrian mode share.

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Improvements to SLO Transit’s frequency, reliability, fare programs, and rider experience are being planned through the Transit Innovation Study and Short-Range Transit Plan, with several pandemic-delayed enhancements scheduled for implementation in 2026 (Connected 4.2.A).

These improvements include improved fixed route services under a forthcoming new contract for transit operations and maintenance services, which will go into effect in July 2026.

As existing diesel buses are a local source of pollution, the City is transitioning to zero-emission transit vehicles with two electric buses in operation and eight additional buses are planned to enter service in 2026 (Connected 4.1.A). Once in operation, approximately half of the transit fleet will be electric, reducing tailpipe emissions while improving rider comfort. This transition to a zeroemission fleet is aligned with state law that requires transit agencies to fully transition to zeroemission technologies by 2040.

As the San Luis Obispo Regional Transit Authority (RTA) serves transit users travelling in and out of San Luis Obispo, the City is working with RTA to make transfers to local SLO Transit buses as seamless as possible, including by implementing a new Open-Loop or “Tap2Ride” payment system, which is scheduled to launch in Spring 2026. Staff continue to monitor opportunities for regional collaboration and are currently coordinating on tools such as the Mobility Wallet Pilot Program to expand access to transit and shared mobility for low-income residents throughout the region (Connected 2.2.A).

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Electric Vehicle Infrastructure and Parking Policy
City-owned EV charging has expanded from two chargers in 2019 to 27 in 2026, with 49 additional chargers added in 2026 (Connected 3.1.A). Installations prioritize public facilities and locations that serve residents without home charging.

Land Use and Infill Development
Implementation of Housing Element programs, flexible
downtown density policies, and missing-middle housing
incentives continue to support compact development
patterns. Infill housing development has progressed at a steady rate, providing additional housing units in existing City neighborhoods, leading to shorter trip lengths and improving the viability of walking, biking, and transit. Growth in Specific Plan areas has provided housing development in new areas of the City, with associated infrastructure improvements that promote multimodal transit and pedestrian connectivity
(Connected 5.1.A, 5.1.B).

Sector Emissions Inventory and Forecast
Figure 5 shows activity data and historical emissions trends for the transportation sector from 2005 to 2024, alongside forecasts through 2045. While VMT remains high through 2045, emissions are expected to decrease over time as zero emissions vehicles become common and the average vehicle becomes more fuel efficient.

Figure 5. Connected Community Emissions Inventory and Forecast 0 50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
300,000
0 100,000,000
200,000,000
300,000,000
400,000,000
500,000,000
600,000,000
700,000,000
800,000,000
200520072009201120132015201720192021202320252027202920312033203520372039204120432045 MTCO2e
VMT
Annual VMT Total Emissions

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Headwinds and Momentum
Transportation remains one of the most challenging sectors for achieving carbon neutrality. The following challenges have emerged in this sector:
 Given the City’s role as job center, the City’s job-housing imbalance, and the region’s development pattern of geographically isolated communities, reducing vehicle trips across the county remains a challenge.
 Local and regional transit ridership levels remain below pre-pandemic levels. SLO Transit ridership in FY 2024-25 remains 33% below FY 2018-19 levels; however, ridership has increased by double-digit percentages each year for the last four years.  The City’s ability to offer community new sustainable ways of getting around, including bikeshare, carshare, and microtransit, is dependent on successful public-privatepartnerships. Shifts in market conditions for bikeshare and carshare operators have thus far prevented launch of a zero-cost solution in the City of San Luis Obispo.

Opportunities include:
 EV adoption is growing rapidly. Residents purchased more than 11,000 electric vehicles in SLO County through 2025. EVs accounted for 24%, 22%, and 22% of all light-duty vehicle sales in the County in 2023, 2024, and 2025, respectively.  SLO is encouraging compact development patterns. Land use decisions will remain a powerful long-term lever. Continued infill development near jobs, schools, and transit corridors is essential to reducing car dependence over time.

Reaching Carbon Neutrality
While the purpose of this report is to provide a progress report, staff also asked community members and stakeholders during the outreach component for ideas that might bend the emissions curve towards carbon neutrality. Innovative new ideas include stepping up regional leadership for sustainable mobility. Advancing sustainable regional transportation solutions requires regional coordination with SLOCOG, RTA, Cal Poly, and neighboring jurisdictions to complete strategic investments across central coast communities. Additionally, micromobility and microtransit could reduce vehicle trips while also enabling SLO Transit to make service changes that increase headways on main routes. Near-term opportunities may allow for a fresh look at shared bicycle and on-demand transit programs.

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PILLAR 5: CIRCULAR ECONOMY
Pillar Overview
The Circular Economy pillar has delivered some
of the City’s most consistent and measurable
emissions reductions, driven largely by state
policy alignment and strong local
implementation. This pillar is currently narrowly
focused on the emissions that result from
organic waste decomposing in the landfill and
releasing methane, which is a potent
greenhouse gas. The City benefits from a
special composting facility, called an anaerobic
digester. The City sends its organic waste to this
facility, where it becomes organic compost and
methane biogas that generates enough
electricity to power around 600 homes. In 2024,
emissions from organic waste generated an
estimated 29,480 MTCO2e, about 8% of total
communitywide emissions. This represents a
38% reduction from 2005 levels.

Since 2020, the City has pursued a mid-term
goal of 75% diversion of landfilled organic waste
by 2025, and with the ultimate goal of 90%
diversion by 2035. This means that the
overwhelming majority of residential food scraps and yard waste, as well as organic waste from large generators like local restaurants, groceries, commercial kitchens, large events, and multifamily properties need to be properly sorted and sent to the digester.

CAP Implementation Progress
SB 1383 Compliance and Enforcement
In 2022, the City adopted an ordinance requiring organic waste subscription for all residential and commercial customers. Since implementing organic waste collections citywide, the City, in coordination with the SLO County Integrated Waste Management Authority (IWMA), has carried out inspection, monitoring, and targeted education programs to meet the requirements of SB 1383 (Circular Economy 1.1.A). Outreach has focused on commercial generators, multifamily properties, and food-generating businesses, with an emphasis on technical assistance and corrective action rather than penalties. As of 2024, compliance issues have been resolved through education, automatic service enrollment, and follow-up monitoring, keeping the City in good standing with CalRecycle’s requirements.

Organic Waste Diversion and Processing
Organic waste diversion continues to be supported by education and regional infrastructure, notably the Kompogas anaerobic digestion facility, which converts organic waste into renewable energy and compost (Circular Economy 1.1.B). The City exceeded its SB 1383 organic Goal
75% diversion of landfilled organic waste by
2025; 90% diversion by 2035
Progress
Emissions from organic waste have reduced
38% since 2005
Headwinds
 Large events, multi-family housing,
mobile home parks, and large employers
have high rates of contamination
Momentum
 Organics recycling is rolled out Citywide.
 By implementing SB 1383, the City is
reducing landfilled organics
 Local partnerships recover significant
amount of edible food

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procurement target by ~43% in 2024 through a combination of compost application, renewable natural gas use, and mulch projects. These actions reduce methane emissions while supporting soil health and local reuse markets.

Edible Food Recovery
The City has benefits from collaborations between the IWMA and local food recovery organizations that are expanding edible food recovery to reduce waste and alleviate hunger (Circular Economy 1.2.A). The SLO Food Bank is the local party responsible for edible food recovery coordination and reporting. The SLO Food Bank manages two food rescue programs: the Glean Program that rescuers a fresh produce in partnership with local farms and community residents, and the Grocery Rescue Program that rescues edible food directly from markets and connects charitable agencies with near-date food from grocery chains and local markets. Due to the efforts of the SLO Food Bank and IWMA, there is greater awareness of these programs among food generators and stronger redistribution networks serving food-insecure residents.

Photo courtesy of the SLO Food Bank
Education, Outreach, and Contamination Reduction
The IWMA provides free kitchen pails and commercial internal organics collection containers to support residents and businesses in properly separating organic waste. The City and IWMA have conducted additional outreach to businesses, homeowner’s associations, and property managers, particularly in multifamily and mobile home communities where contamination rates tend to be high (Circular Economy 1.1.C, 1.3.A). Updated signage, site visits, and direct outreach have improved sorting behavior over time. Despite this, contamination remains higher than other customer segments. In rental units, ongoing education is especially needed given high turnover.

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Waste Prevention and Reuse
While most progress to date has focused on diversion, the City has continued to explore opportunities for upstream waste reduction, including reuse initiatives, deconstruction practices, and education around consumption and material use (Circular Economy 2.1.A). These efforts remain smaller in scale but are increasingly important.

Sector Emissions Inventory and Forecast
Figure 6 shows activity data and historical emissions trends for the waste sector from 2005 to 2024, alongside forecasts through 2045. As organic waste is forecasted to comprise a decreasing share of total landfilled waste through 2045, emissions from the waste sector are expected to decrease substantially over time.

Figure 6. Solid Waste Emissions Inventory and Forecast
Headwinds and Momentum
There are many challenges in reducing landfilled organic waste and more broadly achieving a circular economy. These include:
 Behavior change takes time, and proper usage of the green organics bin still needs work.

The City and IWMA will continue to update signage, conduct site visits, and have direct engagement to improve sorting behavior over time.
 Multi-family housing, mobile home parks, and large employers struggle to sort organics and have high rates of contamination. Shared waste services that serve these customers still need updated infrastructure and consistent waste-stream education. Ongoing 0 10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
60,000
Annual Tons Total Emissions

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outreach will remain essential as the community grows and turns over, particularly in multifamily housing and the commercial sector.
 Large events generate significant amounts of unsorted waste. Events are high-volume waste generators and continue to have elevated contamination rates despite City requirements and improved outreach and education.

Despite these challenges, the City continues to adapt and find opportunities to improve the sector.

For example:
 The City has made significant progress rolling out organics recycling Citywide and all businesses and residents in San Luis Obispo are equipped with green carts. By implementing SB 1383, the City is making strides reducing landfilled organics.  The City is ahead of schedule on achieving the compost procurement targets set by SB 1383.
 The SLO Food Bank, in partnership with IWMA and local food generators, has significantly expanded edible food recovery capacity and participation.

Reaching Carbon Neutrality
Regional coordination and state policy evolution will continue to shape the City’s ability to deepen emissions reductions in this sector. While the purpose of this report is to provide a progress report, staff also asked community members and stakeholders during the outreach component for ideas that might bend the emissions curve towards carbon neutrality. Innovative new ideas include partnering with IWMA and local businesses on a “bring your own reusables” campaign, tracking reductions in single-use food ware, and expanding refill station education to improve participation in reuse and recycling systems – all of which are aligned with recently adopted state law SB54 that is focused on Reuse and Refill.

More broadly, achieving the 2035 carbon neutrality goal will increasingly depend on waste prevention, not just proper sorting. This may require greater emphasis on reuse, repair, and reduction strategies and support for circular business models.

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PILLAR 6: NATURAL SOLUTIONS
Pillar Overview
Natural Solutions actions involve protecting
open spaces, restoring creeks, supporting
healthy soils, and a growing urban forest that
can store carbon while providing shade, habitat,
flood protection, and recreational benefits.

These actions can sequester carbon while also
advancing biodiversity, wildfire resilience, water
quality, and community well-being. As the City’s
future projections anticipate significant GHG
emissions into the future, natural climate
solutions are one way to get to carbon neutrality
faster. In 2024, carbon sequestration activities
in open spaces, parks, and the urban forest
sequestered an estimated 390 MTCO2e, which
is less than one percent of total communitywide
emissions.

Since 2020, the City has learned a lot about the
practical feasibility of carbon sequestration
through compost application-based carbon
farming activities and tree planting. These
learnings have shifted the City’s goals
somewhat to focus more on regenerative
grazing and riparian restoration.

CAP Implementation Progress
Land Conservation
The City continues to protect and expand open
space properties as part of the San Luis Obispo
Greenbelt Protection Program. Since 2020, the
City has inaugurated Righetti Hill Open Space, completed the on-site conservation easement at San Luis Ranch that permanently protects prime farmland, and completed permanent open space easements that protect both wetland habitat areas and the “upper terrace” at Froom Ranch where numerous rare and sensitive status species occur, including the state and federally endangered Chorro Creek bog thistle (Natural Solutions 1.1.A).

Regenerative Land Management
The City manages open space lands to preserve and expand existing carbon stocks while improving ecosystem health. The City has applied compost to rangelands, expanded regenerative grazing, installed beaver dam analogs, and planted trees and riparian shrubs to improve soil health, reduce wildfire risk, and support carbon sequestration. These stewardship activities are often implemented through grant-funded projects and partnerships (Natural Solutions 1.1.B). In partnership with the yak titʸu titʸu yak tiłhini Northern Chumash Tribe, the City has supported Goal
Increase Carbon Sequestration on the San
Luis Obispo Greenbelt and Urban Forest
through compost application-based carbon
farming activities and tree planting; ongoing
through 2035
Progress
The City’s increased implementation of
climate-smart land management practices
has increased annual carbon sequestration
by an estimated 390 MTCO2e.

Headwinds
 Climate change threatens existing carbon
stored in living landscapes
 Quantitative verification of natural climate
solutions is still an emerging practice
Momentum
 Continued investment in the City’s
Greenbelt Protection Program enables
growth of open space network
 Strong partnerships are the foundation of
success for planting trees, restoring
creeks, reviving cultural burns, and other
natural solutions successes
 The City continues learning through each
pilot project, refining staff’s approach for
future land management decisions

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cultural burning and native grassland restoration,
integrating traditional ecological knowledge into land
management while advancing climate and resilience
goals.

Urban Forestry and Tree Canopy Expansion
Urban forestry remains a highly visible component of
Natural Solutions. Through Keys for Trees, volunteer
events, grant-funded projects, and private plantings,
over 6,000 trees have been planted on both private
properties and public land toward its goal of 10,000
trees by 2035 (Natural Solutions 2.1.A). The City also
continues to maintain a healthy urban forest so that
existing carbon stocks stored in trees’ living tissues are resilient to present and future climate hazards. Tree
planting efforts prioritize shade equity, climate
resilience, and long-term survivability, with increasing attention to species selection and maintenance.

Sector Emissions Inventory and Forecast
Figure 7 shows historical carbon sequestration trends for the natural solutions sector from 2022 to 2024, alongside forecasts for carbon sequestration through 2045. As carbon sequestration practices are expected to scale across open space lands and private property through 2045, annual sequestration will increase over time.

Figure 7. Natural Solutions Sequestration Inventory and Forecast -1200
-1000
-800
-600
-400
-200
0 2022 2025 2030 2035 2045
MTCO2e (Sequestered)
Year

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Headwinds and Momentum
Challenges:
 Wildfires and climactic changes are increasingly threatening local ecosystems. The carbon stocks stored in City open spaces are vulnerable to climate-related disasters like wildfires, droughts, and floods, even with investments to strengthen resilience.  The science and quantification methods that underly natural solutions are still developing.

Accurate models (and field measurements) of how various land management practices are impacting carbon stores in the landscape are limited and are an evolving practice.

Current areas of momentum in the Natural Solutions sector include:
 The City continues to make progress on protecting land within the City’s Greenbelt through direct purchases and conservation easements.
 The City has developed strong partnerships with nonprofits, volunteers, and regional agencies, as well as external grant funding to expand and maintain a resilient network of Open Space properties and Urban Forestry network. Project implementation relies heavily on these partnerships and external grant funding to expand capacity, reduce costs, and align local efforts with regional conservation and climate priorities.  The City is invested in learning and adaptive management, and by completing a carbon farming study and piloting carbon sequestration practices, such as "beaver dam analogs" in Dry Creek, good fire application, compost application, tree plantings, and regenerative grazing the City has amassed practical knowledge to guide future efforts.

Reaching Carbon Neutrality
Natural solutions provide important co-benefits but
it’s likely that priorities will increasingly shift toward protecting existing carbon stocks, improving longterm maintenance and survivorship, and integrating natural solutions with wildfire risk reduction and
water resilience strategies. Continued access to
state and federal funding will be essential to
sustaining stewardship activities, particularly as
climate stressors such as drought and extreme heat
intensify. While the purpose of this report is to
provide a progress report, staff also asked
community members and stakeholders during the
outreach component for ideas that might bend the
emissions curve towards carbon neutrality.

Innovative new ideas included expanding natural
solutions projects on private lands and connecting
greenbelt projects with funding via a prospective
regional mitigation bank.

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ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS:

Pillar Overview
Administrative actions establish the governance, coordination, and accountability needed to implement the Climate Action Plan across all pillars.

CAP Implementation Progress
Climate Governance and Coordination
The City has embedded climate action into core administrative functions through interdepartmental coordination and leadership oversight, with the Office of Sustainability providing centralized tracking and technical support (Admin 1.1.A). This structure ensures climate considerations are integrated into capital planning, land use decisions, transportation investments, and municipal operations.

Tracking, Reporting, and Accountability
Ongoing monitoring and reporting remain central to implementation. The City maintains greenhouse gas inventories, implementation tracking tools, and public-facing progress reports, enabling transparency, accountability, and course correction over time (Admin 1.2.A).

Funding and Grant Leveraging
The City has successfully leveraged state and federal grants to advance CAP implementation across multiple pillars, including transit electrification, EV infrastructure, building retrofits, urban forestry, and land stewardship (Admin 2.1.A). External funding has expanded capacity while minimizing impacts to local resources.

Community Engagement and Policy Alignment
Administrative actions emphasize equitable community engagement through partnerships with community-based organizations and alignment with City policy frameworks such as the General Plan, Housing Element, and Capital Improvement Program (Admin 3.1.A, Admin 4.1.A). These efforts support consistent, coordinated, and adaptive climate action implementation.

CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO CAP PROGRESS REPORT APRIL 2026
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APPENDIX A. CLIMATE ACTION PLAN IMPLEMENTATION MATRIX
The table below provides an overview of actions committed to in the 2023-27 Climate Action Plan Work Program (2023-27 CAP). The table provides implementation details for each action including the original 2020 CAP action description language, the 2023-27 CAP updated task description, the City department responsible for leading initiation and implementation, the status of the action, and a report on general progress. The “Current Status” column indicates the implementation progress of each specific task identified in the 2023-27 CAP. It does not reflect the level of emissions reductions achieved. Instead, it shows the City’s progress in advancing the associated program, project, or work effort.

The status categories are defined as follows:
 On Track – action has been initiated as anticipated in the schedule defined by the 2023-27 CAP. In some cases, action implementation is complete, and in others the action is ongoing.  Behind – action is not being implemented at the speed anticipated in the 2023-27 CAP, but is still a strategic priority for the City.  On Hold – action has encountered uncertainties or barriers resulting in the need for a new or altered strategic approach.

Foundational
Action
Action
Description 2023-25 Task 2025-27 Task Responsible Department Start
Date
Progress
Tracker Status July 2023 – March 2026 Action Progress
Leadership

1.1 Adopt a
municipal
carbon
neutrality plan
in 2021.

Leadership

1.1.A: Implement
the 2023-25
actions in the
Lead by
Example
municipal carbon
neutrality plan
and complete a
focused plan
update for 2025-

30. Leadership

1.1.A: Implement
2025-27 actions
in the Lead by
Example
municipal carbon
neutrality plan.

Administration,
Public Works
Summer
2023
Lead by
Example
progress
report and
plan update
which
projects an
84%
reduction in
covered
municipal
emissions
by 2030.

On
track
In 2021, the City adopted Lead by Example: A Plan for Carbon Neutral City Operations, which identified the projects, policies, and programs required to reduce municipal emissions to carbon neutral by 2030. The City adopted a work program update in 2025; at which point staff estimated that at full implementation of the actions included in the Lead by Example 2025-29 Work Program, the City would achieve an 84% reduction in covered greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 relative to 2022. The City has embedded Lead by Example throughout its plans and operations, including via projects prioritized in the Capital Improvement Program. Notable Capital Improvement Projects in the City’s current Capital Improvement Program include:
 Level 2 and level 3 charging depot at the City’s Corporation Yard  Ongoing purchase of electric fleet vehicles
 Design work in support of electrification retrofits at the SLO Swim Center and City Hall  Electrification retrofit work at the Ludwick Community Center These capital projects are accompanied by a range of programs and policies that support low emission employee commutes, substantial reductions in the amount of organic waste sent to the landfill, and zero-emissions new municipal buildings and facilities.

Leadership

1.1.B: Brand
Lead by
Example
projects with the
Sustainable SLO
emblem and
develop a
complementary
educational and
awareness
campaign.

Leadership

1.1.B: Continue
telling the City’s
Lead by
Example story
with the
Sustainable SLO
emblem and
“best practice”
outreach efforts.

Administration Summer
2023
Qualitative
tracking in
CAP
progress
report
On
track
Sustainable SLO is a city-wide campaign aimed at fostering a relationship between community members and the actions the City is taking to reach carbon neutrality. The Sustainable SLO mark has been added to nearly all of the electric and hybrid fleet vehicles, trash and recycling bins, and electric buses to increase public awareness of the City’s investments in a sustainable future. In coordination with physical branding, staff utilize multiple platforms, such as the City’s social media accounts, email newsletters, and in-person events to inform the public about climate action related news or resources. Going forward, the City will continue to brand new assets with the Sustainable SLO mark, as directed by the City’s amended brand guidelines. The City will also regularly communicate with the public about environmental and climate issues using the Sustainable SLO brand.

Leadership

2.1 Include carbon
neutrality,
social equity,
and a focus on
developing a
green local
economy in
the updated
Economic
Development
Strategic Plan.

Leadership

2.1.A: Support
implementation
of the green
economy and
social equity
portions of the
Economic
Development
Strategic Plan.

Leadership

2.1.A: Continue
to support
implementation
of the green
economy and
social equity
portions of the
Economic
Development
Strategic Plan.

Administration Ongoing Qualitative
tracking in
CAP
progress
report
On
track
The 2023 Economic Development Strategic Plan established City goals and actions at the intersection of economic development and climate action. Staff from the Office of Sustainability and Natural Resources and the Office of Economic Development coordinate regularly to implement this work. A key action is ongoing support for the San Luis Obispo County Green Business Network, hosted by ECOSLO. City staff helped launch the program locally and continue to support it by referring businesses through the City’s Business Welcome Program. In 2026 there are 36 certified green businesses in San Luis Obispo County with 151 businesses in the certification process. In 2026, three City facilities (City Hall, 919 Palm Street, and 879 Morro Street) were certified as green businesses by ECOSLO.

CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO CAP PROGRESS REPORT APRIL 2026
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Foundational
Action
Action
Description 2023-25 Task 2025-27 Task Responsible Department Start
Date
Progress
Tracker Status July 2023 – March 2026 Action Progress
Leadership

2.2 Research
methods to
support local
contractors
and labor.

Leadership

2.2.A: Support
regional efforts
to develop the
workforce
required to
implement the
Climate Action
Plan.

Leadership

2.2.A: Continue
to support
regional efforts
to develop the
workforce
required to
implement the
Climate Action
Plan.

Administration Ongoing Qualitative
tracking in
CAP
progress
report
On
hold
Staff have had a limited role in developing a regional green workforce. Since adoption of the 2023-27 CAP Work Program, staff have concluded that, as a small municipality, the City lacks the capacity to meaningfully influence regional workforce efforts. The original premise, that meeting climate goals and capturing related economic benefits required local green workforce training, has not held in practice. Contractor capacity to install clean energy equipment has not been a primary barrier to adoption.

Regional workforce efforts continue through other entities. The Tri-Counties Pre-Apprenticeship Building and Construction Trades Training Program includes green construction in its Multi-Craft Core Curriculum and is supported by the Workforce Development Board. The City also maintains annual agreements with REACH, the region’s economic development organization, to support workforce initiatives focused on cleantech, energy, building design, and construction. City leadership and staff participate in the REACH Council and related working groups.

Leadership

3.1 Create a
formal
approach to
support and
empower
community
collaboration
for climate
action.

Leadership

3.1.A: Continue
to support and
empower
community
collaboration for
climate action.

Leadership

3.1.A: Continue
to support and
empower
community
collaboration for
climate action.

Administration Ongoing Qualitative
tracking in
CAP
progress
report
On
track
The City has invested in a wide range of organizations for the purpose of supporting local community-based organizations and their capacity to support climate actions. Key organizational relationships include:
 Climate Coalition of San Luis Obispo: the City has a formal Memorandum of Understanding with the Climate Coalition and provides funding to assist with hosting community events including Earth Fest and National Drive Electric Week.  Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo: The City has identified, applied for, and received grant funds in the total amount of over $350,000 that have been allocated directly to CAPSLO’s low-income energy efficiency programs.  Diversity Coalition of San Luis Obispo County: The City has worked to identify, apply for, and receive grant funds in the total amount of nearly $200,000 that have been passed through directly to DCSLO to provide community outreach and energy bill technical assistance.
 Environmental Center of San Luis Obispo: the City provides funding via Keys for Trees and external grants to support volunteer tree plantings and creek clean ups.
 Creek Lands Conservation: the City partnered with Creek Lands on the SLO Creek Resiliency and Rewilding Plan and is actively seeking grant funding to implement restoration projects that increase our watershed’s resilience to climate change.  City Farm SLO: the City leases prime agricultural property to City Farm, a nonprofit that provides educational services to the community about sustainable agriculture while addressing food insecurity by growing food for the food bank.  yak titʸu titʸu yak tiłhini Northern Chumash Tribe of San Luis Obispo County and Region: the City has partnered with ytt to return traditional ecological knowledge and practices on City Open Space properties, including cultural fire. The City and ytt have successfully partnered on a grant to restore perennial grasses at Johnson Ranch Open Space.  Rotary de Tolosa: the City partners with the Rotary de Tolosa to plant trees on City properties and maintain them over time.

Clean
Energy 1.1
Launch
Monterey Bay
Community
Power and
achieve a 98%
participation
rate while
advocating for
programs that
support equity
and achieve
maximum
local benefit.

Energy 1.1.A:

Continue to
support Central
Coast
Community
Energy’s 100%
renewable by
2030 goal and
continue to
advocate for
equitable
decarbonization
programs.

Energy 1.1.A:

Continue to
support Central
Coast
Community
Energy’s 100%
renewable by
2030 goal and
continue to
advocate for
equitable
decarbonization
programs.

Community
Development
Ongoing CCCE
participation
rate – 96%
of electrical
load and
accounts.

On
track
Central Coast Community Energy (3CE) adopted an ambitious procurement target in 2021 to achieve 100% renewable and carbon free energy through direct investment in projects by 2030. To do so, the agency sold many of its “carbon free attributes” which had previously allowed it to report very low emissions, similar to how other utilities, including PG&E, are able to report very-low emissions.

As a result, 3CE’s electricity emissions intensity increased substantially in 2021 through 2023 as the new projects were bid, constructed, and brought on to the grid. With major projects now operating, the emissions intensity fell in 2024 and 2025, putting the agency back on the trajectory towards carbon neutrality.

Participation remains high, with 96.87% of total electrical load and 96.2% of electrical accounts in the City participating in 3CE and $4.1 million in direct incentives and rebates coming back to the community and City for investments in electric vehicles, charging infrastructure, and building electrification in alignment with the City’s and community’s carbon neutrality goals.

The City supports and influences 3CE through representation on 3CE’s boards. The City and Morro Bay share a Policy Board seat and an Operations Board seat. 2025 was the first year that the City did not serve on either of the Boards, with Morro Bay representing both cities in 2025 and 2026. The City will resume its role on the boards in 2027.

Clean
Energy 2.1
Work with
MBCP and
PG&E to
develop a
regional grid
reliability
strategy.

Energy 2.1.A:

Continue to
monitor and
support CCCE
and PG&E’s grid
reliability work.

Energy 2.1.A:

Continue to
monitor and
support CCCE
and PG&E’s grid
reliability work.

Administration Ongoing Qualitative
tracking in
CAP
progress
report
On
track
In the early 2020s, with the advent of Public Safety Power Shutoffs, the concerns around overall grid reliability were very high. Since adoption of the CAP update in 2023, according to PG&E’s reports, the City has not experienced a Public Safety Power Shutoff.

Localized distribution grid outages occur occasionally as the result of inclement weather or accidents; however, these remain minor and relatively undisruptive. Two other electricity service concerns have emerged since 2020:

1. New housing, electric vehicle charging, and renewable energy projects are experiencing significant delays in grid interconnection, impacting project viability and investment.

2. The substantial increases in PG&E electricity rates since 2018 that have occurred primarily as the result of increased preventative and deferred distribution grid maintenance costs and wildfire mitigation and response costs being embedded into electricity rates.

As California’s plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions depends on plugging in buildings, cars, and transportation systems into a clean electricity grid, it is important for these assets to be connected to the grid in a predictable and timely manner, and for electricity prices to maintain parity with natural gas.

CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO CAP PROGRESS REPORT APRIL 2026
PAGE - 37 -
Foundational
Action
Action
Description 2023-25 Task 2025-27 Task Responsible Department Start
Date
Progress
Tracker Status July 2023 – March 2026 Action Progress
Clean
Energy 3.1
Partner with
SoCal Gas to
research
options for
reducing
greenhouse
gas emissions
associated
with the
existing
natural gas
grid.

Energy 3.1.A:

Continue to
explore
opportunities to
partner with
SoCal Gas on
innovative
decarbonization
pilot projects that
are aligned with
the Climate
Action Plan.

Energy 3.1.A:

Continue to
explore
opportunities to
partner with
SoCal Gas on
innovative
decarbonization
pilot projects that
are aligned with
the Climate
Action Plan.

Administration Ongoing Qualitative
tracking in
CAP
progress
report
On
track
SoCal Gas provides gas distribution and transmission grid maintenance as standard practice and have access to infrastructure in the public right of way via their franchise agreement with the City. In 2020 and 2021, staff worked with SoCal Gas’s project development team to identify potential “biogas to grid” projects in the region. SoCal Gas’s team were not able to identify any projects. Due to staff turnover at SoCal Gas, there has been less direct contact than in previous years. The utility has held webinars about energy efficiency programs, and the City intends to participate where beneficial so long as the programs don’t unnecessarily prolong or reinvest in fossil fuel infrastructure.

Green
Buildings

1.1 Adopt and
implement the
Clean Energy
Choice
Program for
New Buildings
and review
opportunities
for
improvement
in the 2022
code cycle.

Green Buildings

1.1.A: Support
Clean Energy
Program for New
Buildings with
ongoing access
to technical
assistance.

Green Buildings

1.1.A: Monitor
Clean Energy
Program for New
Buildings
Implementation
and consider
local
amendments to
the California
Energy Code
concurrent with
the 2025
triennial code
cycle if
necessary.

Administration,
Community
Development
Ongoing Number of
all-electric
new
buildings;
number of
customers
assisted:

All-electric
buildings
accounted
for 79% of
new building
permits
On
track
Since 2020, the City has adopted numerous local amendments to the California Energy Code, including: (1) electric preferred newbuilding requirements (2020), (2) mandatory all-electric new building requirements (2022) (note: the 2022 requirements were nullified following a change in federal law interpretation), and (3) energy efficient new building requirements (2023). In the 2022 code Cycle, the City enforced local amendments as follows:
 Ordinance 1730 (2023 Series) required additional energy efficiency measures for residential and non-residential new construction and encourages the installation of high-efficiency electric appliances.  Ordinance 1736 (2024 Series) required major additions and alterations to existing single-family residential buildings to install certain energy efficiency measures in the existing building.

Ordinance 1730 and 1736 provided local amendments to the 2022 California Building Standards Code and as such were no longer enforceable once that code sunset on December 31, 2025. For the subsequent 2025 building code cycle, which will hold for six years due to state legislation, the City adopted Ordinance 1752 (2025 Series) to update and extend the energy efficient major additions and alterations policy (Ordinance 1736). Council provided direction to staff to return with additional potential local amendments to the California Energy Code in 2026.

Together with updates to the California Building Standards Code that aim to reduce emissions, these local amendments have significantly contributed to the City’s climate action progress. Between 2021 and June of 2025, of the over 700 building permits issued by the City (including single-family, multi-family, and non-residential buildings) that collected energy utility data, 79% were all-electric.

Green
Buildings

2.1 Conduct
comprehensiv
e retrofit
program study
and develop
and implement
a strategic and
equity-focused
building retrofit
program by
2021.

Green Buildings

2.1.A: Expand
high visibility
pilot projects.

Green Buildings

2.1.A: Assess
the value of
continued pilot
projects and
either continue
pilot projects or
consider
transitioning
resources to an
equity fund that
supports lowincome and/or
hard to reach
(e.g., rentals)
residential
retrofits.

Administration Summer
2023
Number of
buildings
retrofitted: 0
On
track
The City worked with HASLO and no-cost technical experts to design zero-emission water heating and HVAC retrofit projects at two local properties. Staff leveraged grant funding, public programs, and City time to develop permit-ready plan sets. HASLO ultimately determined that site conditions made the projects too complex and chose not to proceed. Remaining grant funds were reallocated to CAPSLO to support low-income weatherization and water heater upgrades in mobile and manufactured homes through the Buildings Up project described below.

CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO CAP PROGRESS REPORT APRIL 2026
PAGE - 38 -
Foundational
Action
Action
Description 2023-25 Task 2025-27 Task Responsible Department Start
Date
Progress
Tracker Status July 2023 – March 2026 Action Progress
Green Buildings

2.1.B: Create an
equity focused
“Green and
Healthy
Buildings”
service to
educate the
community and
connect lowincome building
owners with
resources,
incentives,
financing, and
contractors.

Green Buildings

2.1.B: Review
service
effectiveness
and expand to
include
additional
project types
and income
levels, if
feasible.

Administration,
Community
Development
Fall
2023
Number of
customers
served: 4
mobile
homes; with
funding
secured for
25 additional
installations
in 2026
On
track
Staff, in partnership with Diversity Coalition of San Luis Obispo County and Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo, was awarded two rounds of the Department of Energy’s Building Upgrade Prize to research the feasibility of electrification in mobile and manufactured homes and to design a concierge service that helps low-income residents electrify their homes and access rebates and incentives. The project focused on manufactured housing because it is a source of naturally occurring owner-occupied affordable housing in San Luis Obispo.

After extensive stakeholder outreach, the team began a 12-month Technology Demonstration to research the cost-effectiveness and feasibility of green and healthy building upgrades in manufactured housing and to pilot potential features of a future concierge service with residents living in Chumash Village, a manufactured housing community in San Luis Obispo. Through the pilot, a total of four residents received an energy audit, weatherization upgrades, and some combination of a new electrical panel, heat pump water heater, and/or heat pump HVAC system from CAPSLO. Over the next 12 months, the team monitored their energy use and bill impacts of switching from natural gas to electric. The team also provided supportive services including a monthly bill protection program, on-call energy coaching and troubleshooting for their new appliances, and quarterly home comfort check-ins to better understand the participants’ needs, concerns, and experience with their home upgrades. In parallel, staff met with representatives from Central Coast Community Energy, Tri-County Regional Energy Network, and the California Energy Commission to advocate for incentives that support home energy upgrades in manufactured housing.

In October of 2024, the City was also selected to participate in the National League of Cities’ Healthy Housing Innovation Cohort.

Staff from the Office of Sustainability and the Community Development Department partnered to deliver another round of stakeholder outreach, this time to professionals in the fields of affordable housing and public health. This outreach resulted in the design and delivery of a Green and Healthy Homes Resource fair. City staff planned and hosted the fair alongside stakeholders in Silver City Mobile Home Lodge, and the event successfully connected residents with local health, safety, and climate resources.

In November 2025, staff, in partnership with Diversity Coalition, CAPSLO, and SLO Climate Coalition, were selected for a TECH QuickStart Scaling Fund grant. The grant will fund the expansion of the pilot program initially offered to Chumash Village to a broader subset of manufactured housing communities. Diversity Coalition and SLO Climate Coalition will conduct outreach to additional manufactured housing communities to share resources and solicit additional program participants. CAPSLO will complete up to 25 additional heat pump upgrades in local manufactured homes, and Diversity Coalition will train SLO Climate Coalition staff to expand their Home Energy Advising Service to include manufactured housing and integrate the services tested in the technology demonstration, such as energy coaching and home comfort check-ins.

Green Buildings

2.1.C: Establish
“Green and
Healthy
Buildings” permit
streamlining
program.

Green Buildings

2.1.C: Continue
working to
minimize
regulatory
barriers to
electrification
retrofit projects.

Administration,
Community
Development
Winter
2024
# of permits
processed
through
program:

The number
of permits
streamlined
is extensive
due to the
City’s
approach,
making this
action
infeasible to
track
numerically
with existing
systems
On
track
Staff reviewed a number of opportunities to streamline permitting of green and healthy building improvements, and implemented the following enhancements to the process:
 The City provides a discount for permits associated with green and healthy buildings, including solar, windows, and heat pump water heater and HVAC systems.
 The City connects project applicants with rebate programs at time of permit submittal.  The City’s Climate Action Plan allows for new development projects that require CEQA review to illustrate consistency with the CAP and forgo environmental review for greenhouse gas emissions impacts.  The City processes solar building permits through Solar App+, which provides on demand, next-day permits.  The City received the “Gold” designation via the SolSmart program, which awards the distinction based on achieving national best practices for solar permitting.
 The City provides access to 3C-REN’s “Code Coach” program, which provides no-cost technical assistance to community members that are working to comply with the California Energy Code.

Additionally, staff will continue to monitor emerging best practices, including on-demand permitting for heat-pump hot water heaters, and pursue additional improvements to the permitting process as capacity allows.

Green Buildings

2.1.D: Facilitate
access to low
interest
financing for
retrofit projects.

Green Buildings

2.1.D: Review
financing
support
approach and
modify as
necessary.

Administration Summer
2023
Qualitative
tracking in
CAP
progress
report
Behind Staff have reviewed a wide range of financing models, but none have yet proved viable for a city the size of San Luis Obispo to administer and operate. Statewide and regional programs do exist, however, including GoGreen Financing, a state financing program that connects building owners to lower interest finance through regional credit unions for certain clean energy and energy efficiency projects. Community Choice Aggregators in other regions of California including Peninsula Clean Energy and San Jose Clean Energy have also launched zero interest, on-bill loans to help qualified community members access water heating, HVAC upgrades, and energy efficiency improvements. City staff has advocated to Central Coast Community Energy to develop a regional program of this nature, but to date, the agency has declined.

CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO CAP PROGRESS REPORT APRIL 2026
PAGE - 39 -
Foundational
Action
Action
Description 2023-25 Task 2025-27 Task Responsible Department Start
Date
Progress
Tracker Status July 2023 – March 2026 Action Progress
Green Buildings

2.1.E: Develop
an equitable
framework for
requiring
electrification
retrofits and
develop cost
effective building
electrification
policies for
additions and
alterations.

Green Buildings

2.1.E: Use the
foundational
research and
community
outreach
conducted in
2023-25 to
identify whether
additional
disclosure or
retrofit
requirements are
needed, and if
so, develop and
adopt these
requirements.

Administration Summer
2023
Number of
buildings
retrofitted:

As of 2026,
the
Additions
and
Alterations
Reach Code
has been
applied to a
small
number of
building
permits. An
exact
number was
not available
at the time
of this
report’s
publishing.

Behind On July 15, 2025, staff conducted a study session with City Council about recent progress supporting efficiency and electrification retrofits in existing buildings, and the policy options available for future consideration. At the study session (Council Agenda Report linked here), staff shared that while the emissions from energy use in buildings in San Luis Obispo is decreasing, the reductions are not occurring at the rate required to achieve Council’s time bound goals. Staff also shared updates and received strategic direction on the following:
 Additions and Alterations Reach Code: Staff presented the existing single-family building additions and alterations progress to date and sought strategic direction on next steps. Council directed staff to update the reach code, which they subsequently adopted via Ordinance 1752 (2025 Series) in November of 2025.  Time-of-Sale Energy Disclosure: Staff received strategic direction from Council to coordinate and launch a voluntary pilot program in San Luis Obispo called the “Home Energy Score”. The program, provided by the statewide implementer of the Home Energy Score, is expected to launch in Spring of 2026, with no-cost training to local home inspectors and real estate professionals, as well as subsidies for homeowners or home sellers that would like to provide a score for their home.  Building Performance Standard: Staff have conducted extensive research on the feasibility of establishing a building performance standard in San Luis Obispo. The process of establishing a building performance standard begins with requiring energy disclosure from applicable buildings, before ultimately setting targets for efficiency improvements in those buildings over time. While enforcing a building performance standard would be staff intensive and likely require external funding, staff have identified a viable path to adopting and enforcing an energy benchmarking (e.g., disclosure) program for large buildings.

Staff have already identified approximately 100 buildings that exceed 50,000 square feet and approximately 150 buildings between 25,000 and 50,000 square feet. Staff verified current building use type for each and organized them into a database to allow for sorting and identifying buildings that could qualify. A preliminary process for receiving disclosed building energy use data has been created and staff will begin engaging with local building owners and businesses willing to champion voluntary energy use disclosure to further inform program design.

Connected

1.1 Establish a
consistent
method for
tracking and
reporting
mode split
metrics.

Connected

1.1.A: Conduct
the Household
Transportation
Survey every
other year to
track and report
on mode split
metrics.

Connected

1.1.A: Continue
to conduct the
Household
Transportation
Survey every
other year to
track and report
on mode split
metrics.

Public Works Ongoing Qualitative
tracking in
CAP
progress
report; Upto-date
mode split
metrics and
additional
data can be
found in the
Active
Transportati
on Plan
biennial
status report
On
track
Mode share metrics are reported in the City’s Biennial Active Transportation Plan (ATP) Report Card. The 2025 ATP Report Card reports mode share from the 2025 Household Transportation Survey with the following results:
 Walking - 15%
 Bicycle - 12%
 Transit - 3%
 Single-Occupancy Vehicle - 59%
 Carpool and other - 12%
The City’s overall target is for 50% of trips to come from modes other than single-occupancy vehicles, and these updated numbers show good progress towards that target. While staff use the Citywide Household Travel Survey as the primary data source for deriving mode share estimates, the Report Card also presents multimodal data trends from the US Census Department’s American Community Survey and latest trends in auto/bicycle/pedestrian volumes on primary transportation routes and annual SLO Transit Ridership data. The City’s Active Transportation Portal web page provides additional information on current mode share trends.

Connected

1.2 Research and
develop an
approach to a
“Mobility as a
Service”
platform for
people to
easily use all
modes of low
carbon
mobility in the
City.

Connected

1.2.A: Taking
direction from
the Transit
Innovation
Study, pursue
the development
of a regionally
integrated
"Mobility as a
Service"
platform.

Connected

1.2.A: Update
the Mobility as a
Service platform
as necessary.

Administration,
Public Works
Fall
2023
Qualitative
tracking in
CAP
progress
report
On
hold
While the City has not developed a Mobility as a Service platform, SLOCOG is advancing the concept in a narrowed way through their forthcoming Mobility Wallet Pilot Program. Whereas a “Mobility as a Service” platform would serve users as they move around using multiple modes of transportation in a single trip (for example: using bikeshare to travel to the bus stop to commute via transit), the Mobility Wallet pilot being led by SLOCOG is an electronic or card-based system that would distribute $1.047 million in Low Carbon Transit Operations Program funding to eligible SLO County constituents as pre-loaded debit cards restricted for transit use on both RTA and SLO Transit’s systems. The initial program will be focused on transit services only, but the goal is to expand the Mobility Wallet to include other services like bike lockers and other forms of public transit as they become available.

CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO CAP PROGRESS REPORT APRIL 2026
PAGE - 40 -
Foundational
Action
Action
Description 2023-25 Task 2025-27 Task Responsible Department Start
Date
Progress
Tracker Status July 2023 – March 2026 Action Progress
Connected

2.1 Complete
Active
Transportation
Plan and
begin
implementatio
n immediately.

Connected

2.1.A: Continue
to implement the
Active
Transportation
Plan.

Connected

2.1.A: Continue
to implement the
Active
Transportation
Plan.

Public Works Ongoing Qualitative
tracking in
CAP
progress
report
On
track
The City adopted the Active Transportation Plan in February 2021 and has since rapidly implemented active transportation projects across the community. Projects completed since the adoption of the 2023-27 CAP Work Program include the North Chorro Neighborhood Greenway, shared use paths on Madonna Rd and in the Cerro San Luis Development, and new crossing improvements at South/King and Sydney/Johnson. As of 2026, the City has completed 31% of the City’s Tier 1 active transportation network, with more projects on the way at Higuera, Tank Farm, South Brood, and Prado. More information about the implementation of the Active Transportation Plan can be found in the 2025 ATP Report Card.

Connected

2.2 Launch micro
mobility
program by
2021.

Connected

2.2.A: Reassess
the viability of
launching a
Micro Mobility
Program and
launch if
feasible.

Connected

2.2.A: If viable,
continue to
operate and
expand the
Micro Mobility
Program.

Administration,
Public Works
Summer
2023
Qualitative
tracking in
CAP
progress
report
On
hold
On May 7, 2024, City Council authorized the release of a request for proposals (RFP) for a community bikeshare program. The RFP was for a bikeshare pilot with 100 bikes with docks sited in the downtown core and Cal Poly campus. The RFP also specified that the program be operated at no cost to the City and low impact to Public Works staff. During the RFP process market conditions shifted and the bidding vendors updated their proposals to require substantial external funds to sustain operations and as a result, a vendor was not selected. Staff continues to monitor market conditions and better understand potential service providers. Should a viable program be possible that meets the operational needs of the City, staff could return with an updated RFP to re-test market conditions.

Connected

3.1 Establish a
policy and
strategic
approach to
leveraging
existing and
new parking
garages for
downtown
residential and
visitor serving
uses and to
allow for
further
implementatio
n of the
Downtown
Concept Plan.

Connected

3.1.A: Establish
a policy that
addresses the
distribution of
Level 2 and
Level 3 chargers
in parking lots
and garages.

Connected

3.1.A: Continue
to implement the
parking lot and
garage policy
and pursue
updates if
necessary.

Administration,
Public Works
Winter
2024
Qualitative
tracking in
CAP
progress
report
On
hold
At the time of adopting the 2022 CAP, staff were concerned about the lack of Level 3 chargers at City parking lots and garages and included this action to develop a policy requiring more Level 3 chargers. As electric vehicle adoption rates have increased and charging behavior has been observed, staff have determined that Level 2 chargers are the appropriate infrastructure for public parking garages and have deemed the development of a new policy unnecessary. The City continues to deploy new charging infrastructure in public lots and garages, including 41 new Level 2 EV spaces in the Cultural Arts District Parking Structure and 8 privately operated Level 3 charging ports at various public lots, with 8 more scheduled for installation in 2026. The City also developed an updated rate structure that will better support charger availability, as well as ongoing maintenance, replacement, and expansion of EV infrastructure in the future.

Connected

3.1.B: Pursue
parking
programs, rules,
and regulation
that can reduce
vehicle miles
travelled and
support
alternatives to
vehicle
ownership.

Connected

3.1.B: Continue
to pursue
parking
programs, rules,
and regulation
that can reduce
vehicle miles
travelled and
support
alternatives to
vehicle
ownership.

Administration,
Community
Development,
Public Works
Spring
2024
Qualitative
tracking in
CAP
progress
report
On
track
The City has advanced its efforts to reduce vehicle miles traveled and support alternatives to vehicle ownership through several key actions. The Parking Fund purchased and installed 22 new BikeLink lockers in the downtown core, expanding secure bike storage facilities for people who bike to downtown San Luis Obispo. The SLO Transit Downtown Access Pass program, funded by the City’s Parking Fund, has grown to 68 active users in 2025, nearly doubling the 2024 total of downtown employees using SLO Transit.

Additionally, in 2023 the City created the Mobility Division, integrating Parking, Transit, and Active Transportation under one structure to improve coordination, develop multimodal solutions, and balance competing priorities.

Connected

4.1 Develop
transit
electrification
strategic plan
and begin
implementing
in 2020.

Connected

4.1.A: Continue
to electrify the
SLO Transit bus
fleet.

Connected

4.1.A: Continue
to electrify the
SLO Transit bus
fleet.

Public Works,
Administration
Ongoing # of electric
buses;
percentage
of fleet
electrified: 8
/ ~50%
On
track
As of early 2026, there are two electric SLO Transit buses in service. Six more electric transit buses are scheduled to enter service Spring 2026 and an additional two electric buses should be in service by Fall 2026. This will bring the total number of electric buses in the SLO Transit fleet to 10, comprising around 50% of the total fleet of 19-20 vehicles. This progress aligns with the City’s ZeroEmission Bus Roll Out Plan, which provides a strategy to reaching California’s Innovative Clean Transit (ICT) fleet regulation goal of 100% zero-emission buses by 2040, while also avoiding early retirement of conventional buses. With the adoption of 2025 ShortRange Transit Plan update, Council approved the refurbishment of up to five diesel-powered buses to accelerate the implementation of service expansion recommendations. These refurbishments will delay SLO Transit’s transition to 100% zero-emission technologies; however, the City will remain compliant with California’s ICT mandates. By 2030, staff anticipates that 80% of the fleet will be zero-emission assuming state and federal funding for zero-emission buses continues be available. Additionally, the ShortRange Transit Plan provides a holistic approach to improving SLO Transit’s vehicles and infrastructure including reinvestment in existing buses and critical on-board technology upgrades. These two plans work together to provide the best experience for SLO Transit users in the short term while advancing the long-term goal of 100% zero-emission buses in the long term.

CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO CAP PROGRESS REPORT APRIL 2026
PAGE - 41 -
Foundational
Action
Action
Description 2023-25 Task 2025-27 Task Responsible Department Start
Date
Progress
Tracker Status July 2023 – March 2026 Action Progress
Connected

4.2 Shorten transit
headways
through
accelerated
implementatio
n of the
existing ShortRange Transit
Plan.

Connected

4.2.A:

Incorporate
recommendation
s from the
Transit
Innovation Study
into the ShortRange Transit
Plan and begin
implementation
immediately.

Connected

4.2.A: Continue
to implement the
Short-Range
Transit Plan.

Public Works Fall
2023
Annual
transit
system
headways
On
track
The Transit Innovation Study (TIS) provides recommendations to improve SLO Transit into the future. In January, 2024, Council reviewed a draft of the Transit Innovation Study and directed staff to finalize the report and begin implementation. In March 2025, the City published the Transit Innovation Implementation Progress Report. Specific TIS recommendations were further analyzed and incorporated into the Short-Range Transit Plan (SRTP) update process, which was adopted by Council in April 2025. Not all TIS recommendations were analyzed in the SRTP or included as recommended actions. Details on implementation progress for the high and medium priority TIS recommendation are presented below in ranked priority order. The TIS recommendations that were further analyzed in the SRTP are identified in this broader list.

1. Enhanced fixed route services (TIS)  Fixed route recommendations (SRTP) o Reinstate services to pre-pandemic levels.

Reinstatement of pre-pandemic service levels is scheduled to take place Spring 2026. o Increase Route 4A/B service, operate “B” Routes on weekends, increase service frequency on Routes 2A/B, provide academic service year-round, and provide new service to Avila Ranch area Fixed route SRTP recommendations will be implemented under a new contract for transit operations and maintenance services (assuming funding and vehicles are available to operate service). The new contract is expected to go into effect on July 1, 2026. Implementation of the SRTP recommendations will be phased in during the contract term and coordinated with the new contractor.

2. Pursue open-loop payment system (TIS)
SLO Transit is partnering with SLOCOG, RTA, and California’s Department of Transportation on this project with the goal of implementing the new payment system by April 2026. The new system includes a payment option that will limit what riders pay to the max daily and max monthly rates.

3. Fare changes for students, seniors and low-income riders (TIS) In February 2025, Council approved making the discounted K-12 15-ride pass a permanent program. SLO Transit, SLOCOG, and RTA considered a one-year fare free pilot program but, by federal law, it would also mean that the County’s paratransit services would also have to be free. There was not enough funds available to cover both fixed-route and paratransit. Instead, SLOCOG is using the funds on a Mobility Wallet Pilot Program (see Connected 4.1.A).

4. Replace Computer-Aided Dispatch and Automated Vehicle Locator (CAD/AVL) system of fixed route vehicles (TIS) The CAD/AVL system connects with other technologies such as onboard voice annunciators, passenger counters, security cameras, and real-time passenger information displays. Replacing the CAD/AVL system will enhance scheduling accuracy, Connected

4.3 Explore
additional
innovative
transit options
in the 2022
Short-Range
Transit Plan
(e.g., ondemand
deviated
routes, electric
fleet
expansion,
micro transit,
Bus rapid
transit, transit
signal priority).

This action will
be addressed by
Connected

4.2.A.

This action will
be addressed by
Connected

4.2.A.

CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO CAP PROGRESS REPORT APRIL 2026
PAGE - 42 -
Foundational
Action
Action
Description 2023-25 Task 2025-27 Task Responsible Department Start
Date
Progress
Tracker Status July 2023 – March 2026 Action Progress
Connected

4.4 Assess
feasibility of a
“free to the
user” transit
ridership
program.

This action will
be addressed by
Connected

4.2.A.

This action will
be addressed by
Connected

4.2.A.
service monitoring, reporting, and rider communication. Funding from state and federal grants is expected to fully cover the cost, with installation anticipated in Spring 2026.

5. Upgrade automatic passenger counters (TIS)
Installation of automatic passenger counter technology is scheduled to occur in Spring 2026 along with the implementation of a new CAD/AVL system.

6. Enhance real-time passenger information
Immediate improvements to real-time passenger information will occur once a new CAD/AVL system is installed. Staff updated SLO Transit’s bus stop inventory in August 2025, and bus stop conditions along with ridership data will be used to identify locations to install additional amenities like real-time information signs.

7. Replace and improve camera systems
$750,000 in state grant funding has been approved for improved camera systems and are currently available for project related costs.

8. Explore institutional partnerships
In November 2025, the City partnered with Rideshare’s Know How to Go campaign to sponsor the Holiday Trolley. The sponsorship covers the costs of fares allowing riders to use the service at no cost. Ridership of the Holiday Trolley was over 1,000 riders compared to less than 250 the prior year when there was no sponsorship of the cost. Remaining sponsorship funds are being used to cover fares for the Farmers’ Market Trolley service which operates every Thursday.

Future partnerships are being explored to offer discounted or free fare rides on other SLO Transit services including the Mobility Wallet Pilot Program previously discussed.

9. Install lighting, shelters, and bike parking at applicable bus stops (TIS) An update to SLO Transit’s bus stop inventory was completed in August 2025. The updated inventory will be used to develop a multiyear improvement plan for all bus stop amenities. Staff is also working to replace the twelve remaining old style bus shelters with new shelters per the City’s Engineering Standards by June 2027.

10. Expand the Downtown Access Pass (TIS)
The application process was streamlined in fall 2024, and expansion of the program’s geographic area is a recommendation in the Short-Range Transit Plan.

11. Pursuing microtransit mobility services (TIS)  Microtransit pilot program (SRTP) Microtransit will be pursued as a “turnkey” option through a third-party contractor. There is a microtransit feasibility study underway in FY25-26, which will determine how a microtransit program could be implemented in SLO including possible service alternatives.

12. Launch a bikeshare program
See Connected Community 2.2.A.

Connected

5.1 Complete the
2019-21
Housing
Element of the
General Plan
Update and
Flexible
Zoning
Connected

5.1.A: Continue
to implement the
Housing
Element of the
General Plan.

Connected

5.1.A: Continue
to implement the
Housing
Element with a
special focus on
reaching the
City’s RHNA
goals.

Community
Development
Ongoing Housing
production
by income
(per
Regional
Housing
Needs
Allocation)
On
track
Implementation of the Housing Element includes removing barriers to housing production, meeting the State's Regional Housing Needs Allocation of 3,354 housing units from January 1, 2019, through December 31, 2028, and diversifying housing options for all with a focus on infill development. Since the adoption of the 6th Cycle Housing Element, the City has updated zoning standards that approve objective design standards, allow housing in more zoning districts, incentivize more below-market-rate housing, and expand housing projects eligible for ministerial permits. As of the end of 2025, the City has far exceeded its 1,406 housing unit allocation for “Above Moderate” housing units by permitting 2,478 housing units. For below market rate ("affordable") housing units, the City has permitted 719 housing units with 1,229 units still needed to meet the 6th Cycle RHNA allocation by the end of the 2028 calendar year. Of the remaining below market rate allocation, 39% of the units must be reserved for Very Low and Extremely Low Incomes, 21% for Low Incomes, and 40% for Moderate Incomes.

CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO CAP PROGRESS REPORT APRIL 2026
PAGE - 43 -
Foundational
Action
Action
Description 2023-25 Task 2025-27 Task Responsible Department Start
Date
Progress
Tracker Status July 2023 – March 2026 Action Progress
Requirements
for Downtown.

Connected

5.1.B: Conduct
“Missing Middle”
housing pilot
program along
major urban
corridors.

Connected

5.1.B: Continue
to support
“missing middle”
housing along
major urban
corridors.

Community
Development
Spring
2024
Qualitative
tracking in
CAP
progress
report
On
track
The City's goals to foster "missing middle" housing have been reshaped through state housing legislation since 2019. Instead of a stand-alone ordinance to widen housing opportunities along specific corridors, the City has leveraged a series of state laws and programs to expand missing middle housing opportunities and is incorporating missing middle housing as a priority in Specific Plan updates. Examples of missing-middle aligned regulations and programs include:
 Density Bonus Law implementation provides incentives for smaller units as higher densities are achieved for infill lots. The majority of all housing projects over 10-units utilize the City's Density Bonus incentives.  The inclusionary housing in-lieu fee is based on square footage. As a result, smaller units have lower fees, which incentivizes smaller infill development.
 The Downtown Flexible Density Program developed through the State SB2 Grant programs removes density requirements for units less than 600 square feet downtown.
 Expanded opportunities for ministerial review and greatly reduced fees for ADUs and JADUs have resulted in approximately 80-100+ permits issued annually.
 The City's updated Subdivision Ordinance allows flexible lot design for R-1 districts and implements a streamlined processes for urban lot splits allowed through SB 9 and SB 684.
 Updated zoning regulations and the Airport Area Specific Plan implement state law by allowing more mixed-use housing within Service Commercial and Manufacturing districts.
 The City is currently updating the Margarita Area Specific Plan to incentivize missing middle housing opportunities.

Connected

6.1 Develop and
begin
implementing
electric
mobility plan
to achieve a
goal of 40%
electric vehicle
miles traveled
(VMT) by
2035.

Connected

6.1.A: Enable
the installation of
publicly
accessible EV
chargers on
public property
to meet
community
need.

Connected

6.1.A: Continue
to expand EV
charging on
public property.

Administration,
Public Works
Ongoing # EVs
registered in
county:
11,000
# public
chargers in
City: over
250+
# publicly
available
chargers on
City
property: 68
On
track
Publicly accessible EV charging on public property has expanded since 2020. Locally, the network grew from two public chargers in 2019 to a combined 27 today, including 19 standard ports intended for multi-hour use and eight fast chargers for short stops.

Additional projects scheduled for 2026 will add 41 more standard chargers at the Cultural Arts District Parking Garage and eight fast chargers at Railroad Square and the Calle Joaquin Park-and-Ride, for a total of 76 public chargers. These public chargers supplement an expanding network of private and residential charging already operating in the community. Additionally, in February 2026, the City updated EV charging rates in paid parking lots to a structure designed to balance affordability and availability for users while covering operational costs, utility expenses, and equipment maintenance.

Connected

6.1.B: Support
publicly
accessible EV
chargers on
private property.

Connected

6.1.B: Continue
to support the
installation of
publicly
accessible EV
chargers on
private property.

Administration,
Community
Development,
Public Works
Ongoing # of EV
chargers on
private
property:
over 250
publicly
accessible
and 400
nonaccessible
charging
ports
(estimates)
On
track
Statewide, California’s public charging ports grew from 41,947 in 2019 to 178,549 in 2024, a more than fourfold increase.

Using the best available public data, the number of publicly accessible EV charging ports within San Luis Obispo city limits has increased steadily over the same period. Estimates indicate roughly 109 public ports in 2020, rising to about 130 in 2021, 154 in 2022, 183 in 2023, and 217 in 2024. By 2025, the total is estimated at approximately 258 public ports, more than doubling local public charging capacity since 2020. This growth is in addition to privately accessible chargers on private property. City permitting records show roughly 400 private charging heads in use, a conservative estimate that excludes charging equipment installed as part of larger development projects, unpermitted chargers, or lower-level chargers that do not require permits.

This rapid expansion in charging infrastructure aligns with continued growth in EV ownership. According to California Energy Commission and DMV data, residents purchased more than 11,000 electric vehicles in San Luis Obispo County through 2025. EVs accounted for 24%, 22%, and 22% of all light-duty vehicle sales in the County in 2023, 2024, and 2025, respectively. With the elimination of federal tax credits, continued growth local adoption of EVs and EV chargers will face new headwinds. However, durable local and regional rebates exist, including 3CE’s Electrify Your Ride, which since 2020, has issued over $2.2 million in rebates for electric vehicles and home charging projects in the city.

CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO CAP PROGRESS REPORT APRIL 2026
PAGE - 44 -
Foundational
Action
Action
Description 2023-25 Task 2025-27 Task Responsible Department Start
Date
Progress
Tracker Status July 2023 – March 2026 Action Progress
Connected

6.1.C: Assess
the viability of
launching a
publicly
accessible EV
carshare
program and
launch if
feasible.

Connected

6.1.C: Continue
to support a
publicly
accessible EV
carshare
program.

Administration,
Public Works
Winter
2024
# carshare
sites: 0
# vehicles in
operation: 0
# annual
trips made
by carshare
vehicle: 0
On
hold
Based on conversations with vendors in the early 2020s, the launch and operation of a stand-alone carshare program was identified as prohibitively costly in a low density and small community like San Luis Obispo. The City is currently working to understand how these conditions may have changed over the last several years and is currently engaging directly with Zipcar, Cal Poly’s car share program provider to learn more. Beyond that, there are no active tasks to further evaluate or pursue car share in the City’s current work program.

Connected

6.1.D: Deploy
EV charging
infrastructure in
low-income and
underserved
areas.

Connected

6.1.D: Continue
to support the
installation of EV
chargers in lowincome and
underserved
areas.

Administration,
Community
Development,
Public Works
Summer
2023
# of EV
chargers in
underserved
areas: the
City hosts 4
charging
ports in
disadvantag
ed areas as
defined by
SLOCOG
Behind The City was supported HASLO’s participation in a regional grant for EV chargers at multifamily properties. This HASLO project, when complete, will install 32 new level 1 chargers across 4 HASLO properties in San Luis Obispo (and a total of 54 chargers across 7 sites county wide). Additionally, the City has heard from community members that the Level 3 EV chargers installed at Johnson Park have provided nearby multifamily tenants with an accessible charging option near their homes. Staff have sent information about grant programs that provide charging at multi-family properties to property managers, but there has been little interest in pursuing these projects.

Going forward, the City will continue to prioritize providing low-income and underserved areas with access to EV charging, and in particular finding solutions for the 60% of San Luis Obispo residents who are renters. Future strategies include continuing to connect multifamily property owners with regional technical assistance providers and EV charging incentives, as well as ongoing expansion of EV charging infrastructure on public lots and providing information about available chargers to low-income community members (e.g., the CADPS parking structures’ Level 2 chargers are also intended for overnight use by downtown residents).

Circular
Economy

1.1 Adopt an
ordinance
requiring
organic waste
subscription
for all
residential and
commercial
customers by
2022.

Circular
Economy 1.1.A:

Implement an
inspection and
enforcement
program to
ensure
compliance with
SB 1383
requirements.

Circular
Economy 1.1.A:

Maintain
compliance with
SB 1383
inspection and
enforcement
requirements.

Utilities Ongoing # Notice of
Violations
issued
annually
(beginning
in 2024): 15
On
track
The Integrated Waste Management Authority (IWMA) has established an SB 1383 inspection program that provides as-needed education and outreach to any premises found out of compliance through site visits or complaints. Enforcement guidelines were adopted under City Ordinance 1706, which grants the City’s Code Enforcement Team the authority to require corrective action for non-compliant premises. Under this process, the IWMA conducts the initial site visit or outreach, and if non-compliance persists without voluntary remediation, the case is referred to the City’s Code Enforcement Team for follow-up. Since implementation, the IWMA has conducted fifteen SB 1383-related complaint investigations, all of which were successfully resolved through IWMA outreach and education.

Circular
Economy 1.1.B:

Comply with SB
1383
procurement
requirements for
recycled organic
waste and
paper.

Circular
Economy 1.1.B:

Maintain
compliance with
SB 1383
procurement
requirements.

Utilities,
Finance
Ongoing Quantity of
organic
materials
procured
annually:
over 5,000
tons
On
track
The City continues to maintain compliance with SB 1383’s organic waste and recycled-content paper procurement requirements. The IWMA tracks and reports the annual procurement target on a countywide basis for all member agencies. Compliance is achieved through eligible organic and paper purchases, application of compost and mulch, and the renewable electricity and other beneficial byproducts generated by the Kompogas anaerobic digestion facility. In 2024, the City procured 5,255.93 tons of organic waste, which is 143% of the SB 1383 organic procurement target. The City’s Solid Waste and Recycling Team and Purchasing Team provide education and outreach to staff on SB 1383’s procurement requirements, and supply the IWMA with the necessary documentation to support ongoing compliance.

Circular
Economy 1.1.C:

Collaborate with
the IWMA to
educate the
public on waste
minimization and
the proper
sorting and
disposal of
organic and
recyclable
products.

Circular
Economy 1.1.C:

Continue to
collaborate with
the IWMA to
educate the
public on waste
minimization,
and the proper
sorting and
disposal of
organic and
recyclable
products.

Utilities Ongoing Qualitative
tracking in
CAP
progress
report
On
track
The City and IWMA continue to collaborate on waste-minimization and proper-sorting outreach through social media posts, in-person events, presentations, and newsletters. In addition, the IWMA has developed short educational videos on waste reduction, which have been shared on social media platforms and broadcast on local television. Further outreach materials are being developed by the IWMA, Science Discovery, and City staff to expand community awareness and engagement.

CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO CAP PROGRESS REPORT APRIL 2026
PAGE - 45 -
Foundational
Action
Action
Description 2023-25 Task 2025-27 Task Responsible Department Start
Date
Progress
Tracker Status July 2023 – March 2026 Action Progress
Circular
Economy

1.2 Develop and
implement
program to
increase
edible food
rescue by
20%.

Circular
Economy 1.2.A:

Monitor and
support IWMA
programs that
aim to increase
edible food
rescue.

Circular
Economy 1.2.A:

Continue to
monitor and
support IWMA
programs that
aim to increase
edible food
rescue.

Utilities Ongoing Qualitative
tracking in
CAP
progress
report
On
track
The IWMA manages edible food recovery requirements countywide on behalf of member agencies, all of which have maintained full compliance. The City continues to monitor and support the IWMA’s food recovery tracking efforts and maintains a strong working relationship with the region’s primary food rescue organization, the SLO Food Bank. Since, July 2023 to October 2025, 1.7 million pounds of edible food was recovered in the City of San Luis Obispo.

Circular
Economy

1.3 Develop and
implement a
waste stream
education
program for
HOA/Property
Managers and
the
commercial
sector.

Circular
Economy 1.3.A:

Partner with the
IWMA on waste
stream
education and
outreach for
HOA/Property
Managers, as
well as major
employers and
institutions.

Circular
Economy 1.3.A:

Continue
partnering with
the IWMA on
waste stream
education and
outreach for
HOA/Property
Managers, as
well as major
employers and
institutions.

Utilities Ongoing Qualitative
tracking in
CAP
progress
report
On
track
In partnership with the City, the IWMA develops and provides outreach to commercial businesses, major employers and institutions, HOAs, and Property Managers. As a college town, it was recognized that Property Managers require more proactive support due to high contamination rates and frequent tenant turnover. In response, City staff expanded outreach to multi-family properties through email communication and as-needed on-site visits.

Mobile home parks with shared waste services were additionally identified as key stakeholders needing updated and consistent waste-stream education, prompting increased engagement efforts. This work also aligns with the 2025–27 Major City Goal, which prioritizes enhanced outreach to both multi-family and mobile home park communities. Large employers and institutions are also offered opportunities for on-site presentations to strengthen compliance and reduce contamination.

Circular
Economy

2.1 Update the
Municipal
Code solid
waste section
and bin
enclosure
standards.

Complete. Complete. Utilities N/A N/A On
track
City Council adopted Ordinance 1706 to update Sections 8.04 and 8.05 of the Municipal Code to align with the requirements of Senate Bill 1383, supporting the City’s continued efforts to divert food and organic waste.

In January 2024, the Trash Enclosure Design Guidelines were updated and posted to the City’s website. The City partners with San Luis Garbage throughout the permitting process to ensure that new and redeveloped sites include adequate capacity and service levels for the proper collection and diversion of trash, recycling, and organic materials.

Circular
Economy

2.2 Develop and
expand
funding for a
Solid Waste
section in the
Utilities
Department.

Circular
Economy 2.2.A:

Support
innovative
organic waste
collection
systems for
high-volume and
hard-to-reach
waste
generators.

Circular
Economy 2.2.A:

Continue to
support
innovative
organic waste
collection
systems for
high-volume and
hard-to-reach
waste
generators.

Utilities Winter
2024
Qualitative
tracking in
CAP
progress
report
On
track
Events and multi-family complexes have been identified as high-volume waste generators with elevated contamination rates. The City provides Special Event Waste Reduction Guidelines to all permitted events, and the event application and contract clearly outline the City’s organic waste diversion requirements and local sustainability ordinances. Multi-family complexes receive additional education and outreach support, including recurring resource emails to property managers and opportunities for on-site presentations to improve compliance and reduce contamination.

Circular
Economy 2.2.B:

Build
relationships
with local and
regional waste
industry
stakeholders.

Circular
Economy 2.2.B:

Convene a
Circular
Economy
Stakeholder
Forum to gather
key stakeholders
and inform future
Circular
Economy
actions.

Utilities,
Administration
Ongoing Qualitative
tracking in
CAP
progress
report
On
track
The City continues to develop relationships with local industry stakeholders such as industry leaders, local advocates, non-profits, educators, practitioners, and implementers in the local and regional waste industry. A Circular Economy Stakeholder Forum will be facilitated with these stakeholders to develop implementable and impactful actions for the forthcoming Climate Action Plan update.