CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO CAP PROGRESS REPORT APRIL 2026
PAGE - 46 -
Foundational
Action
Action
Description 2023-25 Task 2025-27 Task Responsible Department Start
Date
Progress
Tracker Status July 2023 – March 2026 Action Progress
Natural
Solutions
1.1 Conduct
Carbon
Farming Study
and Pilot
Project in
2021. If
feasible, begin
implementatio
n by 2023.
Natural
Solutions 1.1.A:
Make progress
on protecting
land within the
City’s
Greenbelt
through direct
purchases and
conservation
easements.
Natural
Solutions 1.1.A:
Continue to
make progress
on protecting
land within the
City’s Greenbelt
through direct
purchases and
conservation
easements.
Administration Ongoing Number of
acres
protected
On
track
Staff actively pursue priority land conservation opportunities in accordance with Council direction.
The City received a dedication of Righetti Hill within the Orcutt Area Specific Plan and the Natural Resources Program, along with the Ranger Service staff, worked to establish a new open space and trail system. The Righetti Hill Open Space Conservation Plan was adopted by Council in 2023 and trail system and trailhead improvements were completed in 2025.
Natural
Solutions 1.1.B:
Expand climate
resilience and
carbon
sequestration
practices to
additional
properties and
sites in the City
and broader
Greenbelt.
Natural
Solutions 1.1.B:
Maintain and
continue to
apply climate
resilience and
carbon
sequestration
practices to
properties in the
SLO Greenbelt.
Administration,
Parks and
Recreation
Fall
2023
Number of
projects
completed;
acres
receiving
treatment/s;
estimated
carbon
sequestered
On
track
The City continues to apply innovative climate-informed land stewardship practices across the SLO Greenbelt, and staff continue to actively pursue external funding to expand these efforts. At Johnson Ranch the City has installed 30 "beaver dam analogs" in Dry Creek to retain water longer into the dry season, improve groundwater recharge, and improve steelhead habitat. This grant-funded project is also on track to plant over 300 native riparian plants and trees, and regenerate native perennial bunchgrasses. Additional restoration projects include regenerative grazing with goats, sheep, and cattle. The City continues to invest in regenerative contract grazing at select properties and is continually improving cattle grazing agreements and infrastructures to promote regenerative outcomes. Together these restoration activities can sequester carbon while making San Luis Obispo and its open spaces more resilient to the impacts of climate change.
The City also continues to partner with the yak titʸu titʸu yak tiłhini to revive traditional ecological knowledge on City Open Space properties including the use of cultural fire (with burns occurring in June 2024, November 2025, and December of 2025). Good fire reduces fuel loads and decreases the likelihood of catastrophic future wildfires. Tinɨtyu "Good Fire" can also enhance and maintain biodiversity and restore perennial bunch grasses that store more carbon than invasive annual grasses.
The City also 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. City Farm SLO was awarded a $200,000 grant from the California Farmland Conservancy Program for site access improvements and enhancements along Prefumo Creek, which was completed in 2024, and in 2025 an additional 1.5 acres of farmland was added to the lease area.
The City will continue to further augment this effort with in-kind services and support as part of the Major City Goal work program.
Natural
Solutions
2.1 Prepare the
City’s first
Urban Forest
Master Plan
by 2021 and
plant and
maintain
10,000 new
trees by 2035.
Natural
Solutions 2.1.A:
Adopt and
implement the
Community
Forest Plan and
make significant
progress on the
10 Tall goal of
planting and
maintaining
10,000 new
trees by 2035.
Natural
Solutions 2.1.A:
Continue
implementing
the Community
Forest Plan and
make significant
progress on the
10 Tall goal of
planting and
maintaining
10,000 new
trees by 2035.
Administration,
Public Works
Summer
2023
Number of
trees
planted
On
track
Over 6,000 new trees have been planted by the City, community partners, volunteers, and community members in both private and public spaces, in support of the City’s 2035 goal of planting 10,000 new trees. 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.
Through the intradepartmental "Keys for Trees" program in partnership with ECOSLO, the Tourism Business Improvement District (TBID) allocates 1% of their assessment of all hotel revenue in the City towards planting trees in San Luis Obispo. Keys for Trees plants roughly 40 trees per year in City parks, open space, and other locations.
Staff have continued to work with ECOSLO and Rotary de Tolosa to implement tree planting, as well as community volunteers. Arbor Day events resulted in new trees planted at French Park, along the Railroad Safety Trail, and at Santa Rosa Park, as well as providing new community relationships and educational opportunities. Staff also began cataloging where new oak trees can be planted and have begun installation of oak trees to expand the current oak forest in several City open space properties, such as Terrace Hill and Cerro San Luis. These projects were completed in collaboration with Rotary clubs, volunteers, and the California Conservation Corps.
The North Chorro Greenway project, funded in part by a State of California Urban Greenways grant, installed 60 new street trees.
Administrat
ive Action 1
Implement
Climate Action
Plan with an
equity lens.
Implement Climate Action Plan with
an equity lens.
All
Departments
Ongoing Inclusion of
equity lens
in
implementati
on project
plans
On
track
Staff are committed to integrating equity considerations into all implementation projects on an ongoing basis. The primary way the City has centered equity in its climate work is through the internal requirement that all implementation action project plans include a detailed description of how the project will include meaningful equity considerations. This has ensured that equity stays top of mind in project implementation. Tangible results of this approach include:
Pursuing grant funds that provide administrative resources to local diversity focused non-profits. Focusing on providing affordable air conditioning to low-income homeowners as a primary benefit of electrification. Piloting building retrofit projects focused on affordable housing developers. Restoring pre-COVID SLO Transit service levels.
Increasing access to safe and convenient bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure. Supporting tribal-led cultural burns and the return of ancestral stewardship practices on City open space. Enacting procedural equity throughout the CAP Volume 3 update and related stakeholder engagement processes.
CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO CAP PROGRESS REPORT APRIL 2026
PAGE - 47 -
Foundational
Action
Action
Description 2023-25 Task 2025-27 Task Responsible Department Start
Date
Progress
Tracker Status July 2023 – March 2026 Action Progress
Administrat
ive Action 2
Monitor and
report Plan
implementatio
n.
Monitor and report Plan
implementation.
Administration,
All
Departments
Fall
2024
Biennial
GHG
emissions
inventory
update and
City Council
update
On
track
This progress report is the outcome of Administrative Action 2.
Administrat
ive Action 3
Regularly
update the
CAP.
Regularly update the Climate Action
Plan.
Administration Winter
2026
CAP Update
in 2027
On
track
Staff will be returning to City Council in early 2027 to present a comprehensive update to the community Climate Action Plan. This progress report supports the 2027 CAP update process.
Administrat
ive Action 4
Ensure
transparency
by reporting
GHG and
climate action
information to
public
disclosure
programs.
Ensure transparency by reporting
greenhouse gas and climate action
information to public disclosure
programs.
Administration Summer
2023
State,
national,
and
international
disclosure
platforms
On
track
The City reports on a wide range of greenhouse gas emissions and resilience efforts to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) on a biennial basis. The City received “A-List” status, the highest grade for a disclosing City, in 2021 and 2023. The City received an A- in 2025 (with the minus coming because the City did not have an aggressive enough 2030 target). The City will submit for scoring again in 2027.
Administrat
ive Action 5
Develop
mitigation
program for
new
development
to illustrate
consistency
with the CAP.
Complete Community
Development
N/A N/A On
track
The mitigation program was developed as part of the 2020 CAP via local California Environmental Quality Act thresholds of significance for greenhouse gas emissions and a related Climate Action Plan consistency checklist. The thresholds and checklist were intended to apply to development projects that required CEQA review and that resulted in mitigated negative declarations or full environmental impact reports. According to staff’s records, there have been seven projects since 2020 that have been reviewed against this standard. All of these projects chose zero operational emissions via high-efficiency electric appliances and systems.
It should be noted that state law has substantially reduced the number of projects required to undergo environmental review, which means fewer projects will be required to illustrate consistency with the CAP’s local GHG emissions thresholds moving forward.
Fortunately, the 2025 California Energy Code will be in place through 2031 and heavily incentives new buildings to be mostly-electric.
Administrat
ive Action 6
Pursue grants
opportunistical
ly and
strategically.
Pursue grants opportunistically and
strategically.
Administration Ongoing Number of
grant
applications;
total funds
received
On
track
Since 2023, the City has pursued dozens of grants related to support community climate action solutions for green buildings, transit, active transportation, solid waste, and natural solutions. Additionally, the City has brought in approximately $15.5 million since 2020 to implement the Lead by Example pillar of the CAP which focuses on carbon neutrality projects at City facilities. Successful external funding, including grants, rebates, incentives, and tax refunds across all CAP pillars s are estimated to exceed $57 million since 2020.
Administrat
ive Action 7
Engage in
legislative and
regulatory
advocacy.
Engage in legislative and regulatory
advocacy.
Administration Ongoing Update
annual
Legislative
Action
Platform
On
track
Since 2020, the City has included a sustainability and energy plank in the annual Legislative Action Platform and has submitted letters in support of legislation that is supports and advances the City’s climate work. In 2025, the City participated more directly in legislative advocacy around AB 130, which would have precluded the City from adopting energy efficiency reach codes. Due to direct advocacy with legislators and collaboration with aligned organizations including CalCities, the final legislation included an exemption that allows the City to continue adopting and enforcing energy reach codes.
The Local Government Climate Alliance (LGCA) unites California cities and counties to advocate for bold, equitable climate policies at the state level. LGCA leverages joint advocacy, knowledge sharing, and collective influence to accelerate action and deliver benefits to local communities across California.
VALUE PROPOSITION
Local governments lack a powerful voice in Sacramento to advocate for the nuanced and often technical climate solutions that are needed to reach local climate goals and keep communities safe.
Existing municipal lobbyists are often underinformed about climate issues, and are necessarily spread thin across topical issues to represent the totality of local government priorities. LGCA will bring the focus and expertise necessary to advance impactful equitable climate solutions in California’s crowded advocacy space.
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
To drive the impactful, equitable, and scalable solutions needed to significantly accelerate statewide climate action, deliver lasting benefits to local communities, and meet climate goals ahead of California’s 2030 and 2045 targets, LGCA will work to:
1. Expand cities’ authority for local climate action and securing funding.
2. Accelerate affordable access to clean electricity, electrified transportation, zero-emission buildings, and low-carbon industry.
3. Remove barriers for local clean energy and climate strategies.
4. Ensure retraining, wage protection, and community reinvestment as cities and counties phase out fossil fuels.
5. Invest in wildfire prevention, water security, coastal resilience, habitat restoration, and urban greening, using nature-based solutions when possible.
6. Improve housing affordability, air quality, public transit access, public health and safety, and local economic development.
GOVERNANCE
The General Assembly of Core Members, Partners, and Affiliates will meet every other month, and will be led by a Chair and Vice Chair. Committees include an elected Executive Steering Committee (meets monthly) and a Policy Advisory Committee (meets monthly) and topic-specific subcommittees. Core Members commit to attending monthly Policy Advisory Committee meetings. The full General Assembly will meet at least once annually. Equity is embedded in all decisions. ● Core Members: Cities/counties, full voting rights.
● Observing Members: Cities/counties, limited participation, non-voting. ● Affiliates: Regional agencies, nonprofits, academics, tribal governments (advisors).
MEMBERSHIP AND DUES
Local Government (by population) Affiliate (by employee count) < 50,000: $1,500 1-20: $1,500
50,000 - 150,000 $4,500 20+: $2,500
150,001 - 500,000 $6,500
500,001+ $8,000
LGCA membership will consider a jurisdiction’s population size and ability to pay and will make accommodations wherever practicable. This flexible approach recognizes that every city and county has different resources, priorities, and constraints, while ensuring we can sustain strong, coordinated climate advocacy together. The City of Santa Barbara will serve as LGCA’s initial fiscal sponsor, with alternative sponsorship options to be explored in future years.