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To raise your hand for public comment on item #5: press the ‘raise hand’ button on the webinar, or dial *3 on a phone.
Speak when prompted by the meeting moderator.
Talking Points
Hi, I’m [your name]. I’m a resident of San Francisco.
I would like to express my support for prohibiting gas in new construction. Eliminating natural gas from our buildings is essential to not only to meeting our climate goals, but also to improving the health and safety of the residents in our city. This is a major first step that will make San Francisco a climate leader across the state and the world. I want to thank Supervisor Mandelman and the SF Department of Environment for all of their hard work in preparing this ordinance.
I would also like to ask the Commission to consider the following changes to the ordinance and associated bulletin:
1. Please require developers to exhaust all efforts to place the transformer inside the building, under the sidewalk or on the sidewalk before granting an exemption. Loss of a unit or another amenity (financial loss) is not a legitimate reason for an exemption. We need to treat natural gas like asbestos and lead paint, toxic substances that have no place in our buildings regardless of the circumstances.
2. Please make the exception process more transparent to the public and ensure that any exceptions are explicitly decided on the basis of the public interest.
3. Make electric-ready 100% mandatory, without exception. Scores of jurisdictions across the state have mandatory electric-ready requirements; it should be the minimum backstop. Why is San Francisco proposing rolling back electric-ready requirements for certain developers? Perhaps a building should not be built at all if it can’t be electric-ready.
4. Finally, please remove the blanket 1-year delay for restaurant spaces. This will do little to help the small businesses that are currently struggling due to COVID-19 and will saddle the future owners with retrofit costs and unsafe infrastructure.
In conclusion: the building code is meant to protect people’s safety and health, not profits. Thank you very much for all of your work and service.
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