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Page 8 of 12 City of Redwood City 1017 Middlefield Road, Redwood City, CA. 94063 Tel: 650-780-7000 www.redwoodcity.org Green Infrastructure for Substantial Commercial Remodels Green Infrastructure (GI) refers to the use of natural areas and features designed to manage stormwater by slowing runoff into the City’s storm system, while also improving the quality of water flowing to San Francisco Bay. It is regulated under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System’s Municipal Regional Permit (MRP), which governs how cities and counties within the San Francisco Bay Area Region may discharge stormwater into the Bay and its tributary creeks. While cities must comply with Permit terms, there is no outside funding associated with this obligation. On June 24, 2019, as required by the MRP, Redwood City adopted a GI Plan outlining its long-term strategy to meet MRP goals for significantly reducing mercury and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) entering the Bay. The strategy has two parts, relying on a combination of public and private funding: 1. Construct a regional stormwater control project to capture and treat runoff from a large portion of the City at public expense. The Red Morton Regional Stormwater Project, now nearing 100% design, would treat approximately 1,600 acres within the Redwood Creek watershed. 2. Require private development projects to install green infrastructure onsite and in the public right- of-way at levels exceeding the MRP’s minimum thresholds. On August 26, 2019, Redwood City adopted the GI Plan Development Standards to specify which projects would be required to install additional GI facilities based on their size and impact. These were considered “no missed opportunity” sites—projects where the scope of work created a clear opportunity to integrate GI elements. Examples included new buildings that typically regraded entire sites, large developments that fully reconstructed frontage improvements, and substantial commercial remodels involving site work, utility upgrades, and frontage improvements. At that time, the City determined that all new development, as well as commercial remodels of at least 10,000 square feet, would be subject to its GI requirements. On September 23, 2024, Redwood City updated several municipal code sections as part of a streamlining and cleanup effort. As part of this process, the GI requirement for substantial commercial remodels was revisited, and the threshold was increased to remodels of at least 25,000 square feet. When adopting the higher threshold, the City Council also directed staff to analyze the impacts of this requirement and assess how it aligns with similar efforts in other jurisdictions within the San Francisco Bay Area region. Current Market Conditions and Feedback from Stakeholders The current economic climate, as described in the housing section of this report, impacts not only new residential development, but also commercial property owners and prospective tenants. Over the past few months, staff has engaged with property owners, potential commercial tenants, and real estate brokers to better understand how the City’s GI requirements may be affecting the ability of businesses to lease commercial space in Redwood City. Key takeaways from these discussions include: 1.Cost Prohibitive Requirements: The expense of completing GI improvements for remodels is often prohibitive due to several factors. High upfront costs for materials and labor, and the need for additional engineering services to create a site-specific design can increase project expenses. 10.A. - Page 8 of 31 217