Larkspur's all-electric building code never made it to a state reviewer's desk

The City Council passed it. The state wouldn't take it. Staff told the Climate Action Forum on Wednesday that Larkspur's CalGreen Tier 1 building electrification code amendments were ruled ineligible ahead of the October 1 submission deadline to the California Energy Commission — not on the merits, but on the paperwork.

“The code amendments were not eligible for submission because due to incomplete materials required for submission. This is mainly due to the cost effectiveness studies required to submit to the California Energy Commission.”— Shannon O'Hare, city staff, on the CEC rejection

The CEC requires cost-effectiveness studies to accompany any local reach code, and no jurisdiction in the area had commissioned complete Tier 1 energy studies for the 2022 code cycle. That's a regional failure, not just a Larkspur one, and it leaves a council-adopted ordinance with nowhere to go.

Staff is now hunting for a way around: a "flex path" approach, electric-ready requirements instead of outright electrification mandates, and using the city's General Plan update authority to adopt amendments outside the CEC process entirely. Forum member David Mahler pointed to South Bay jurisdictions already taking the flex path, enhanced EV charging and A/C-to-heat-pump routes as a model.

Staffer Shannon O'Hare cooled the timeline talk: she'd heard end of October floated and thought it "really ambitious," and said the city expects enough information by the end of November to choose a path. Reach codes, in other words, are a 2026 conversation.

Forum blinks on the gas leaf blower ban — and lands on rebates and a letter to homeowners

Larkspur's 2017 leaf blower ordinance, Municipal Code 9.57, still exempts multi-family properties, commercial properties and municipal park areas from the gas ban — looser than Corte Madera and Fairfax, which require all-electric equipment. The forum had the option Wednesday of recommending the council close those loopholes. It didn't.

“From a commercial property manager perspective I have a really hard time going electric blowers. It does not cover the area that we need... we couldn't do the hill by a long shot without these devices.”— Reed Baxter, commercial property manager

The most interesting argument of the night wasn't about emissions at all — it was about who gets the ticket. "People are not aware that enforcement is against the homeowner," David Mahler said. "If the homeowner knew that enforcement would be against them as opposed to the gardener, I think that could really change the dynamic." He argued carrots outperform sticks, citing regional trade-in programs paying $50 to $250 for homeowners and $500 to $1,000 for professional gardeners.

The counterweight came from someone who manages the properties in question. Reed Baxter said electric blowers simply don't do the work on his sites. Another member warned against spending discretionary forum money on rebates before checking whether those dollars would do more good elsewhere.

The landing spot: staff will spend a modest 15 to 20 hours surveying what other jurisdictions already offer, including the Fairfax/San Anselmo trade-in program, and price out a homeowner education campaign plus a rebate or exchange aimed at commercial landscapers holding a Larkspur business license. It comes back as an information item, possibly in December.

Who pays for the new library after the building money runs out? Nobody in the room could say.

The Rose Lane library is tentatively due to be handed over March 11 — "very, very, very tentative," Director Damon cautioned — with an opening penciled in for early May. Board member Scott used Monday's meeting to ask the question that comes after the ribbon: when the Commons Foundation's fundraising mission, originally for the building and landscaping, winds down around the end of the year, who raises money for a library whose operating budget will exceed anything the Magnolia branch ever carried?

“I've already had, I bet, five to six requests to reserve the meeting room. That does not exist.”— Library Director Damon, on the need for a meeting room booking policy

His broader complaint was coordination. The Commons Foundation, the Friends of the Library, the Library Foundation and the city are all pointed at the same opening, he said, but in silos — no central planning point for opening events, branding and a logo, or fundraising. He rejected the notion that the setup is inherently confusing: the Friends handle programming, the Commons was formed to raise the building money, and the lanes are clear.

Other members were candid about the board's own ceiling — it doesn't see the library budget or the numbers, and the silos long predate anyone at the table. The consensus was that the City Council has more authority to convene the groups. Scott volunteered to take it to Ann Morrison. A separate report that the Commons Foundation may be absorbed into the Library Foundation prompted Damon to offer himself as a clearinghouse for updates; the standing agenda item was renamed to cover coordination of the support groups generally.

Meanwhile the softer side of the move is taking shape: Rose Lane resident Karen Leenhard is organizing a ceremonial "book brigade" — a human chain passing books from Magnolia to Rose Lane, with movers doing the actual hauling — paired with a farewell event collecting love letters and photos. Board members Jonathan and Susan will attend the planning meeting Oct. 28, capped at two to stay clear of the Brown Act. And the board began working through the long list of policies the new building needs and the old one never had: internet use, patron behavior, teen room rules, meeting and study room booking, outdoor space, parking, signage. It will take two or three per meeting, starting with programming.

A book distributor's collapse ripples into Larkspur's shelves

The library's primary book distributor, Baker & Taylor, "is on the verge of bankruptcy and they're not able to fulfill their orders," Director Damon told the board. "This is a big issue in libraries as you can imagine" — and it reaches well beyond Larkspur, to libraries across Marin.

The failure breaks the "shelf-ready" workflow in which books arrive already cataloged and processed. Staff are evaluating Ingram and Brodart, but both come with minimum order requirements and slower processing. For now some purchases are shifting to Amazon, and the library is unlikely to renew Baker & Taylor's $4,200-a-year licensing fee.

Damon said heavy borrowers will feel it first, and that it's too early for patrons to notice yet.