A $50,000 experiment: Larkspur weighs an electric ride-on mower for Piper Park

At Piper Park, staff proposed spending roughly $45,000 to $50,000 of existing climate CIP funds on a Greenworks Optimus Z 72-inch electric ride-on mower to replace the gas mowers that cut the park's fields. Gas mowers would stay on as backup during the trial, and staff framed the purchase as a pilot that would position Larkspur as a proof-of-concept for the rest of the county.

“This runs, after taxes etc., around $45,000... it would be an experiment. It'd be a $50,000 experiment.”— Shannon, city staff, presenting the mower pilot

Forum members liked the idea and then started poking at the math. JJ Andre urged the city to buy in bulk with other jurisdictions rather than going it alone, and warned that maintenance staff need to be able to repair the machine themselves. He also questioned the assumed workload, noting the park is fenced off part of the year and mowing stops when the grass is wet. David Mer said the key question is how much greenhouse gas the mower actually eliminates per dollar spent, and suggested asking the vendor for a proposal citing emissions data and a list of other jurisdictions already running one.

Katie Stro Hutton made the case for going ahead anyway, calling it one of the few items on the priority list with an immediate emissions reduction and real communication value — comparing it to the electric John Deere tractor kids gravitate toward.

No votes were taken; the special meeting was a workshop-style walk through staff's spreadsheet of Climate Action Plan "Top 5" priorities, and staff will bring formal recommendations forward for City Council consideration.

Nine years in, Larkspur's gas leaf blower ban runs on police dispatch. The Forum wants photos and fines instead.

Larkspur banned gas-powered leaf blowers in 2017, but the Forum spent a chunk of Monday night on the gap between the ordinance and reality. Lenny O'Brien said calling police dispatch about a running blower doesn't work — it's treated as low priority, and by the time an officer drives by, the landscaper has moved on. His fix: an online complaint system where a resident submits a photo of the landscaping company in front of an address, and the city mails the property owner a warning, then a $50 fine, escalating from there.

Staff pointed to San Rafael's model as a template, and noted a second hole in the rules: since 2017 a number of neighboring jurisdictions have moved to full bans covering all property types, while Larkspur still exempts multifamily and commercial properties.

Shannon will consult San Rafael on its enforcement approach and check with the city manager on whether council action is required, with the possibility of returning to expand the ban.

Empty office lots at night: Forum pitches two-tier permit fees to grow EV charging

Staff walked through candidate sites for public EV charging — City Hall, downtown municipal lots, and the new Piper Park recreation building, alongside the existing library chargers — and then turned to the harder problem of getting private and multifamily owners to install their own. Council Liaison Sarah Margules pointed to the office complexes along South Eliseo, whose parking lots sit empty at night, and suggested the city approach those landlords directly.

JJ Andre proposed the city charge two permit fee tiers: a higher fee for owners who keep chargers private, a lower one for those who open them to the public. David Mer argued the question shouldn't wait for a developer to raise it — community development should ask how many chargers are planned up front for any commercial or multifamily project going through permitting. He also flagged a disincentive worth solving: adding charging raises a multifamily property's value, and the city should work with the county so that doesn't simply translate into a higher tax bill.

Lenny O'Brien asked for a baseline count of charging spots in town, including private sites, as social proof for multifamily owners on the fence. Staff's marching orders: keep researching costs and timelines for the public sites, engage at least one private property owner or employer this fiscal year, and look at incentive-based fee tiers.