San Anselmo may repeal a requirement to underground utility lines.

The town council unanimously agreed to nix the rule for anyone doing a major home renovation at a meeting on April 8. Several council members said they favored removing the entire requirement from the municipal code due to costs.

Vice Mayor Steve Burdo said it’s already a “costly endeavor” to buy and remodel a home. He said while he is a public safety advocate, he said he leaned toward letting the policy go. Instead, he said he would like to figure out ways to get utilities to help underground the lines.

“This just adds to the affordability crisis that we have here in San Anselmo and personally, to me, the people who should be undergrounding the wires are PG&E,” Burdo said.

The town has regulated underground utilities for around 60 years, Planning Director Heidi Scoble said. In 1974, the town started requiring new subdivisions to underground utilities.

In 1999, the requirement expanded to new single-family homes, then in 2013 to any property owner doing substantial improvements. The town’s municipal code defines substantial improvement as any work that’s greater than 50% of the structure’s market value.

“The focus is primarily on substantial remodels because this is the comment we get the most from the community,” Scoble said.

Scoble said undergrounding utilities was “pretty inexpensive” in the past, ranging between $5,000 to $10,000 in 2013. Now, the costs are closer to $15,000 to more than $50,000. This is on top of the town’s required $50,000 cash bond or deposit for eligible projects.

The town’s municipal code does have exemptions for health and safety code corrections, and historic preservation work. However, an exemption for a financial hardship exception is not clearly defined, leaving it open for interpretation, Scoble said.

Undergrounding utilities increases public safety, reduces the risks associated with overhead lines, and also improves the visual aesthetic in town. Scoble said San Anselmo has narrow streets and vast vegetation, making undergrounding lines beneficial. However, she said it’s difficult to require all residents to underground lines at the same time, so the historic approach has been to “piecemeal” the work through individual projects.

“We have been applying our undergrounding requirements a little bit inconsistently, so there is room for improvement in terms of what is actually applied and what isn’t,” Scoble said.

Since January 2022, 41 permits qualified as substantial improvements — 33 required undergrounding, with eight exemptions. The town does not record exemption records, making it difficult to determine why the ordinance was not applied to those properties, Scoble said. It could be due to the built environment, topography or financial hardship, for example.

“There is a perception that staff are applying the regulations subjectively and up for interpretation,” said Scoble. “This is leading to frustration and distrust and could be a line item in a construction project.”

Councilmember Eileen Burke asked how many new builds versus remodels the town sees. Scoble said the town has more demolitions and new builds than remodels, with the exception of accessory dwelling units, which are required to underground utilities.

Burke said when she undergrounded lines near her home six years ago, it was $15,000 — despite asking for the shortest distance, cheapest option possible. She suggested taking it further and removing the requirement for accessory dwelling units and new construction.

“We even did the digging ourselves,” Burke said. “It added no aesthetic impact whatsoever to our street.”

Councilmember Yoav Schlesinger said he needed more data about new buildings before repealing the requirement. He agreed the requirement was a “harsh penalty” and too expensive.

“If the vast majority of new builds are being put in by developers, that’s a different story than people moving to San Anselmo and then investing in their homes to improve their own properties,” Schlesinger said.

Mayor Tarrell Kullaway agreed with Burke on completely repealing the requirement. She said the town already has a hard time getting developers to build in San Anselmo, which adds to the lack of housing.

Councilmember Chantel Walker learned toward developing specific financial hardship criteria for new builds, but agreed on repealing the rule for substantial remodels. She said the public safety impact is important to consider.

Staff will return to the town council with the item at a future meeting.