City Council - November 2, 2026

Council makes state housing rules permanent

The City Council unanimously adopted an ordinance making permanent its regulations implementing Senate Bill 9, Senate Bill 450 and other state housing-law updates. The measure amends the city’s building, zoning and subdivision codes and establishes objective design standards as the primary review path, with individual review available as an alternative.

The ordinance raises the maximum second-floor share of allowable floor area to 40%, from 35%, and increases the maximum height for low-pitched roofs to 23 feet, from 22 feet. It also clarifies the treatment of accessory dwelling units under SB 9 and revises urban-lot-split and design standards.

Council added an amendment allowing an opaque wall to satisfy the requirement for a solid balcony privacy wall. A homeowner had asked the city to remove contextual garage-placement restrictions for two-story projects using objective standards, but that change was not included in the adopted motion. Staff said potential objective design standards for Professorville will return to the council next year.

Emissions fall as council questions climate metrics

The council unanimously approved the 2025 greenhouse-gas inventory and annual climate progress report. Citywide emissions totaled 403,593 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, down 5.2% from 2024 and 49.5% from the 1990 baseline. Reaching the city’s 80-by-30 target would require reducing emissions to about 160,000 metric tons.

Transportation accounted for about 64% of emissions and natural-gas use in buildings for about 32%. Staff attributed the annual transportation decline primarily to increased electric-vehicle use, while noting that vehicle-mile estimates for 2024 and 2025 were projected because updated data after 2023 were unavailable.

Council members asked staff to determine whether comparisons with peer cities use consistent greenhouse-gas protocols, investigate gasoline-sales data and further assess how worker-related activity is attributed. They also supported broader access to income-qualified transit passes and additional charging options near multifamily housing, where staff said about 15% of units have chargers.

The Climate Action and Sustainability Committee is scheduled to consider preliminary long-term community-electrification options next month. In a related unanimous consent action, the council directed staff to update estimates for local utility-scale battery storage through the 2028 Integrated Resource Plan and recommend hazard mitigations and capital projects.

Council allows split agreement term at 3150 El Camino Real

Council approved an alternative means of complying with citywide affordable-housing requirements for the previously approved development at 3150 El Camino Real. The action allows a bifurcated term in the project’s regulatory agreement.

The item passed as part of the consent calendar, with two council members recusing themselves after citing Stanford-related employment or legal work. The consent motion was unanimous among participating members.

Council increases janitorial contract and approves asphalt spending

The council unanimously approved a net $293,501 increase to the city’s five-year janitorial-services contract with SWA Services Group. The amendment raises the contract’s total not-to-exceed amount to $19,621,048 for its remaining two years.

Council also approved a blanket purchase order with Graniterock for as much as $400,000 annually in hot-mix asphalt materials for the Public Works and Utilities departments. The three-year agreement, running from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2029, has a total ceiling of $1.2 million.

Council sets January 23 retreat and June 23 summer recess

The council unanimously adopted its 2027 meeting calendar with an annual priority-setting retreat on January 23. A proposed amendment to retain the retreat on January 30 and move the February 1 council meeting to February 3 failed on a 2-5 vote.

The final calendar adds a January 19 special meeting following Martin Luther King Jr. Day, eliminates the January 25 regular meeting, adds June 22 as a standby date and begins summer recess June 23. It also moves a Policy and Services Committee meeting by two weeks to avoid Eid and refers the timing and purpose of the State of the City address to that committee.

Primary sources

Watch the meeting on YouTube · Read the official meeting agenda