Conduct a public hearing  to consider taking the following actions concerning the County Buildings and Construction Ordinance (Title 15).

1. Find the adoption and implementation of this ordinance to be exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3), common-sense exemption, which applies to projects where the activity will not result in a significant effect on the environment.
2. Introduce and waive the reading of an ordinance establishing Trinity County Code Section 15.26 regarding Electric Vehicle Charging Station Permit Expediting.

All cities and counties in California are required by law (AB 1236 (2015, Chiu) and AB 970 (2021, McCarty)) to streamline permitting processes for electric vehicle charging stations by limiting project review to health and safety requirements in an expedited timeframe. The ordinance and checklist are required by AB 1236, and are two of the seven key criteria jurisdictions must meet to be considered streamlined and in compliance with the law. The documents should be written in a way that increases transparency and understanding on both sides of the counter.

In order to meet this requirement, county staff coordinated with Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC) and the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) to draft an ordinance and check-list to be adopted and used in Trinity County.

This item originally went to the County Board of Supervisors on December 6, 2022, was continued to December 20, 2022, was continued to December 29, 2022, and then was directed to the County Planning Commission for review of allowable zoning districts for electric vehicle charging stations. There is an amendment of the second to last preamble of the ordinance for clarity and administrative fixes to the draft ordinance which went to the Planning Commission which are shown in track changes. 

The draft ordinance went before the Planning Commission on January 26, 2023. The Planning Commission unanimously recommended the Board of Supervisors:

1. Find all zoning districts to be eligible for EVCS,
2. Consider ways to encourage EVCS, such as not increasing taxes on parcels for EVCS improvements, and
3. Adopt the current checklist and ordinance as is.

The item returned to the Board of Supervisors on February 22, 2023 where the Board voted to amend the draft ordinance to add an additional line to draft Section 15.XX.40 - Permit Application Processing which states: 

"D. Commercial EVCS applications will be streamlined in commercial zoning districts (C-1, C-2, C-3, HC, I), all others must obtain a Planning Commission issued use permit."

The added section is bolded and underlined within the attached draft ordinance.

Conduct a public hearing  to consider taking the following actions concerning the County Buildings and Construction Ordinance (Title 15).

1. Find the adoption and implementation of this ordinance to be exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3), common-sense exemption, which applies to projects where the activity will not result in a significant effect on the environment.
2. Introduce and waive the reading of an ordinance establishing Trinity County Code Section 15.26 regarding Electric Vehicle Charging Station Permit Expediting.