Laserfiche WebLink
CITY OF PLEASANTON URBAN FOREST MASTER PLAN | 151 <br />ANALYSIS OF CURRENT PLANS POLICIES AND ORDINANCES <br />irrigation, the City should consider installing drip irrigation <br />or instituting a summer deep watering program for new <br />and young trees. In addition, the City should also increase <br />efforts for planting more trees on private property, to make <br />up for any potential future tree deaths resulting from the lost <br />sprinkler irrigation. <br />Solar Shade Control Act <br />The Solar Shade Control Act (Sections 25980 – 25986 of <br />the Public Resources Code) was originally passed by the <br />California state legislature in 1978 to give solar collectors <br />access to sunlight, and limit shading from trees and shrubs. <br />Under this Act, “a tree or shrub cannot cast a shadow <br />greater than 10 percent of a solar collector absorption area <br />upon that solar collector surface at any one time between <br />the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. local standard time if the <br />tree or shrub is placed after installation of a solar collector.” <br />The Act was amended in 2009 to allow for trees that may <br />be partially or fully shading solar collectors to remain if were <br />planted before the solar collector was installed. <br />Under Section 25984, this Act also does not apply to the <br />replacement of a tree or shrub that had been growing <br />prior to the installation of the solar structure, or a tree or <br />shrub that is subject to a city or county ordinance, such <br />as Pleasanton’s Heritage Tree Preservation Ordinance. <br />Therefore, a resident that wants to remove a tree that is <br />covered under the current Heritage Tree Ordinance to install <br />solar collectors, would not be exempt from getting a tree <br />removal permit. <br />California Green Building Standards Code, Title 24, Part 11 (CALGreen) <br />Under Chapter 5 of the California Green Building Standards <br />Code which specifies requirements for Nonresidential <br />Mandatory Measures, section 5.106.12 (Shade Trees) requires <br />that certain areas be covered with tree shade within 15 <br />years of the project. Surface parking areas must have trees <br />installed that provide shade over 50 percent of the parking <br />area, while landscape areas and hardscape areas must be <br />planted with trees that provide shade for at least 20 percent <br />of those respective areas within 15 years. Both surface <br />parking areas and hardscape areas can have solar collector <br />shade structures or other roofed shade structures as an <br />alternative to shade trees