Palo Alto council approves FY2026 work plans for four advisory bodies, adds SB 79 and reliability tasks

The Palo Alto City Council voted unanimously on Feb. 2 to adopt FY2026 work plans for four advisory bodies — the Architectural Review Board (ARB), Historic Resources Board (HRB), Planning & Transportation Commission (PTC) and Utilities Advisory Commission (UAC) — with council amendments to incorporate SB 79 consideration, expand objective standards for townhomes and add a UAC task on reliability goals.

Jennifer Armour, assistant director of planning and development services, summarized the ARB, HRB and PTC plans, noting priorities such as converting SOFA guidelines into objective standards, area planning (including California Avenue), and streamlining coordination among boards. ARB had proposed clarifying its role and improving coordination with other commissions; councilmembers asked that PTC also be explicitly included in coordination efforts.

Alan Kuratori, director of utilities, presented the UAC work plan, emphasizing grid modernization, wildfire mitigation updates, fiber‑to‑the‑premises piloting, and an ongoing review of data center competitiveness and its implications for utility capacity and water use. Kuratori said the UAC reviews approximately $470 million in annual utility revenues and advised the council that utility work is closely tied to reliability, capacity and affordability planning.

Councilmember Burt moved approval of the work plans with amendments: add SB 79 as a work item for ARB and PTC; endorse ARB’s recommendation to expand objective standards to townhomes; and add to the UAC work plan a directive for staff and commission review to propose specific reliability goals for council consideration. The motion was seconded and carried unanimously.

Several council members stressed the need for clearer coordination between ARB and PTC to avoid duplicative or conflicting guidance to applicants, and encouraged more structured exchanges between commission chairs and council liaisons. On utilities, members sought quantitative reliability targets to support the city’s electrification objectives; staff said those conversations will be informed by the city’s Reliability and Resiliency Strategic Plan and return to council in a future briefing.

The council’s vote sends the amended work plans back to the commissions for implementation and signals council priorities for the year.