CARLSBAD ELECTRIC-ONLY BUILDING PLAN IS ON HOLD
Move to ban gas use in new construction halted by ruling on similar effort
The Carlsbad City Council backed away this week from a proposal to prohibit natural gas plumbing in new buildings, citing concerns about a legal case that overturned a Berkeley ordinance banning new hookups.
“It definitely feels like this is a setback,” said Councilmember Teresa Acosta. “When we talked about this a year ago, it seemed like there was a wave of cities doing it. We know the community wants it. I hear it all the time.”
Acosta proposed the idea of electric-only construction at a City Council meeting in April 2022. The council agreed to have city staffers research and prepare an ordinance to be included in the 2023 update of the city’s Climate Action Plan.
But instead of going all-electric, the City Council agreed Tuesday to focus on creating a “reach code,” which is a local building energy code that goes beyond, or “reaches” above, state minimum requirements. In Carlsbad’s case it would increase requirements to reduce greenhouse gas production, primarily by encouraging the use of electrical appliances, photovoltaic cells and batteries.
The City Council voted unanimously to delay a decision until its July 11 meeting, when they can get a staff update on the Berkeley case and whether it is expected to be appealed.
A Carlsbad reach code would take up to a year for the city to prepare and an additional six months to obtain approval from the California Energy Commission.
Berkeley in 2019 was the first California city to ban new hookups for natural gas, and other cities soon followed.
So far, more than 50 cities and counties in California, including Encinitas and Solana Beach, have passed electrification ordinances, according to the San Diego Electrification Coalition. However, en
cording to the complaint. That’s how an undercover ATF agent began texting with Ferrari.
The first sale was set up in March after the undercover agent agreed to pay $2,250 for two un-serialized, privately made AR-15-style rifles, according to the complaint. During the meeting in San Diego, Ferrari allegedly told the agent he made the guns himself and could produce one per day, saying he typically charged $1,800 per rifle for buyers purchasing one at a time.
As they were chatting, the undercover agent mentioned a photo Ferrari had previously sent depicting what appeared to be shortbarreled rifles, according to the complaint.
“I can do real short,” Ferrari allegedly told the agent, who then placed an order for five such guns.
About two weeks later, Ferrari and the agent met up again, this time in El Cajon, where the undercover ATF investigator purchased five un-serialized, short-barreled rif les for $5,500, according to the complaint. Ferrari allegedly told the agent he made the firearms in East County and he could “keep them coming.”
In mid-April they met again in El Cajon, completing another deal of five short-barreled ghost rifles for $5,500, according to the complaint. The 10 guns sold in El Cajon each had a barrel length of 9.25 or 9.5 inches, according to ATF agents.
Federal firearms laws dictate that rifles must have barrels at least 16 inches long.
Agents arrested Ferrari on Wednesday and he appeared in court the same day. Court records indicate a prosecutor asked a judge to detain him as a flight risk, but the judge denied the request and Ferrari was later released on $40,000 bond.