Mountain View’s Sustainability Committee on Nov. 6 reviewed a draft Climate Vulnerability Assessment (CVA) and voted to direct staff to develop an integrated climate strategy that combines resiliency planning with the city’s decarbonization work.

The committee heard a presentation from Cascadia consultant Celine Fujikawa, who said the CVA was designed “to identify where the climate risks are most significant within the city,” provide a foundation for tailored strategies and support cross‑sector planning. Fujikawa called out four primary hazards for Mountain View — extreme heat, warm nights, intensified rainfall and wildfire smoke — and said projections show the city could face about "23 extreme heat days as well as 78 warm nights per year by late century" compared with the historic baseline.

The assessment maps neighborhoods with overlapping vulnerabilities: South Mountain View, Shoreline West and Sylvan Park showed consistently higher land‑surface temperatures, the consultant said, and many of those areas contain older multifamily buildings, schools or mobile home parks.

Health officials’ county data cited by the consultant estimated hundreds of heat‑related hospitalizations and more than 1,800 emergency‑room visits since 2020, a figure she warned is likely an undercount because heat often is not recorded as the primary cause on medical records.

Panelists also highlighted critical‑facility exposure: Mountain View Hospital, several fire stations and schools sit in high‑heat or flood‑prone zones. The presentation noted that North Bayshore contains high‑value commercial and data‑center assets, which the consultant estimated at more than $670 million in structural assets within mapped floodplains.

Staff recommended the committee direct them to prepare a contract amendment so the city can pursue an integrated climate strategy that aligns decarbonization and resiliency priorities. The proposed amendment would increase the consultant contract from about $223,000 to approximately $370,000 to cover additional work on integration, contingency and expanded vulnerability analysis.

Committee members pressed for practical next steps and clearer short‑term targets. Several asked that the city prioritize a five‑year “road map” of implementable actions, request extensive ground‑truthing of identified heat and flood hot spots, and provide quantified expectations for how much local decarbonization the planned near‑term measures could achieve.

Public commenters urged rapid, low‑cost fixes such as removing artificial turf in parks (linked to urban heat islands), expanding tree canopy, and considering time‑of‑sale or direct‑access electricity policies; staff said many of those ideas can be incorporated into the next planning phase.

Motion and next steps
The committee voted to direct staff to return to Council with a contract amendment to develop an integrated climate strategy and a five‑year climate road map, with the committee’s requested additions: extensive ground truthing of heat maps, mapping and prioritization of localized flood hotspots, close alignment with existing city programs (parks, urban forestry, housing) and a quantified projection of potential decarbonization outcomes tied to near‑term actions.

The committee approved the motion with Chair Hicks, Member Showalter and Member Clark voting yes. Staff said they will return with more detailed deliverables, a refined scope and a timeline for Council consideration.