Active Districts

Districts 19-12 and 19-14 District 19-4

Districts Attempting to Form

District 8 District 13

Program Overview

Utility undergrounding is the process of placing all overhead utilities (power, telephone, and cable TV wires) and facilities, such as electrical transformers, underground. The City does not currently own, operate or maintain any overhead electrical or communications utilities, but rather they belong to: 

Current District Formation Guidelines

Steps for Forming a District (PDF) provides detailed information on the procedures that must be undertaken to form a district and identifies the required thresholds for various phases within that process. In summary, the steps address the following phases:

1. The district boundary formation process
2. The petition drive process, signature threshold requirement and the City’s verification process
3. Design and bidding phases
4. Assessment and voting phases
5. Construction and cabling phases
6. Pole removal and project completion phases

Utility Undergrounding in the City of Manhattan Beach

The Fact Booklet (PDF) contains a map of completed and active districts, a summary of assessments levied against the properties in those districts, and other useful information relating to the formation and financing of a UUAD. 

Community Interest Survey

In the March 19, 2024 City Council Meeting, City Council:

1. Received and Filed Results of the 2O23 UUAD Survey;
2. Directed Staff to Focus New District Formation Efforts in Areas Exhibiting the Greatest Amount of Property Owner Support; and
3. Allowed Subsets of Potential Districts to Move Forward if the Surrounding Blocks are Not Supportive of Undergrounding.

 CLICK MAP TO ENLARGE

In July 2022, Public Works received City Council approval to survey property owners biennially to assess interest in the Underground Utility Assessment District (UUAD) Program. In August 2023, staff released the first survey via a mailer to evaluate neighborhood support and opposition to utility undergrounding, given a range of estimated per-parcel costs for future districts. The collected information will aid in establishing the boundaries and prioritization of future undergrounding districts within the City. The survey was distributed to property owners in areas of the City where residents have previously expressed interest in utility undergrounding, as indicated in the figure below. 

A copy of the August 2023 survey form can be found here (PDF). Survey responses were collected online, submitted via e-mail, or dropped off at City Hall. The data collected from the community survey is currently being analyzed, and information will be shared on the UUAD webpage after the results are presented to City Council in March 2024.

City Project Manager:

Jeff Fijalka, P.E.
Phone: (310) 802-5358
Email: jfijalka@manhattanbeach.gov