Mountain View, CA Fire Regulations: Propane Storage (2026)

City Code Sec. 14.32.05 amends California Fire Code Subsection 6104.2 for Mountain View. Rather than setting a storage capacity ceiling, it bans LPG storage entirely wherever natural gas mains already exist, effectively citywide given Mountain View's built-out gas infrastructure. When natural gas mains are newly installed in an area, any property still running on LPG has 30 days from the installation date to convert to natural gas. If land is annexed into the city with no natural gas mains yet present, LPG use may continue until mains are installed, but once they exist within the annexed area, the same 30-day conversion clock runs from the date of annexation.

Two exceptions let LPG persist. Installations are allowed for filling portable containers for retail sale, so propane exchange cages and refill stations at hardware stores and gas stations are unaffected. Industrial operators may also keep LPG where natural gas would not provide a workable substitute for their process, aimed at specialized industrial or lab uses in Mountain View's North Bayshore and Whisman areas rather than residential barbecue tanks.

In practice, a homeowner cannot install a large fixed LPG tank to run a whole-house system once city gas service reaches their block, and any legacy LPG tank must be swapped for a natural gas hookup within a month of the gas main going in. Enforcement follows the same citywide Fire Code penalty at Sec. 113.4: a violation is a misdemeanor punishable under the City Charter, with continued noncompliance after notice treated as a new offense each day. The fire code official reviews conversion compliance and can require documentation that a property has switched to natural gas service.