Fee waivers deemed success

The second run of a program to encourage home remodeling in Costa Mesa didn’t spark quite as many projects as in 2005, but still kicked off more than $12 million in residential improvements, city officials said this week.

The three-and-a-half-month program, which ended Dec. 15, was slightly shorter than last year’s four-month trial. During both programs, the city waived building permit fees on home improvement projects such as re-roofing, additions and alterations.

In the 2006 program the city issued 433 building permits, while in 2005 there were 667 permits issued for $15 million in improvements, according to city reports.

“The numbers were less, but it wasn’t that much less,” Costa Mesa building official Khanh Nguyen said. “It’s tough to compare since it’s not for the same period.”

In the 2006 program, the city waived $290,000 in building permit fees. Total costs of the program are not yet available, but the preliminary estimate including overtime for city building department employees, the waived fees and other costs was $348,000.

Averaged out, the 2005 and 2006 programs each cost the city about $100,000 a month and led to commitments for about $3.5 million in home improvements each month, Nguyen said.

Homeowners who began remodeling projects saved an average of $750 each in plan check and permit fees, a report from Nguyen said.

“I think it was a positive result,” said City Councilman Eric Bever, who first proposed the program in 2005. “Based on the popularity of the program, if staff’s willing to put up with another quarter of this … I would certainly support it” again.

In a January report, a year-to-year comparison showed a sharp increase from the 291 building permits issued from September through December 2004 to the 667 permits during the same period in 2005.

The first year, Nguyen said, city building officials put posters up in local home improvement stores, created a Web page and advertised in local papers.

“This year we didn’t have to do so much,” he said. “People knew all about it before we started the program.”

Bever said he’s working on a new program that will have a bigger effect on homeowners, but he declined to give details. He expected to present it to the council in February.