CITY COUNCIL WRAP-UP

Here are some items the council considered at its meeting Monday:

Fee waiver for remodeling older homes

The council voted 4-3 to have city staff write an ordinance temporarily waiving permit fees for people in older homes who wish to remodel or add to their homes, a proposal by Councilman Joe Carchio.

He argued that that such a waiver would give residents an incentive to beautify their homes and fight blight in their neighborhoods, as well as helping young families expand their homes; he pointed to similar programs in Anaheim and Costa Mesa as successes. Opponents Debbie Cook, Jill Hardy and Keith Bohr characterized it as a government giveaway to people who would be remodeling anyway, not something proven to encourage such work.

“This is the most fiscally irresponsible council I have ever seen in a city,” said a frustrated Cook a minute after the vote passed.

What it means

This was the second proposal by Carchio to study such a fee waiver; the first, not limited to older homes, failed to garner enough support in a council study session earlier this year. The new, more targeted proposal applies to homes built before 1987, and it sets limits on the size of additions covered.

On average, residents taking advantage of the program would save $1,000 in permit fees, according to city staff—though for some small jobs, the fees saved could be as little as $60.

The program would last three months in the winter, when the city’s permitting load is lightest. A rough estimate by city planning staff says it would cost the city $119,611 in lost permit fees.

Campaign finance limits

The City Council voted 5-2 to hold off on a vote to increase campaign contribution limits until after they hear from a committee to study a broader overhaul of finance and conflict of interest law.

Since members only voted to form that committee two weeks before, it has had no appointments or meetings yet.

What it means

At their previous meeting the council voted for Councilman Don Hansen’s proposed ordinance to raise contribution limits, splitting that element from other concerns with election law, which he said was the core of his original aim in bringing up the issue earlier this summer.

But some members changed their minds this week, saying later recommendations might affect the debate.

The vote will now happen after the committee reports to the council.

Council members who said they were interested in being on the committee were Hansen, Cook and Cathy Green.

— Michael Alexander