On Thursday, Sacramento planning department staff will recommend against requiring a special land use permit for water and beverage bottling companies. However, city officials and staff will continue to consider creating tiered water rates that could take effect in 2012 or sooner. Staff from the city's Community Development Department will report to the City Council's Law & Legislation Committee, in response to requests made by council members Kevin McCarty and Lauren Hammond involving Nestlé Waters North America last October. Bottling plants are permitted in zones approved for light industrial, heavy commercial and heavy industrial businesses in Sacramento. A staff survey found that co

Several members of the Sacramento City Council said last week they were unaware of a city permitting program used for Nestlé’s controversial water bottling project, but the program was outlined to councilmembers in 2006.  Shawn Eldredge, a general contractor and candidate for the 3rd District City Council seat, pointed out that elected officials learned about the Facilities Permit Program during a council meeting on April 25, 2006. Eldredge, who has worked on two projects approved through the FPP program, said the program helps builders and contractors avoid lengthy delays. The Development Oversight Commission, made up of community members who have been appointed by the City Council, wro

Some members of the City Council said Wednesday they were unaware of the permitting program that played a key role in the recent controversy over the Nestlé company’s efforts to set up a water bottling plant in Sacramento. The city closed down its Facilities Permit Program Oct. 27 during the public debate over Nestlé’s plans. Nestlé’s project was greenlighted through the FPP. With the FPP, businesses that work with the city on an ongoing basis can receive quick approval for tenant improvements or remodeling of commercial and industrial buildings, said David Kwong, the city’s planning division director. In the case of Nestlé, the company and its contractors received verbal approval from

Mayor Kevin Johnson said Tuesday the outcome of the audit of the Community Development Department will be important to how he views the future of a permitting program that has drawn controversy in recent weeks. At the same time, Johnson said he thinks the Facilities Permit Program has been “very effective.” The FPP, which is part of the Community Development Department, was shuttered Oct. 27 in the midst of public debate over the Nestlé company’s move to establish a water bottling plant in Sacramento. Nestlé’s plant had been approved through the city’s FPP program. City officials investigated the Community Development Department’s approval of Nestlé’s construction work and temporarily sh

The Sacramento City Council soon may be asked to amend city code to legalize a longtime practice that helped bring about the suspension of the Facilities Permit Program. In the next few weeks, city staff want to ask the council to allow FPP construction projects to start before building permits are issued — as long as a business has a written start-work authorization from the building division, said David Kwong, the city's Planning Division director. Staff is working with the city attorney's office to learn if the practice and the building code amendment would be legal, Kwong said. "What I'd like to do is vet that form with the city attorney's office, make some tweaks and take that to t