Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "facilities permit program"

Bottling water: City report Thursday

2010-08-03T00:39:36Z

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 conditional use permits, which are subject to approval from planning commissions and city councils, aren't required by 28 other California cities with at least one bottling operation. Nestlé operates in only one other city on the list.

"Planning staff finds that a beverage bottling facility is not unique in its water consumption when compared to other commercial and industrial uses and the land use impacts of the use in an industrial zone do not warrant the need for a special permit," staff wrote in a report to the committee.

Officials with the city's Department of Utilities have indicated they'd like to collect water-use data and hire a water rate consultant to help develop a tiered water rate fee structure.

Such data could be available by 2012 as 45,000 residential water customers — about 36 percent of residential clients — transition to metered water rates, according to the report.

McCarty said he will press to implement a tiered structure before 2012 when he soon meets with the city manager's office and utilities department.

"The real issue is what do we charge for our water?" McCarty said Monday. "Water is an increasingly valuable and diminishing commodity, and we ought to be making smart decisions on what we do with our municipal water."

The City Council was not involved in the decision to approve Nestlé opening a plant in McCarty's district in South Sacramento.

The council discussed the plant for the first time Oct. 27 after McCarty and Hammond proposed an emergency ordinance to consider amending the city's zoning code to immediately require a special permit and thus, environmental review, for bottling companies to operate in the city. McCarty also recommended the council consider tiered water rates for such companies.

City Attorney Eileen Teichert told the council that night Nestlé's plant was legal under the city's zoning codes and that a special permit requirement wouldn't apply. At the same time, the Community Development Department's Facilities Permit Program was suspended after the council and city officials learned work had started on the Nestlé plant without a formal building permit or a start-work authorization.

Save Our Water Sacramento, a group formed to oppose the plant, had sought a temporary City Council moratorium on beverage bottling plants in Sacramento at that time.

Hammond, who is on the committee, could not be reached for comment Monday.

The City Council's Law & Legislation Committee meeting will be held at 3 p.m. Thursday at City Hall, 915 I St.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

City Council informed of permit program in 2006

2009-11-17T06:21:16Z

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, wrote a report for the 2006 meeting. It includes a section on the Facilities Permit Program, noting that it is a project of the Development Services Department, now known as the Community Development Department.

“The DSD has taken the novel approach of assigning a plan review and inspection team to a particular development or building,” the report said. “The team will review and inspect all projects within the development, in some cases even performing the plan reviews at the job site. This is much more efficient and economical than the traditional approach of assigning the project to the next review team in line without regard to their familiarity or experience with the particular building.”

Eldredge said that builders who use the program are required to follow code requirements and pay fees. The inspectors who review the plans visit the construction sites, he said. “When [the inspectors] come to see you, they know the building,” Eldredge said. That knowledge improves and speeds the permitting process, he added.

“For politicians to be attacking the program means they don’t understand what works in this city.”

David Kwong, the city’s planning division director, said recently that the FPP is intended to speed approval for tenant improvements or renovation of commercial and industrial buildings involving businesses that often work with the city.

The informal approval process used in the Nestlé project has drawn attention to the FPP.

In the case of Nestlé, the company and its contractors received verbal approval from the city to start construction. But the company and its contractors did not have a city building permit or “start-work authorization.”

Nestlé has said it followed city laws.

The city attorney’s office declared recently that it is illegal for the city to approve the start of construction for projects that do not have building permits, Kwong said.

Councilmembers, meanwhile, responded Monday to a question about why they claimed no knowledge of the FPP when they were told about the program in 2006.

Councilwoman Lauren Hammond said the 2006 report did not address the current controversial practice of allowing construction to start without a building permit. “I still don’t remember anyone describing to the mayor and council an approval process for building before actual permits are granted,” she wrote in an e-mail.

Councilman Kevin McCarty said that whether or not the Development Oversight Commission discussed the program, the city needs to address the FPP's legality. “In the meantime, it still appears that the council and city never legally authorized the FPP,” he said.

Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy said she didn’t remember hearing about the FPP in 2006, noting that councilmembers receive extensive amounts of information. Regardless of when it was discussed, it should have been presented to the City Council as an ordinance “because it was a major change and it was policy,” she said.

Councilman Steve Cohn said it wouldn’t surprise him if there had been a briefing on FPP “years ago” and that now councilmembers don't remember the program’s name. Cohn said last week that he didn’t know specifically about FPP, but that he did know the city had been working to streamline the permitting process. He said the City Council has received “quite a few” briefings over the last few years on changes that would streamline permitting.

Councilmembers Bonnie Pannell and Rob Fong also said last week that they had not been informed about the program. They were not immediately available Monday afternoon.

Staff reporter Suzanne Hurt contributed to this story. Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Cohn, Hammond, Fong say they didn't know about permit program

2009-11-12T04:53:10Z

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 the city to start construction work. But the company and its contractors did not have a city building permit or “start-work authorization.”

Nestlé has said it followed city laws.

The city attorney’s office recently declared that it is illegal for the city to approve the start of construction for projects that do not have building permits, Kwong said.

Now, Kwong plans to ask the City Council to weigh in on the FPP program. Kwong said city staff will ask the council to let businesses begin work on their FPP construction projects before they receive building permits. However, businesses would need to obtain a written start-work order from the city before they begin work, he said.

He expects to bring the issue to the council in a few weeks.

When city staffers approach the City Council, they will be addressing at least three members who told The Sacramento Press they did not know about the FPP before the Nestlé controversy.

“I definitely am looking forward to this coming back to council,” Councilman Rob Fong said Wednesday. “We’ve not been briefed on this. We didn’t know there was such a program.”

Councilwoman Lauren Hammond had a similar comment. “I knew nothing about it,” she said.

Councilman Steve Cohn said that while he didn’t know about the FPP specifically, he knew the city was taking actions to streamline the building permit process.

While Hammond said she “wasn’t happy” that she was not informed about the FPP, she said she does not believe the mayor and City Council need to know about “every single thing” the city does. She suggested that it would be impossible for the city’s elected officials to know about every item in the municipal government, asking: “How could we possibly [know everything the city government does]?”

She noted that the city has monetary thresholds. If a program exceeds $100,000, it needs to come before the City Council, she said.

Mayor Kevin Johnson said earlier this week that the results of the audit of the Community Development Department will be key to his views of the FPP. Johnson, who said the FPP program has been effective, has talked about resuming it, with possible changes.

Photo by Anthony Bento.

Sacramento Press staff reporter Suzanne Hurt contributed to this story. Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Mayor: Facilities permit program "effective"

2009-11-11T03:54:39Z

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 shut down the FPP program. At issue was the approval that Nestlé and contractors received from a city building inspector to start construction work. While the company and its contractors had verbal approval from the city, they did not have a building permit or a “start-work authorization.”

Nestlé said that it has complied with city laws.

The city attorney’s office recently decided that it is illegal for the city to greenlight construction for a project that does not have a building permit, said David Kwong, the city’s planning division director.

Johnson told reporters at his weekly press conference Tuesday that the third-party audit underway on the Community Development Department will affect how he thinks about the FPP. “For me, I want to know what went wrong the first time,” he said. “We need to conclude that investigation.”

The third-party audit is in response to the city's approval of permits to build in the Natomas flood zone. The Federal Emergency Management Agency had prohibited the city from building in the flood zone.

Johnson talked of resuming the program, with possible changes. “I think people feel, by and large, it has been one of the best things that our city has done,” he said. “So, this would be an example that you can’t throw out the baby with the bath water.”

Through the FPP, businesses that work with the city can receive quick approval for tenant improvements or remodeling of commercial and industrial buildings, Kwong said.

Photo by Anthony Bento.

Sacramento Press staff reporter Suzanne Hurt contributed to this story. Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

City staff seek building code changes

2009-11-10T05:27:54Z

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 the council," said Kwong, who is also serving as head of the Community Development Department, which oversees the planning and building permits divisions.

The department's director, Bill Thomas, and department supervisor Dan Waters, son of Councilman Robbie Waters, are on paid leave while the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the city and an outside law firm hired by the city look into the department and home building permits approved for the Natomas flood zone despite a ban.

The FPP is intended to speed approval for tenant improvements or renovation of commercial and industrial buildings involving businesses that already have established relationships with the city, Kwong said. If the change were approved, the FPP could resume within about two months, he added.

The city suspended the FPP on Oct. 27 after questions about the program arose in relation to the Nestlé Waters North America water-bottling plant. A stop-work order had been posted on the plant's door Oct. 23 while Councilman Kevin McCarty and other city officials inquired into plant construction.

That's when city officials learned that Nestlé and contractors had begun the first phase of construction work without a formal building permit or start-work authorization. A building inspector who coordinates the FPP had given verbal approval only.

A Nestlé official said at the time that the company had complied with the city's building laws.

The city attorney's office, led by Eileen Teichert, determined the practice was not legal, and that allowing construction to start without a building permit violates city and state codes, Kwong said.

Teichert was out of town and not available to comment.

The use of start-work authorizations rather than building permits for some commercial construction predates the FPP in Sacramento.

"We found there was a common practice dating back to 1992 or 1995," Kwong said. "It seemed like an acceptable practice for 14 years, and they went forward with that."

The practice is used in other cities and was incorporated into the FPP when that program was brought to Sacramento from Portland about four years ago, said Kwong. "It's not something we invented," he said.

As planning division director for four and a half years, Kwong was not involved in building services until three weeks ago.

Sacramento City Manager Ray Kerridge, hired in 2004 as an assistant city manager in charge of development, brought Thomas with him from Portland after developers criticized Sacramento's development application and building permit processes as laborious and confusing.

The two have developed programs to speed the application process and encourage development in Sacramento.

Kerridge began his career in Portland as a building inspector in 1979. After becoming manager of commercial inspections, he developed Portland's Facilities Permit Program and the Commercial Combination Inspection Program.

Portland's FPP was designed to match one building inspection team with a building or group of buildings. That team would do all plan review, permitting and inspections of interior tenant improvements to speed improvements or renovations. Phoenix was the only other city in the country known to have a similar program when Portland's began in 1998.

In Sacramento, an inspection team may be replaced by one building inspector certified in several areas, Kwong said.

According to the city of Sacramento's website, "The FPP facilitates a rapid approval process for tenant alterations and improvements of commercial and industrial facilities, (including) minor tenant improvements, including maintenance, repair and minor alterations; and major interior tenant improvements and remodels. This includes tenant improvements to new and existing structures.

"The FPP is available to owners of commercial and industrial buildings, building management companies, and/or their tenants. The program best serves customers who have on-going interior tenant improvements and where facility maintenance, upgrade and renovation is frequent. A good example is a large shopping center with multiple tenants."

As a newcomer to Sacramento, Nestlé would not fit the program. However, Buzz Oates Real Estate Co., which is leasing the warehouse to Nestlé, or Panattoni Construction, which is overseeing the work, would fit the program as established customers, Kwong said.

Nestlé is the building permit applicant. Panattoni received a start-work authorization for the plant renovation's second phase on Oct. 7.

This is the first time the City Council has been asked to weigh in on the FPP.

State building codes must be reviewed to see if FPP practices would be in violation, or to align new city code with the state. City staff also will look for precedents in other cities and counties that use the start-work authorization form, Kwong said.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.