SANTA PAULA : Building Process Reforms Suggested

Concerned about City Hall bureaucracy, a Santa Paula citizens committee has submitted a report to the City Council recommending ways to streamline the planning process and make it more accessible.

The eight-member committee was formed in the wake of criticism by some residents over allegedly heavy-handed code enforcement in the city and excessive regulation of the business community.

In the report, the committee suggests that the city open its Building Department one evening a week or one Saturday a month.

The report also recommends that the city waive the $22.50 fee on the replacement of water heaters, allow contractors to pay an outside consultant to check construction plans and develop a customer survey form.

Another recommendation is that the city, which now has a backlog of more than 400 home-building permits available, ease restrictions on obtaining those permits whenever more than 100 permits are available.

City Planning Director Joan Kus said the city has already adopted some of the reforms, including allowing the use of city-approved consultants to check building plans. Kus, who represented the city on the committee, said other reforms recommended by the committee could help reduce the amount of red tape that residents encounter at City Hall.

“City staff is looking at this as an opportunity to improve how things work in City Hall,� Kus said before the council accepted the report.