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

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