Los Banos City Council eases water restrictions

Los Banos residents can now water their lawns two days a week after the City Council passed a resolution Wednesday to help their greenscapes survive the drought.

Odd-numbered addresses are able to water their lawns and landscapes on Saturday and Tuesday. Even-numbered addresses can water on Sunday and Wednesday.

However, other restrictions, such as no watering between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. and no watering 48 hours after a measurable rainfall, remain.

“We’re all excited to hear this one,” Mayor Mike Villalta said.

The scheduling change was brought up for many reasons, Public Works Director Mark Fachin said.

There is little precipitation in the forecast for the next several months with rising temperatures, Fachin said.

“We would just be making a worse situation for people trying to catch up” with the lack of rain, Fachin said.

The city had additional water savings due to the one-day-a-week watering in March to the tune of 36 percent, higher than the 28 percent mandate set forth by the state for Los Banos.

The mandate, set by Gov. Jerry Brown on April 1 last year, was reduced to 25 percent due to climate concerns. It set a goal of 25 percent statewide water reduction in potable water usage through Feb. 28, 2016.

The city’s mandated level was 28 percent. The city’s savings during that time was 22 percent. The state extended the 25 percent mark an additional year for 2016.

The city used to allow watering three days per week. On Aug. 6, 2014, the City Council passed an ordinance to reduce that to two days per week. On Jan. 6 this year, the City Council reduced that to one day a week.

“The one day a week did help a lot,” Fachin said.

Fachin said he expects a lot of calls from residents about the change, but they will be notified through several means of communication.

The City Council also waived a second read and passed a temporary-use ordinance after a public hearing Wednesday.

The ordinance regulates short-term land use on private properties, including temporary parking, seasonal sales, temporary moving and storage containers, and major events on properties not designed to accommodate those events.

The permit cost for minor uses is $60.

Minor uses include parking lot sales, seasonal sales lots, outdoor sales of flowers, produce and holiday merchandise, temporary parking, temporary portable moving containers and household storage containers, temporary commercial storage containers in nonresidential zones, temporary construction waste containers, off-site construction yards and other similar uses.

Major events on private property would cost about $150. The costs are based on staff time estimates for the senior planner, police chief, fire chief and public works director.

Temporary portable moving containers and commercial storage containers that stay on a property for more than 14 days, and off-site construction yards, also would require a permit.

Submitted temporary-use permit applications will be responded to in 10 calendar days with approval or denial. The applicant can appeal the decision to the city Planning Commission.

Temporary uses that are exempt from the ordinance include charitable or nonprofit fundraising events, construction yards and offices, emergency shelters, garage and yard sales limited to four per 12-month period, fireworks stands, mobile vendors, certified farmers markets, special events and temporary real estate sales offices.

This story was originally published April 7, 2016 at 4:16 PM with the headline "Los Banos City Council eases water restrictions."