Galt City Council reinstated the hotel tax at its Sept. 20 meeting and ended the city’s state of emergency, bringing a close to two pandemic policies. It also approved new housing design standards for staff to communicate with developers.
End of TOT deferral, emergency
With a 4-0 vote by Council, the local state of emergency and the deferral of the transient occupancy tax (TOT) for hotels will end on Oct. 1.
City Manager Lorenzo Hines said hotels in Galt had deferred an estimated $280,000 in TOT as of June this year. They will have until March 31, 2023, to pay back the tax. When the deferral ends this October, they will have to resume normal TOT payments.
The city instituted the two policies during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Deferring the TOT was a way of helping hotels survive the sudden drop-off in travel. The staff report on the item said travel restrictions have since been lifted and travel has resumed.
Vice Mayor Paul Sandhu recused himself from the item due to owning the Best Western Galt Inn.
Repealing the local state of emergency will also end changes to outdoor dining that the city had allowed to help with social distancing. According to Hines, “the program was seldom utilized and only much earlier in the pandemic, and since then, the program has not been used at all.”
Hines said California’s state of emergency remains in place, so the city can reinstate its local version if necessary.
Housing standards approved
Council unanimously signed off on a set of housing design standards after raising questions about how strictly they are going to be applied.
City staff created the document to meet a state requirement for the housing element of the city’s general plan, but Community Development Director Craig Hoffman said it would also allow staff to communicate the city’s expectations with developers.
The standards lay out preferences for subdivisions, infill development, single-family houses and multifamily housing. Many of the points are intended to encourage continuity with surrounding buildings. After three meetings reviewing the standards, the Planning Commission voted in June to send them to Council.
“I’m asking you to approve this. It gives staff the tools we need to move the city forward,” Hoffman said.
Mayor Shawn Farmer asked to have the name of the document changed from “Residential Design Guidelines,” feeling that “guidelines” did not match the amount of flexibility city planners should have. He said the term would discourage certain features or development types that he said residents want.
He cited a part of the document that reads, “The use of cul-de-sac streets should be avoided wherever possible.”
Hoffman acknowledged the popularity of cul-de-sacs but said too many of them would impede traffic circulation. He did not oppose changing the name, saying it wouldn’t affect how he implements the document.
With input from the interim city attorney, Farmer requested that the name be “Recommended Residential Design Standards,” a change approved in the final vote.
Council Member Jay Vandenburg noted that other cities have similar policies in place. He asked whether Galt would have a design review board to implement the standards; Hoffman replied that the Planning Commission would fill that role.
Council Member Rich Lozano said he liked that the document “really sheds light on” non-automobile traffic and said staff would have a tool to “back up what we want” in developments. Farmer commended a recommendation to incorporate mature trees into new developments.