State legislation draws reactions from Yorba Linda's City Council and water district leaders

 

Yorba Linda's city and water district leaders have taken strong stands on recently introduced state and federal legislative bills on topics that range from housing matters to sanitary wipes.

Mayor Peggy Huang told her City Council colleagues at an August meeting that should either of two housing bills now before the state legislature pass, there would be no need for cities to exist because there would be no local control.

One bill, introduced in the Assembly by David Chiu (D-San Francisco), would require cities with “low progress” in meeting state-mandated housing goals to take specified actions out-lined by the Housing and Community Development Department and be subject to fines.

Tony Cardenas, regional public affairs manager of the Orange County Division of the League of California Cities, told council members that the 123-year-old lobbying group feared AB215 the most of all the currently circulating housing bills due to the loss of local control.

The bill would mandate “open-ended consultation” between the state housing agency and local governments, where housing production is low for specified income levels, according to Cardenas.

A second bill, SB478, introduced in the Senate by Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), restricts cities from enforcing certain requirements regarding housing on minimum lot sizes and from imposing some floor-to-area ratio standards, Cardenas said.

Opposition to both bills was approved with Huang and members Tara Campbell and Beth Haney “yes,” Gene Hernandez “no” and Carlos Rodriguez abstaining. The latter two said the city should let the league track such bills and voice the city's opposition when needed.

The mayor was authorized to sign a letter stating the city's opposition to the legislation.

Yorba Linda Water District directors, who oversee sewer service in Yorba Linda, small portions of eastern Placentia and a tiny nick of southeastern Brea, quickly endorsed a proposed federal bill dealing with the labeling of sanitary wipes.

The bill, entitled the Wastewater Infrastructure Pollution Prevention and Environmental Safety (or WIPPES) Act, was introduced in the House of Representatives on July 21 and swiftly was endorsed by district directors at an Aug. 10 meeting.

The legislation would establish a “do not flush” labeling requirement for non-flushable wet wipe product packaging. A similar bill was recently introduced in the California legislature.

“This legislation would take a critical step toward stopping the flushing of wet wipes at the source and decrease the strains that the flushing of these products has upon property owners, infrastructure, wastewater treatment plants, ratepayers and the surrounding environment,” General Manager Brett Barbre reported to the water board directors.

Supporting the bill were directors J. Wayne Miller, Brooke Jones, Trudi Kew DesRoches and Tom Lindsey. Board president Phil Hawkins was absent from the meeting.