CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM
ACTION REQUESTED:
title
Waive the first reading and pass the ordinance amending Title 1 (Administrative) Chapter 12 (Disclosure of Beneficiaries) Section 5 (Exemptions) of the Naperville Municipal Code to exempt building permits for improvements valued at less than $100,000 (requires six positive votes)
body
DEPARTMENT: Transportation, Engineering and Development
SUBMITTED BY: Peter Zibble, Operations Manager
BOARD/COMMISSION REVIEW:
N/A
BACKGROUND:
Starting in the mid-1980's, the City began requiring all parties seeking a contract, license, permit, approval or other benefit from the City to disclose the ownership of the entity seeking that benefit. There are some specific exceptions to this requirement listed in the Municipal Code including a number of small permit types, licenses, and contracts. There are also smaller scale building permits that are not exempt from the requirement, but that may be submitted without being notarized.
The ownership disclosure requires the names and addresses of the individuals with interests in land trusts, corporations, partnerships, joint ventures and other entities including those within a pyramid ownership structure.
DISCUSSION:
Staff has evaluated this disclosure requirement for building permits and believes that the form is cumbersome for the owner, time-consuming for staff, and provides no value in the review and issuance of the permit. Ownership of a property is not a consideration when reviewing a submittal for compliance with current building codes. From the perspective of government transparency, these forms are rarely requested through the FOIA process, and with the expansion of the internet, property ownership information is widely available to the public.
Staff recommends that all permits with a valuation of less than $100,000 (except those seeking a variance to the building code) be exempt from submitting a Disclosure of Beneficiaries statement. Based on permits issued over t...
Click here for full text