Councilman Derting Wins Approval For Deck Enclosure

The Suisun City Council decided not to reverse a planning commission decision to allow Councilman Sam Derting to build an enclosure on his second story deck in the 1000 block of Park Lane, where houses overlook the waterfront.

The council ruled in a 3-1 vote that Derting followed all the applicable rules, with Derting excused and Councilman Mike Hudson opposed for what he said were aesthetic reasons.

Derting won approval from the planning commission on Dec. 14 with no one speaking in opposition.

Hudson and Councilwoman Jane Day wrote a terse letter to the city’s community development director on Dec. 21, requesting a review of the planning commission decision.

The move touched off a political controversy, with Derting calling it a political move punishing him for not supporting some of Day and Hudson’s votes and also for not publicly supporting them during the last council election.

“I have every intention of taking every legal means necessary to protect my private property rights,” Derting said in a December interview. “I’m going to pursue it. I’m going to exercise my rights afforded to me by the constitution.”

Day said at the time that the review was needed because Derting’s house is on the waterfront.

“An that’s a very pristine area,” she has said.

Hudson said Tuesday that the house was one of the prettiest on the waterfront, and he had worried about the addition of the enclosure because he hadn’t received architectural drawings.

“Originally our packets didn’t have any renderings,” he said.

Day said Tuesday she supported the enclosure because Derting followed all the rules, but convinced the council to bring back certain zoning regulations for review.

Suisun City resident Laura Calderon called on the council to set aside their differences.

“You guys need to work together as a team to run the city,” she said, adding that she felt the review was a personal attack against Derting and a waste of taxpayer money.

“Just the staff time alone that took to put together this (council) packet was 1 cent too many,” she said.

George Guynn, who filed a request with the city to find out what the costs to the taxpayers were for the item, said he didn’t buy the answer he got back form city staff.

“I find it hard to believe there isn’t an actual cost,” adding that with a legal notice required in the Daily Republic, staff time and potential legal costs, there should have been a much higher figure than simply the cost to place the notice and send out information to neighboring properties.

Correction: This article has been changed to correct and clarify the information George Guynn said he received from city staff. See his comment below for full details.