Water rule is rebuked

GLENDALE — A draft law that would require all residential and commercial properties be retrofitted with low-flow plumbing fixtures before being resold has come up against the collective protest of local Realtors, who argue the market is bad enough without imposing additional constraints.

The proposal is part of a package of revised regulations heading to the City Council next week that would impose a host of penalties on customers who don’t cut their water use this summer.

Glendale Water & Power has been preparing the ordinance in advance of the announcement from Metropolitan Water District of Southern California last week that wholesale water deliveries would be cut 10%, forcing member cities to reduce their own consumption or face expensive penalties.

Utility officials unveiled the ordinance at a special Glendale Water & Power Commission meeting Monday, where several representatives from the influential Glendale Assn. of Realtors railed against the resale provision, calling it unfair and too burdensome.

Laura Olhasso, government affairs director for the association, told the commission that requiring resold homes and other properties to be install low-flow shower heads, toilets and other appliances would have a minimal impact on the utility’s goal of cutting citywide water use by 10% given the depressed housing market.

Just 29 single-family homes were sold citywide in February, according to the realty-tracking service DataQuick.

To target a soft industry would be not only ineffective, she argued, but unfair.

She instead challenged the utility to take a “bold move” and push for a law requiring all properties in Glendale be retrofitted with water-saving appliances and fixtures within five years.

“If that’s our goal, to save water, then let’s do that and we’ll be there to help you,” Olhasso said.

She stressed that the association was not against water conservation, but wanted the effort to be equitably distributed.

But utility officials pointed to an existing law requiring all buildings in the city run on water-saving fixtures by 2019 anyway — essentially the same “bold move” advocated by the association, just extended another five years.

On Wednesday, Armen Avedian, outgoing president of the association, said it was still unfair to impose the resale law in the interim.