Photo courtesy of the City of Dixon

DIXON, CA (MPG) - During public comments at the Dec. 2 Dixon City Council meeting, two Cotati residents shared concerns about how Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accommodations are granted for the public during council meetings in Dixon. 

During council comments, Councilmember Jim Ernest said he heard from a well-known Dixon resident who does not support the recently approved change to City Hall hours, which will soon be closed every other Friday. But Ernest said he defends the new plan because it supports the staff who provide essential services to the public. 

The council then considered an ordinance to adopt the 2025 California Building Standards Code, which is required every three years to ensure local code aligns with state law. 

Chief Building Official Larry Paisley presented the updates, which he said included “possibly up to thousands” of small changes to various residential and non-residential building code requirements. 

There were also updates to the Dixon Emergency Hazard and Placard System, which is the system used to evaluate earthquake damage. A new chapter was added on Wildland-Urban Interface Code, and the fire code was streamlined to remove duplicative language. The layout of the book was also updated to improve readability.

Vice Mayor Thom Bogue asked for clarification about an assertion that recent state legislation has restricted local jurisdictions from adding their own specific residential code requirements:

“So we are strictly limited to what the state says we can do now,” Bogue said.

Paisley confirmed this is correct for the next six years due to AB 130, which was implemented to support the rebuilding effort in Southern California as it recovers from recent wildfire damage.

Bogue asked, “We have to just adopt the base code as it is and are not allowed to create anything more restrictive?” 

Staff clarified that any local code amendments adopted in the past are still in effect, and no local amendments are being considered at this time.

The council voted unanimously to approve the updates. 

The next meeting of the Dixon City Council is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 16.