City bean counters put a real revenue number to what had been anecdotal discussions of Salt Lake's remodeling and building boom — $1.1 million — and that's just for three months.

In the first quarter of the current fiscal year, the city's building permit budget showed revenue more than double the $839,890 budget managers had estimated would be generated between this past July 1 and Sept. 30.

In August, city building director Orion Goff noted the permit counter was being flooded as people hurried to get remodeling and rebuilding projects done ahead of an anti-monster home ordinance being considered by the City Council.

"This issue has upped the ante as far as people wanting to get it done now before the council makes any move to change it," Goff told the Deseret Morning News in August. "People are wanting to maximize their investments."

Today, the council is expected to pass the ordinance those people were trying to beat. While some have predicted the new laws will put an end to the city's remodeling boom, council chairman Dale Lambert doubts that.

"The new ordinance allows sufficient flexibility and allows people to do significant and very nice things in their redevelopment projects," Lambert said. "I do not believe it will have a significant impact (on building permits), but I can't say it will have no impact."

The council has loosened the restrictions considerably from what the Planning Commission recommended.

Instead of limiting homes to 23 feet high (except through administrative hearing processes) or the average height of homes on the same block, the council will allow residents to have an over-the-counter building permit on any home above 27 or 28 feet. That means residents can build two-story homes without being forced into administrative hearings.

Also, residents citywide can only build on 40 percent of their property and can't have garages that occupy more than 50 percent of the home's facade.

Architects and remodeling professionals had complained that stricter rules would have driven down home values in the city and stopped people who were looking to renovate and expand.

"It's going to add time and it's going to add cost," said Annie Vernon, co-owner of Renovation Design Group. "Philosophically, what they're saying is, 'We don't want Salt Lake City to change.' If you don't allow people to change and adapt their homes to meet their lifestyle, they are going to go somewhere else."

But Lambert noted the council took architects' concerns into account in creating the less strict rules.

"Frankly, we've talked to architects, quite a few of them, and to some significant degree we've followed their recommendations," he said.

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E-MAIL: bsnyder@desnews.com