AGENDA DATE: 4/21/2021
TITLE:
Title
Community Development Fees: STA-2021-00001; ZTA-2021-00001; BTA-2021-00001; and WPTA-2021-00001
BODY
SUBJECT/PROPOSAL/REQUEST: Community Development Fees Update
ITEM TYPE: Regular Action Item
STAFF CONTACT(S): Richardson, Walker, Kamptner, Herrick, Filardo, Allshouse, S.
PRESENTER (S): Steven Allshouse
LEGAL REVIEW: Yes
REVIEWED BY: Jeffrey B. Richardson
BACKGROUND: Under the provisions of Chapters 5, 14, 17, and 18 of the County Code, the Department of Community Development (CDD) charges fees for services the Department provides to the development community and the public. The purpose of the fees is to help CDD recover a portion of the cost of providing these services. The cost recovery levels as a percentage of each fee were predicated on a fee study adopted by the Board of Supervisors in 2008.
In August of 2008, the Board adopted a policy for updating the levels of existing fees. This policy provides for biennial fee adjustments, based on Board-approved salary adjustments. Under this approach, if Board-approved staff salaries increased cumulatively by a certain percentage over the course of the two years, CDD fees would increase by that same percentage. This policy has not been routinely applied. Most CDD fees were last adjusted on November 1, 2015, although some fees were adjusted as recently as November 1, 2018, and as far back as July 1, 2014.
The lack of the regular, adopted increases in fee levels over the course of several years has resulted in the percentages of cost recovery per fee reducing over time. In addition, staff recently has identified several CDD costs the current County Code does not address; this situation further constrains the Department's ability to provide services efficiently.
On January 6, 2021, the Board adopted a Resolution of Intent to update the CDD fees. On February 2, 2021, staff made a presentation to the Planning Commission related to fees in County Code Chapter 18 ...
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