Chino Hills council reviews comprehensive user-fee update and proposed development-impact fees; public hearing set for Oct. 28

Chino Hills — City staff and consultants reviewed a citywide update to user fees and a development-impact-fee nexus study on Oct. 14, laying out new charges, proposed increases and policy choices the City Council will decide after a public hearing set for Oct. 28.

The workshop was led by Finance Director Krista Bahaajer and consultants from Willdan Financial Services. "This is to discuss and provide initial direction on the annual update to the master schedule of fees, fines, and penalties and the new development impact fees nexus study," Finance Director Krista Bahaajer said at the start of the session. Tony Thrasher, the project manager for the user-fee study, described the technical approach used to estimate the full cost of providing fee-based services: "I am Tony Thrasher, the project manager for the user fee study," he said, explaining the use of fully burdened hourly rates and time data to calculate cost recovery levels.

The proposed user-fee changes include several newly recommended fees and multiple increases staff described as needed to better align charges with actual staff time and overhead. New or notable proposed fees discussed by staff include a $900 deposit for appeals to city council of administrative decisions; a $304 appeal fee for code-enforcement notices; building‑related appeal fees (an $8,338 standard appeal of a building official determination with an 85% subsidy reducing the owner‑occupied appeal to $1,250); a $26,900 deposit for housing-plan approvals tied to projects pursued under the city’s housing element; a $4,036 "other" tree removal permit for non-standard removals; and a $538 fee for certain wireless‑facility utility‑only reviews. Staff also proposed a continued 100% subsidy (waiver) for Chino Valley Unified School District special-event permits held at city parks.

Staff identified a number of existing fees that would be raised significantly under the update: examples discussed included a $203 increase to the building reinspection fee, a $31 increase for sign removal under code enforcement, and several development‑service application increases (lot‑line adjustments, lot mergers, minor exceptions and temporary use permits) in the $400–$944 range. Utility billing fees were proposed to increase modestly, including meter installation charges and service reconnection costs; staff said the changes reflect current material, labor and overhead costs.

The second portion of the workshop reviewed a comprehensive…