Board adopts Rancho Adobe fire impact fees to fund future apparatus and facilities

The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to adopt a development-impact fee program for the Rancho Adobe Fire Protection District, approving a schedule of fees intended to pay for future fire facilities and apparatus associated with new development.

Supporters and county staff said the fees are intended to finance growth-related capital needs, not current operations. Maggie Luce of the County Administrator’s Office told the board the program uses an “existing facility standard” methodology to proportion the district’s capital value to existing development and then charge new development its share.

The fees vary by land use: staff presented an average single-family fee of roughly $2 per square foot — about $4,000 for a typical single-family home — with multifamily units at about $3,000 per unit and mobile homes roughly $2,000. The proposal exempts accessory dwelling units under 750 square feet, applies the residential rate to ADUs larger than 750 square feet, and lists rates for retail, office and industrial uses.

Blair Asse of SCI Consulting Group explained the legal and…