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Council hears update on Paramount development impact fee nexus study; consultant to return with fee recommendations
Summary
Economic and Planning Systems told the council the city’s impact fees are outdated and low compared with neighboring cities. The consultant will return in the spring with a draft nexus study and recommended fee schedule, including possible new fees for transportation, public safety and affordable-housing linkage.
Paramount city officials received an oral update Jan. 14, 2025, on a consultant-led update of the city’s development impact fee program intended to modernize charges that developers pay to fund capital infrastructure.
Julie Cooper, principal with Economic and Planning Systems (EPS), briefed the council on the scope and timeline of a nexus study required by the Mitigation Fee Act (AB 1600). Cooper said the study will recommend legally defensible, nexus-based fees that reflect current development forecasts and capital needs and will return in the spring with suggested fee amounts.
“Development impact fees simply are fees that are paid by new development projects that address the public infrastructure needs that are created by the fact that these new projects bring in new residents and new workers,” Cooper told the council. She explained that impact fees pay for one-time capital costs — for example, park construction, road widening or public-safety facilities — but cannot be used for ongoing operations or for remedying existing deficiencies for current residents.
City staff said Paramount’s current fee schedule — last substantially updated decades ago — includes six fee types: parks, water, sewer, public art, a general-plan fee and a storm-drain master-plan fee. EPS is studying whether to add up to five additional fees: a general facilities fee (civic buildings), a transportation facilities fee, public-safety facilities, storm-drain facilities (beyond the master-plan planning fee) and a commercial linkage fee to support affordable housing.
Cooper presented comparisons with nearby cities and said Paramount’s existing fees are “relatively lower” than those in Bellflower, Lynwood, Long Beach and Signal Hill, four neighboring cities with more robust fee programs. EPS will calculate the maximum legally supportable fee under AB 1600 and present it alongside options the council could adopt at a lower level for policy or economic reasons.
The consultant said the analysis uses a 10-year planning horizon and that the draft nexus report and recommended fees will be returned to the council in the spring for public review. Council members asked whether imposing or raising fees deters development; Cooper and staff said, based on counter experience, developers do not typically decline projects over reasonable, updated fees and that councils often weigh competitiveness against infrastructure needs when setting final amounts.
No vote was taken; the presentation was an informational item. The council will consider the draft nexus study and fee schedule when EPS returns with calculations and recommended fees.
