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Committee approves higher land development and real estate review fees for county roads
Summary
The committee approved updated land development and real estate fees to recover planning-review costs associated with projects affecting county roadways, citing a roughly $370,000 annual shortfall and staff cost increases since 2015.
The Santa Clara County Housing, Land Use, Environment and Transportation Committee voted May 29 to approve updates to land development and real estate fees charged by the Roads and Airports Department, citing a multi-year gap between staff costs and fee revenue.
Deputy Director Chris Lamb told the committee the department's land development unit reviews proposals that affect the county's 624 miles of roadways, including encroachment permits, traffic and drainage conditions set during planning reviews, and inspections. "About 80% of that work is encroachment permits," Lamb said. He said fee collections for planning-review work lag operations by about $370,000 a year and that staff time rates have risen about 76% since the last comprehensive update in 2015.
The proposed schedule increases a range of planning-review fees, with permit-level increases listed in county materials from roughly 24% up to nearly 70% for many permit categories. Subdivision reviews rose more sharply: minor subdivisions (four units or fewer) saw increases of about 80% and major subdivisions (five units or more) faced roughly 200% increases, driven largely by a desire to recover staff time. Lamb said a $3,000 increase for major subdivisions reflects higher review costs for larger development proposals.
The department also proposed replacing a $1,200 flat fee for real-estate actions such as vacation or abandonment of public easements with a deposit-plus-hourly-fee approach because those reviews can be research- and time-intensive.
Supervisors asked for a peer comparison of fees with similar counties; staff agreed to provide comparative data for the Board packet. Committee members generally supported moving the fee updates forward while noting the importance of regular smaller adjustments rather than infrequent large increases.
Motion and vote: Supervisor Irene Aranas moved to approve the recommended fee schedule updates and forward the item to the Board of Supervisors for consideration; the motion was seconded and passed on a roll-call vote. Vice chairperson Arenas voted yes; Chairperson Abe Koga (recorded as "Chairperson Abekova") voted aye. The item is scheduled to return to the Board on June 17 for final action.
Notes: Roads and Airports clarified that encroachment-permit fees were updated in 2024 and this action focuses on planning-review and real-estate-related fees to achieve full cost recovery.
