Santa Rosa staff revisit development fee changes after community concerns, propose targeted fixes

Santa Rosa's Planning and Economic Development Department and the city attorney told the City Council on Feb. 4 that they are reassessing the development-related cost-of-service fee changes adopted in March 2024 after six months of real-world application and community feedback.

Planning Director Gabe Osborne said the study adopted in 2024 (prepared by MGT Consulting) moved many plan-review and inspection fees closer to full cost recovery and added surcharges for technology and advanced planning. Osborne said the move toward cost recovery was intended to close the gap between permitting expenditures and fee revenue; the department's historical citywide cost-recovery rate for development services was about 44% and the director said a healthier range is closer to 60—75%, with him noting personally that he felt comfortable near 80%.

City Attorney Theresa Stricker told the council that the city has historically not included city-attorney review…