Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Local Government topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board Approves Planning and Building Fee Changes; County to Increase Cost Recovery
Summary
After a staff presentation and public outreach, the board approved an update to the county27s Planning & Development fee ordinance. The package restructures many building and planning fees, consolidates hourly rates, separates technology and general-plan surcharges, and increases overall cost-recovery toward 99 percent.
The Board of Supervisors adopted a comprehensive update to the Planning & Development Department27s fee ordinance on Dec. 9, a package that restructures many planning and building permit fees, consolidates hourly rates and separates surcharges for technology and general-plan maintenance.
County consultants and planning staff told the board the adjustments are intended to close a multi-year gap between fee income and actual department costs. Staff estimated the combined changes would improve cost recovery by about 15 percent and generate roughly $2.020million annually, largely by increasing fees for larger, more complex projects and simplifying the building fee schedule. Smaller building and planning permits will see fee reductions in some categories as staff identified process efficiencies.
Among the notable changes: a single hourly rate for building-plan checks and inspections, a 6% technology-and-records surcharge to fund ongoing online-permit improvements and potential AI tools, and a 3.7% general-plan maintenance surcharge applied selectively to most planning and new-construction permits (with exemptions for small mechanical/roofing permits). Planning also recommended increasing the public-appeal deposit from $667 to $1,500 to better reflect staff costs associated with hearing-level work.
Supervisors discussed concerns about the cumulative cost of fees for local builders and small property owners, the department27s reserve usage, and timing for planned internal streamlining measures to shorten permitting timeframes. The board approved the ordinance update 4-1; Supervisor Nelson voted no, citing concerns about shifting costs to applicants and potential impacts on housing affordability.
Staff said separate process-improvement proposals are forthcoming and will emphasize online permitting and operational changes intended to reduce timelines for applicants. The county will implement the updated fees per the ordinance schedule and monitor effects on permit throughput.
